Ingwe in Tolkien's Works

There are two distinct names which are seemingly the same figure, found in the Silarillion and The Book of Lost Tales II.  The comments suggest these to be the same but it does seem clear that Tolkien meant them to be the same. They are Inwe and Ingwe, and they seem to have been originated in the name Ing which is the first name he used in his works. Before we go into this, it must be pointed out that Tolkien first used the names Ing, Inwe, and Ingwe as the name of an Elven King, and in later times turned Ingwe into a King of the English. There need to be no contradiction in this, as we shall show here. It is also interesting to note that Tolkien links the Kin of Ingwe to the gods in a very interesting way, as we shall see here too. 

In the Silmaruillion Ingwe is the King of the Vanyar Elves (Silmarillion), these being one of three Elven Clans -

The Vanyar - These were the Eldar  or Fair Elves who were also known as the Quendi. Ingwe is said to be the 'most high lord of all the Elvish Race. These, it is said, follow Manwe and Varda. Ingwe is the King of the Vanyar Elves. The term 'Vanya (sing.) or Vanyar (plural) means 'The Fair' referring to their Golden Hair.

The Noldoli/Noldor were the Deep Elves led by Finwe (Finn) who followed Aule. 

The Toleri or 'Sea-Elves' led by Elwe.

The Inwir, of whom Ingwe seems to have been ruler, is a Royal Clan amongst the Teleri/Vanyar. Ingwe or Inwe has a son named Ingilmo or Inwithiel, and Inwe has another title of Ingil. He was also known as Isil or Isil Inwe and his son Ingwe Inwithiel. In the Sindarin Tongue the word 'elf' is 'edhel' which is obviously from our Edhel-Rune. The name 'Eldar' stems from 'el'/'elen' meaning 'star' and Eldar/Elena means 'Of the Stars'. 

There are some very interesting things that come from this, but to do so you need to study the Book of Lost Tales II where Tolkien links Manwe to Woden. So the Fair Elves or Eldar are linked to Woden, and also to Varda who is the Lady of the Stars, also called The Exalted and The Lofty. She is the greatest of the Valier (Queens of the Valar) and the wife of Manwe-Woden. She has other names - Elbereth, Elentari, Tintalle. 

There is a very interest piece in the Book of Lost Tales II concerning Orion which is the 'image of Telemektar in the sky' who has diamonds on his sword-sheath, and this will go red when he draws his sword at the Great End'. Orion the Hunter is followed by Gil who is 'like a Blue Bee'. Here the name 'Gil' was originally written Ingil which is an alternative name for Ingwe, and as the 'Blue Bee' he is Nielluin which is the Dog-Star, Sirius. Thus we have a link between Ingwe and Sirius which is indeed a star that shines blue, and it is at the foot of Orion the Hunter. 

There is another thing of interest to us here, and although Tolkien at first sight seems to have jumbled these things up completely, there is in the end a firm sense within all this - yet hidden. He tells us that the whole of the Kindred of Ingwe, and the lost part of the Kindreds of Finwe and Elwe follow Orome. He is one of the Vala or Aratar and is a 'great hunter' whose name means 'Horn-blowing' or 'Sound of Horns'; his horn is Valaroma. Tolkien very often gives figures titles in Old English, and here he gives Orome the title Wadhfrea ('Hunting-Lord') or Huntena Frea ('Lord of Hunters') and also Wealdafrea ('Lord of Forests'). These names fit well with Herne the Hunter who is an aspect of Woden.

There seems to be no link with Bootes but I have shown before how Ingwe and the English are linked to Bootes, and the England is a reflection on Earth of this constellation in the Northern Skies. Orome, as the 'Lord of Hunters' may also be Bootes shown here clearly with two hunting-dogs; here he carries a scythe in his left hand and a spear in his right hand. To be truthful, I see these two symbols as being a fusion of Ingwe (Scythe = Landsman) and Woden (Spear = Hunter). I have shown before how Bootes can be likened to the 'Son of Man' from certain texts in Revelations. The brightest star in Bootes is named Arcturus which is why 'King Arthur' (rightly 'Arctur') is as much English as anything else in these islands - he is the archetype of the Once and Future King.

