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"Therefore Ilúvatar gave to their vision Being, and set it amid the Void, and the Secret Fire was sent to burn at the heart of the World; and it was called Eä."
The Silmarillion, "Valaquenta"

Airefëa, also known as the Secret Fire, Flame Imperishable or the Imperishable Flame, refers to a mysterious heavenly power in .

History[]

Airefëa seems to refer to Eru Ilúvatar's Power of Creation. This power was with Ilúvatar alone from the very beginning and was an aspect of his being, so when Melkor sought for it, his efforts were in vain. Later, Ilúvatar set Airefëa at the heart of .[1]

Airefëa was also described as being part of all Fëa, the soul of a living being or the spirit: it was that Gift which makes sentient beings capable of independent thought and will, for though other beings within Arda can create to a greater or lesser extent, even the Valar cannot bring new life into being that is independent from Eru's own design (beings can, for instance, procreate, but they cannot give life to their thought as Eru can).[2] This lack of ability to bring into being ideas of his own was what initially led Melkor down the path of Darkness, for he wished above all else to order the universe in accordance with his own desires, and not be subservient to the will of Eru.

In The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf the Grey referred to both Airefëa and the flame of Anor at the Bridge of Khazad-dum when confronting the Balrog:[3]


"'You cannot pass,' he said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass."
The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book II, ch. V: "The Bridge of Khazad-dûm"

Anor was a name for the Sun in the mythology, as well as a name for the True West (i.e. Valinor). Further, some have speculated that Gandalf said "flame of Anor" in reference to the fact that he wielded one of the Three Rings of Power, Narya. Thus, it is uncertain if the flame of Anor was identical to the Airefëa, but both it and Airefëa identified Gandalf as a servant of the Valar.

Etymology[]

Airefëa is a name in Quenya meaning "Holy Spirit", being a compound of airë ("holy; sanctity, holiness")[4] and fëa ("soul, indwelling spirit of an incarnate being")[5].[6]

In other versions[]

In the Qenya Lexicon, the Qenya term was glossed as "Fire, especially in temples, etc. A mystic name identified with Holy Ghost".[7] was later emended to fairë aista.[6]

Inspiration[]

In a discussion with Clyde S. Kilby, Tolkien talked to him "at some length about the use of the word 'holy' in The Silmarillion" and revealed to him "that the 'Secret Fire sent to burn at the heart of the World' in the beginning was the Holy Spirit", the third person of the Holy Trinity.[8]

See also[]

External links[]

Translations[]

Foreign Language Translated name
Afrikaans Geheime vuur
Albanian Zjarri i fshehtë
Amharic ምስጢር እሳት
Arabic النار السرية
Armenian Գաղտնի կրակ
Azerbaijani Sirli yanğın
Basque Sute sekretua
Belarusian Cyrillic Цакрэтны агонь
Bengali গোপন আগুন
Bosnian Tajna Požara
Bulgarian Cyrillic Тайния огън
Cambodian អគ្គីភ័យជាការសម្ងាត់
Catalan Foc Secreta
Cebuano Sekreto nga kalayo
Chinese 秘密的火
Cornish Tan Kel ?
Croatian Tajna vatra
Czech Tajný oheň
Danish Hemmelig ild
Dutch Geheim vuur
Esperanto Sekreta fajro
Estonian Salajane tulekahju
Fijian Vuni na bukawaqa
Filipino Lihim na apoy
Finnish Salainen tuli
French Feu Secret
Frisian Geheime Fjoer
Georgian საიდუმლო ცეცხლი
German Geheimes Feuer
Greek Μυστική Φωτιά
Gujarati સિક્રેટ ફાયર
Haitian Creole Sekrè Dife
Hausa Asirin Wuta
Hebrew האש הסודית
Hindi गुप्त आग
Hungarian Titkos tűz

Olthatatlan Lángot

Icelandic Hinn launhelgi logi
Indonesian Api Rahasia
Irish Gaelic Rúnda tine
Italian Fuoco segreto (Secret Fire)

Fiamma Imperitura (Flame imperishable)

Japanese 神秘の火/不滅の炎
Javanese Rahasia Geni
Kannada ರಹಸ್ಯ ಬೆಂಕಿ
Kazakh Құпия өрт (Cyrillic) Qupïya ört (Latin)
Korean 비밀 화재
Kurdish Agir Dizî (Kurmanji Kurdish)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic жашыруун өрт
Latin Secretum Ignis
Latvian Slepenā uguns
Lithuanian Slaptas gaisro
Luxembourgish Geheime Feier
Macedonian Cyrillic Таен оган
Malaysian Api Rahsia
Malayalam രഹസ്യ തീ
Maltese Sigriet nar
Manx Aile Follit ?
Marathi गुप्त आग
Mongolian Cyrillic Нууц гал
Nepalese गुप्त आगो
Norwegian Hemmelig brann
Northern Sami Suollemas Dolla
Pashto پټ اور
Persian (Secret Fire) آتش راز

(Flame Imperishable) شعله زوال‌ناپذیر

Polish Tajemny Ogień (Secret Fire)

Niezniszczalny Płomień (Flame Imperishable)

Portuguese Segredo do Fogo (Secret Fire)

Chama Imperecível (Flame Imperishable)

Punjabi ਗੁਪਤ ਅੱਗ
Querétaro Otomi Ar tsibi secreto
Romanian Focul Secret
Romansh Fieu Adascus
Russian Негасимое пламя
Samoan Lilo Afi
Scottish Gaelic Teine dìomhair
Serbian Тајна ватра (Cyrillic) Tajna vatra (Latin)
Sesotho Sephiri Mollo
Sinhalese රහස ගිනි
Sindhi راز کي باهه
Slovak Tajné požiaru
Slovenian Skrivni ogenj
Somalian Dabka Qarsoon
Spanish Fuego Secreto
Swahili Siri Moto
Swedish Hemlig eld
Tajik Cyrillic Сирри оташ
Tamil இரகசிய தீ
Telugu రహస్య అగ్ని
Thai ไฟไหม้ลับ
Turkish Gizli ateş
Turkmen Syr Ot ?
Ukrainian Cyrillic Секретні вогню
Urdu خفیہ آگ
Uzbek Сирли олов (Cyrillic) Sirli olov (Latin)
Vietnamese Bí mật lửa
Welsh Tân dirgel
Yiddish סוד פייַער
Yucatec Maya Secreto K'áak'
Zulu Umlilo Imfihlo

References[]

  1. The Silmarillion, Ainulindalë (The Music of the Ainur)
  2. The Silmarillion, Quenta Silmarillion: Of Aulë and Yavanna"
  3. The Lord of the Rings, Vol. I: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, ch. V: "The Bridge of Khazad-dûm"
  4. Parma Eldalamberon XVII, "Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings", pgs. 67, 149
  5. The History of Middle-earth, Vol. X: Morgoth's Ring, "Appendix to the Index: Elvish words and terms", pg. 470
  6. 6.0 6.1 Vinyar Tengwar, Number 43, "'Words of Joy': Five Catholic Prayers in Quenya — Part One", pgs. 36-8
  7. Parma Eldalamberon XII, "Qenyaqetsa: The Qenya Phonology and Lexicon", pg. 81 (entry "SAHA")
  8. Clyde S. Kilby, Tolkien and The Silmarillion, "Tolkien as Christian Writer", pg. 59
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