I couldn’t quite decide which realm to join, even after taking the quiz to help me. You see, I wasn’t very familiar with the Valar, so their names and their characteristics as I gleaned from the Encyclopaedia section were all I had to go on. Then I got a copy of The Silmarillion that travelled all the way from England to me, and my choice of the Realm became a matter of destiny, you might almost say.
I immediately fell in love with the description of Ulmo as I read the “Valaquenta”, as it simply said “He is alone.” As a serious fan of The Lord of the Rings and all things Tolkien in my country, I am seriously alone…Then it said about him:
“…mostly Ulmo speaks to those who dwell in Middle-earth with voices that are heard only as the music of water. For all seas, lakes, rivers, fountains and springs are in his government…”
I live on the island of Jamaica, and in the original language, my island’s name is Xaymaca, meaning “Land of wood and water”, so I hear Ulmo’s music all the time, surrounded by the Caribbean Sea, which may be warm and aquamarine or grey and windswept, depending on its mood. I have lived most of my life either close to a river, or, like in the past 6 years, only about 100m from the seashore.
In the Realm of Ulmo, I’ve found friends from diverse lands and cultures who share the same almost mystical attachment to the myriad expressions of the “spirit of Ulmo” which “runs in all the veins of the world.” We love to be around water, for as many reasons as there are members. Regardless of the different reasons, it’s all about the water.
Some factoids about water in the “Land of wood and water”:
– The longest river in Jamaica is the Black River, home to crocodiles!
– The widest river is the Rio Grande, and rafting down its lazy but deep lengths is a world-renowned attraction.
– The most mysterious body of water on the island is the Blue Lagoon, depth unknown, which comes complete with a legend of a river goddess.
– The most famous water attraction are the Dunn’s River Falls, which may be climbed their entire 600ft height.
by legolasfan27