The Dog-Star or 'Wolf-Star' (Chinese) is one of the most important stars in the Occult World and Gurdjieff gives hints at this when he said he had 'buried the dog' in one of his works, clearly hinting not of burying a 'bone' (as it should be) but meaning Sirius - the Dog-Star. For some reason Sirius and Venus are connected together in ancient works. In a future post I am going to discuss the star Sirius since it formed also part of many of the dreams I had in years gone by - there is something important we are missing. 

Looking at all this in regard to Tolkien's Works we cannot disregard his ideas since he was a scholar of not only Germanic & Celtic Mythology but also the Indo-European Languages. He was also in a place to gain access to more works that we can ever do and must have gained endless knowledge that we cannot access through old books. In linking Ingwe - Lord of the Elves - with Ingwe - Divine Ancestor of the English - he created a continuum between Elves and Men, and one which shows that the English truly have the Lore of the Elves in their blood. (This is in fact showing itself now since Ingwe is being looked at by many of the more esoteric scholars in England today.) The English are thus the direct descendants of the High Elven Race of the Eldar and the King of the Eldar - Ingwe. The Inwar, looking at the name-changes such as Inwe to Ingwe, would thus also be called Ingwar and thus Ingwaiwar as Tolkiens calls them (Ingvaeones). 

The Edhel-Rune

At first there may seem no link between the Elves and the Edhel-Rune, though Tolkien mentions that edhel is the Sindarin for 'elf'. This rune is also the 'Gift of Ing' containing both the Ing-Rune (Germanic) and the Gyfu-Rune as a 'bind-rune'. It is also the rune of Blood & Soil and thus of the English and England. The rune is of the Folkland and the Folk, of the 'inherited property' (land) and the 'innate qualities' (blood). Through this rune we may have the mystical link between the English and the Fair Elves ('Fairies' or 'Fair Folk'). 

It is often thought that 'The Star' of the Tarot is that of the Dog-Star, Sirius, although the Seven Stars that go with it are not a clear indication. Indeed, the Seven Stars are usually seen as the Great Bear (Woden's Waen) or later the Pleiades (which seems to have six stars but has always been seen as the 'Seven Sisters'. The figure in this version pours water into the lake/pool and also onto the land, thus linking this to the Age of Aquarius and the 'Water-Bearer'. Now, it has to be said that Sirius is indeed linked to the rising waters, since its appearance each year heralds the flooding of the Nile in Egypt. It seems to have been linked to the idea of flooding since we find that in 1993 the Mississippi overflowed and flooded at the same time as Sirius was blocked out from being seen from Earth by the Sun. When this period ended the floods subsided. This may not actually be irrelevant since Sirius really does seem to have been seen by the ancients associated with pulling out some form of plug/stopper which lets loose the waters. 

But, in the above we have Ingwe (Ingil) seen as Sirius, but we also have the association with Bootes, all of which seems rather confusing. Logical thinking does not always help in this, because there is yet another clue hidden in 'The Star' card - the figure of the 'Fair Woman' is shown clearly in the position shaped as a Fylfot-Swastika, a Sign of the North. The star is yellow, as is Arcturus in Bootes. Both Sirius and Venus seem to be linked to Isis, and Isis is said to have given birth to Horus who is 'in Sirius' - so both Isis and Horus are connected to Sirius, as Freya and Ingwe are associated with Venus. Both Venus and Sirius have the Five-Pointed Star symbolism. 

There is something here that we must look at in regard to this information, which on the face of it looks rather mixed up. This concerns the link between Sirius and the arrow. On one Hindu site I found that Sirius is linked to Rudra as 'The Piercer of the Deer'; obviously it is the arrow that pierces the deer, and in some cultures this star was known as the 'Arrow-Star' -

mulKAK.Si.DI = Arrow-Star (Sumer)

Tishtriya - Arrow-Star (Iran)

The following link Sirius to the sea and to the waters -

Babylonian - New Year ritual says 'Arrow-Star, who measures the depth of the sea'.

