If there was ever a Vala shrouded in mystery and intrigue, it would be Mandos. Set with the title, “The Ordainer” and “The Judge”, the true name of this Vala is in fact Namo, though he is most often referred to by the name of his dwelling, the Halls of Mandos in the west of Valinor. Namo is the elder of the Fëanturi, “Masters of Spirits”; his brethren is Irmo, who also takes the name of his homelands: Lórien. Wife to Namo is Vairë the Weaver, whose tapestries hang in the Halls of Mandos, telling of what is yet to come. Also coming often to Mandos is Namo’s sister, Nienna, and all the spirits who wait there cry to her, for it is said that “she brings strength to the spirit and turns sorrow to wisdom” (The Silmarillion, p.19). Mandos, the home of Namo, is also known as The Halls of Waiting; it is there that the spirits of Men and Elves gather to await their separate fates. After a time, the re-embodiments of Elves may return to Aman to be with their kin, but the fates of Men are known only to Namo and Manwë.
Namo is said to forget nothing and to know all that will be but for what is in the hands of Ilúvatar. He is counted among the mighty Aratar, the High Ones of Arda, and is also set with the grim title of Doomsman of the Valar. Such judgements, however, are only spoken at the bidding of Manwë; at all other times Namo’s secret knowledge goes undivined.
Perhaps the most famous of Namo’s judgements was the Curse of the Noldor, also known as The Doom or Curse of Mandos.
When evil Melkor stole the Silmarils, Fëanor, who made the jewels and was the greatest of the Noldor, gathered together most of his Noldor kin and went in pursuit of him. Fëanor had already caused much grief to those around him: he had broken the peace of Valinor by grossly accusing the Valar of keeping the Elves in slavery, and he had threatened his own half-brother at sword-point, accusing him in hatred of being an usurper. His demise was further compounded when in his passion to chase and bring down Melkor to retrieve his precious Silmarils, he took the Swan Ships of the Teleri by force, killing many of the Teleri in what has perhaps come to be known as the most insidious act in The Silmarillion: the Kinslaying.
Upon seeing this horrific betrayal, Namo let down upon Fëanor and his line the Curse of Mandos, the Doom of the Noldor:
“Tears unnumbered ye shall shed; and the Valar will fence Valinor against you, and shut you out, so that not even the echo of your lamentation shall pass over the mountains. On the House of Fëanor the wrath of the Valar lieth from the West unto the uttermost East, and upon all that will follow them shall it be laid also. Their Oath shall drive them, and yet betray them, and ever snatch away the very treasures that they have sworn to pursue. To evil end shall all things turn that they begin well; and by treason of kin unto kin, and the fear of treason, shall this come to pass. The Dispossessed shall they be for ever.
Ye have spilled the blood of your kindred unrighteously and have tainted the land of Aman. For blood ye shall render blood, and beyond Amon ye shall dwell in Death’s shadow. For though Eru appointed you to die not in Eä, and no sickness may assail you, yet slain ye may be, and slain ye shall be: by weapon and by torment and by grief; and your houseless spirits shall come then to Mandos. There long shall ye abide and yearn for your bodies, and find little pity though all whom ye have slain should entreat for you. And those that endure in Middle-earth and come not to Mandos shall grow weary of the world as with a great burden, and shall wane, and become as shadows of regret before the younger race that cometh after. The Valar have spoken.” (The Silmarillion, pp.94-5)
But not all of Namo’s deeds are so dark. Also noted amongst the histories of The Silmarillion is his mercy towards the epic lovers Beren and Lúthien. Beren was slain by the werewolf Carcharoth in his quest to retrieve one of the Silmarils for King Thingol. His quest was fulfilled before he died, but when Beren’s spirit came to the Halls of Mandos, he was unwilling to leave before saying goodbye to his beloved Lúthien. Lúthien soon came also to the Halls of Mandos, having died of grief at the news of Beren’s demise. There, Lúthien sang her story to Namo in a song of such exquisite sorrow that he was moved to go to Manwë and beseech his help in the matter. Though the Valar would agree to release Lúthien from Mandos to live forever in Valimar among the Eldar, they had no power against the Gift of Death which must come to Beren as to all Men, thus Lúthien’s beloved could never be with her there. So, Lúthien was allowed instead to return to Middle-earth with Beren to live out her life as a mortal, until such time as they would both share the same fate in passing out of the circles of the world in death together. The couple lived on for a time in joy and happiness, and their line went on to create new hope even after they had died.
Namo, keeper the Houses of the Dead and summoner of spirits and the slain, is indeed the enigma of the Valar. Though his shadow is ever present, none shall know the misty secrets of his world until their own time comes to walk in his Halls, waiting…
by Killjoy
