Uin

Uin was a great whale that was in service to Ulmo. It was given the title of a primeval whale. It also went by Gulma's great whale. Gulma was Ulmo's former name. Uin was also referred to as the "oldest of the Right Whales."

This was a Gnomish term that was coined to mean "wave," and later it was used to imply "whale." Another adaptation of the name in Gnomish is 'uimoth.' This title means "sheep or shepherd of waves." Still, Gnomish 'moth' means "sheep" or "1000," showing the meaning intended from the beginning, was "flock." Therefore, the word 'mothweg' means "shepherd." The name Uin and Uinen have a closely related etymology. Together they had an encounter as they were relocating the island.

The whale's appearance has not been clearly described. The Roverandom referred to Uin as having been the most aged of the Right Whales. Uin is pictured as having been the oldest and the greatest in strength. He was, therefore, responsible for transporting dignitaries. It is not clear whether Uin belonged to the Ainur that adapted individual shapes likened to the Great Eagles. Some speculations point to Uin being an ancient creature that existed on Arda and resembled Tom Bombadil. In Tolkien's works, Uin is pointed out as being among the crossovers. The whale has been featured in several of his works.

When the legendarium was coming up for the first time, there were many of the likes of Uin who carried Tol Eressea island across the Belegaer sea to the Bay of Eldamar, off its coast, close by Valinor, the capital zone of Aman. Uin possessed great strength as when he beat his tail, the effect was described as 'unmeasured,' resulting in turbulence in the sea, which was magnified by Ulmo's trumpet. In the story, [1] Ulmo is described as having a great show of strength. He was the epitome of the might of Valar, in comparison to the rest of the whales.

So even though Osse was referred to having more power and speed than Ulmo by the strength he exhibited underwater, he was outdone by the whales pulling the island. Osse was not able to stop the island from being pulled forward, neither was he able to pull it backward. Then the mair cast darkness and caused a storm to hinder the move, then used extremely aged and huge seaweeds, whose width was like the pillar of the palace belonging to Osse and Uinen and polyps like ropes to plant the island to the bottom of the sea.

Uinen assisted Uin to break through this hurdle. Before Ulmo's return, Osse also put lots of rocks and boulders that were old as they were the same ones Morgoth had scattered. He used them to firmly hold the island to the bottom of the sea. He also added barnacles, corals, and sponges to lock the island and then called upon several shelled creatures of the sea that lived in the deepest parts, to further solidify the attachment. When Ulmo presented his might of Valar to his best ability to assist the whales, the island still kept enlarging and remained a great distance away from Valinor.

Rover's description of Uin is that Uin is 'in every way exceptional.' This encompasses the fact that he is capable of taking long periods of rest underwater. Uin's capabilities also extend to swimming long distances across the world without having to stop. Uin displays a pleasant character to Rover. He is kind, considerate, and encouraging to Rover when nervous. Uin takes two Rovers around the world for trips several times.

He also raises Rover's concerns to Psamathos when he comes to learn about them. Uin exhibits charm when he winks at Rover. On the other hand, Uin held some reservations about Artaxerxes' ability to break the curses free from Rover. He was concerned that the curses might catch on him when he took the two dogs past the Enchanted Isles and requested for the dogs' discretion on this. When the Artaxerxes couple got exiled because they failed to subdue the sea serpent, Uin transported them to the shore, as well as Roverandom. This is the point that Artaxerxes broke the curses off of Roverandom.

Some of Uin's non-official appearances include Middle-earth Role Playing. There, Uin is referred to as merfolk. The other described as merfolk is the Aamumeren Isa. This is a Maia. It resembles a humpback whale that is double the size of a regular adult humpback whale. Cetaceans are directly associated with Ulmo. dolphins are called Ulmodil, which means "friends of Ulmo." In the etymology of Uin, the name is associated with several terms. They comprise Uini, which means "whales." then there is Hub-in-Uinin, which means a "Bay of Whales."

• Ulmo's cart was also drawn by sea lions and narwhals.
• It is fascinating to learn that Valar is Swedish for "whales."
• The little piece of Tol Eressea that broke off during the westward pull by Osse was what was later known as the Isle of Balar. This isle is what we know today as Ireland.
• "Good whale" or "True whale" is the correct meaning of the genus Eubalaena. This goes well with the name of the species, which is "Right Whale." of all the species of whales, the Right Whale has historically been known to closely relate to humans.
• One of the few surviving Right Whales in the North Atlantic was given the name Gandalf, after the wizard character, in 2020.

1. ^The Book of Lost Tales, Part One.