Iranian Avesta 'Tishtriya by whom the waters count.

In Hamlet's Mill by Santillana & von Dechend we find the above and also links to our own mythology through the figure of Hamlet - I am going to extend their work to bring in the Ear-Rune, which seems to be the significant link we need here. 

These two link Sirius with Earendel, which Tolkien links to Venus; so we have here the 'missing link' since both stars seem to have the same 'archetype' (if you like). They see the name Earendel (which is Orvandil of the Norse Mythology, father of Hamlet) as coming from the OE *ae-/*ear meaning 'wave', 'sea' and ON *aurr meaning 'damp'. Another meaning stems from the Root *or- meaning 'arrow' thus making Orvandil 'Arrow Waendal'. Noteworthy his grandfather was Garentil which means 'Spear Waendal'. The English called this star by the name Jubar which means 'beam' or 'ray' and which in MHG and Italian means 'arrow'. The star is called Tir in ancient Iran. Earendel seems to be the same archetypal 'Archer-God' as William Tell and AEgil the Archer. Earendel is -

OHG - Orentil

AS - Earendel

ON - Aurvendill

OHG - Erentil

Unfortunately I have no image of the Ear-Rune that we use in the Ar-Kan system, but it is the Cweorth-Rune shown above with 'hands' on each 'arm'. The above rune is shaped as the Long Man of Wilmington who is Waendal which links us directly to Ear-Waendal (Earendel). The name 'Wendel' was used of 'The Devil' in many witch-trials, so this must once have been a key heathen god. The following sequences seem connected to these ideas -

Aar   Ear   Ier   Oar   Uar

Ar   Er   Ir   Or   Ur

Aor   Eor   Ior   Oor   Uor

Also, the words - heor (OE), heru (OS) and hiore (ON); also linked to Cheru/Heru related to the Cheruscans and to the Sword-God named Heru or Saxnot. 

The Ear-Rune is thus not only related to *ear meaning 'earth' but also to the waters, as seen in 'The Star' Tarot Card which shows the pouring of water onto the waters and the earth. It is also interesting to note, in view of the link between Ingwe, Bootes and agriculture, that OE *ear means 'ear' (of corn). Linking these to the next rune, Cweorth, Rune of the Fire-Twirl, there is also the Greek euo and Latin uro meaning 'to burn'. 

'...and Quetzalcoatl is accused of having incestuous relations with his sister, as were Hamlet, Kullervo, Yama and, we might add, King Arthur.'

'Hamlet's Mill'

Now, were we sitting around a camp-fire, listening to the Tribal Scop relating these tales, he would expect us to know exactly what was meant by 'incestuous relations with his sister' because the brother-sister relationship is seen clearly within the Waene-Gods, the Gods associated with Venus. Frey-Freya/ Ingwe-Freya are brother-sister, though when we look at the Egyptian Mythology where Horus comes 'out of Sirius' (Isis) then one of the roles can be transferred to the 'Son' ('Son of the Widow'). 

Even in the Cweorth-Rune we have a similar rune-stave and the same -eor- stem within the rune-name. As the Fire-Twirl this may be related to 'Rudra-the-destroying-archer' and the 'Dance of Shiva' which has a similar shape to these runes. 

I think that the one thing that the authors of Hamlet's Mill failed to recognise is that there is no reason whatever to seek and 'either' in the meaning of words used in ancient texts, the seeking of the 'or' makes better sense since every text has many meanings, not just one of which is right. The term ear can mean any and all of these.

Viktor Rydberg equates Orwandel with AEgil the Archer; since we are here also looking at a Hunter-God we can see in this Orion the Hunter which is close to Sirius and is Wuldor - the Winter-Woden. Since Orion is blinded we may find the last traces of this legend in that of Robin Hood who is blinded by the prioress and thus is killed. Robin Hood - The Hooded Man - is our most famous English Folk-hero. AEgil, Wayland and Finn are brothers and Rydberg sees these as doublets of Orwandel and his kinfolk, and also of the Sons of Ivalde. Of course, all these may be similar archetypes with similar myths.