# Questions about Eä, Arda and Ambar.



## Kélean (Sep 6, 2021)

As far as I understand, Eä is the entire universe of The Lord of The Rings, while Arda is the planet where the continent of Middle Earth exists. Ambar, instead, is a concept rather than a place. It represents the fate of all things and beings. Would anybody be so kind to correct me if I'm getting any of this wrong? 

Also, could anybody please confirm Eä is spelled correctly (in Quenya) in the attachment? I've been told in a different forum that the dots above the a shouldn't matter when translating a word into Quenya, but I'd rather double check 🍃

Thank you to everybody who will comment!


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## Elthir (Sep 7, 2021)

As I think I understand these terms (so far) . . .

*Arda* “realm” used as a proper name refers to the world as the realm of Manwe, but according to a text in _Morgoth's Ring_, properly speaking, this kingdom extends beyond the world, including _Aman_ and the rest of the Solar System (I lifted this from _Parf Edhellen_ instead of actually doing the work).

I don't know (yet) if the new book _The Nature of Middle-Earth _says something different here, but generally speaking, I'm vaguely aware that Tolkien has noted something "new" about Aman, and I haven't got around to reading this section yet.

*Ambar* "world, the great habitation" . . .

. . . but according to the text _Fate And Free Will_: "the full implication of this word cannot be understood without reference to Eldarin views and ideas concerning "fate" and "free will" ( . . . ) "the sense "world" applied usually to this Earth -- is mainly derived from sense "settlement": "the great habitation" ( . . . )
as "home of speaking creatures" esp. Elves and Men."

Tolkien goes on here:



> "But though mbar- was naturally mostly used of the activities and purposes of rational creatures, it was not limited to these. It thus could refer to the conditions and established (physical) processes of the Earth (as established at its creation directly or mediately by Eru), which was part of Ea, the Universe, and so approached in some uses the sense "Fate", according to Eldarin thought on the subject. Thus Q. _ambarmenie_ "the way of the world ( . . . ) , the fixed, and by "creatures" unalterable, conditions in which they lived.



I note that the explanation according to _Words, Phrases, and Passages_ (PE 17) is differently worded, and notes the difference between how the Eldar might use the word, versus the Numenoreans for example (and brings in the "doom" of Túrin _Turambar_ as well).

Concerning the diaeresis (two dots), while I realize my opinion given twice doesn't count as a second opinion, to ramble a bit more: there's no difference in the pronunciation of the vowels with respect
to Ea, Eä, or Ëa -- the function of the dots here is to try to inform the reader that this word has two syllables (or that Eärendil has four syllables).

As an English speaker, for example, I know how to pronounce the word cooperate without needing
to see co-operate or coöperate. And here I'm going to assume that Quenya speakers know that -ea-
is two syllables without needing to mark this in some way . . .

. . . or in any case, what I can say is that Tolkien himself makes no marks equivalent to the diaeresis in his tengwar transcription of Namárië, which includes words in the Roman version like _laurië and Oiolossëo _
. . .

. . . and namárië too 

And since it was me who told you, please forgive my pedantry here, but the diaeresis can be ignored when _transcribing_ Quenya. In your example above, for example, the word Eä has not been translated,
it's the same Quenya word of course, written with a different writing system.

Quenya is a language while the Tengwar of Feanor can be used to write various languages.


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## Kélean (Sep 13, 2021)

Elthir, thank you so much for your response. It is incredibly helpful and, given your extensive knowledge on this subject, I'm confident you are right about the translation. I'm looking forward to reading _The Nature of Middle-Earth _


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