Eä is the name for the created world, in the Lord of The Rings universe as realized by Ainur, the holy spirits.
Etymology
Eä comes from the Quenya language and translates to “to be” or “to exist”.
History
The continent of Middle Earth was named by the elves as Arda meaning Earth. On the other hand, Eä signifies the entire universe which includes Arda as well. The Ainur, divine spirits called the Eä as “the little kingdom” due to the fact that all other Tolkein’s systems were tiny in comparison to Eä in the mind of Eru Ilúvatar (God in the legendarium). [1]Eru Ilúvatar created this universe by speaking the word Eä. He gave the command “Eä be” which simply means “let it be” and there it was. A world set within the void. The form, time period, and size of Eä is not described. Out of all the Eä, only Arda is known. [2] The Valar came into Eä and became a part of it. They could not leave it willingly or unwillingly. Initially, Eä was dark and out of shape. The Ainur who entered has to clean through the huge amount of waste for ages to bring their vision into reality. While the Ainur labored, Varda brought stars into existence and even Aule, Manwe, and Ulme significantly contributed to the formation of Arda.
References
Categories:
Cosmology
Quenya locations
Quenya words
