Throughout much of Tolkien’s legendarium, there are many women who can be seen as representing the Blessed Virgin Mary. These characters include Arwen, the daughter of Elrond; Eowyn the niece of Théoden, king of Rohan; Galadriel the queen of Lothlórien, and Lúthien the wife of Beren of whom great tales are told in The Silmarillion. There is however, another interesting character of Tolkien who I would argue best represents Mary in his universe. Her name is Varda, the companion of Manwë. In Tolkien’s legendarium, she is one of the Ainur. She is known as the Lady of the Stars and is called Elbereth by the Elves. Varda beautifully parallels the Blessed Virgin Mary in many different ways in the text of The Silmarillion.
First and foremost, Varda’s title “Lady of the Stars” is evocative of Mary’s title “Star of the Sea” in the hymn Ave Maris Stella. This image also reflects Mary’s description in the book of Revelation: “And a great portent appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” [emphasis added] (Revelation 12:1) We are also told that Varda makes many of the stars and is hailed by the Elves as “Elentári, Queen of the Stars.”
Second, we are told that Melkor “…feared her more than all others whom Eru made.” (The Silmarillion p. 16) St. Louis De Montfort tells us in True Devotion to Mary that, “The most terrible of all the enemies which God has set up against the devil is His holy Mother, Mary.” (True Devotion, p. 20) Thus, Mary is our greatest defense against Satan, and he fears Her greatly because of the power God has given to Her.
Third, we are told that,
Of the Great Ones who dwell in this world the Elves hold Varda most in reverence and love. Elbereth they call her, and they call upon her name out of the shadows of Middle-earth, and uplift in song at the rising of the stars. (The Silmarillion, p. 7)
Here, we are told that Varda is most revered among the Elves. As Catholics, we offer to God latria, which is Latin for worship. It is God alone Whom we worship. We do, however, honor the angels and saints. Mary is given hyperdulia, that is the greatest honor we can give to a saint, and as Mary was conceived without Original Sin and bore the Saviour of the world, She is by far the greatest of the saints. St. Joseph, Her spouse is given protodulia, meaning he is the first honored after Mary. The rest of the angels and saints are given dulia, which simply means honor. The Catechism helps us to understand:
The Church rightly honors the Blessed Virgin with special devotion…this very special devotion differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration. (CCC 971)
As the Elves call upon Varda, so do we often call upon Mary and use Her name frequently in the liturgy and in numerous prayers in the Church’s tradition, thus expressing our devotion to Her. Not only do the Elves cry out to her, but so do the Hobbits. In The Lord of the Rings, Frodo cries out to Elbereth much in the same way we do to Mary, asking for aid when attacked by a ringwraith: “At that moment Frodo threw himself forward on the ground, and he heard himself crying aloud: O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!” (LOTR, 191) This clearly shows Frodo asking Elbereth’s intercession. Later in the House of Elrond, Frodo hears the Elves singing her song. Again, when Sam faces down Shelob, he finds himself crying out:
A Elbereth Gilthoniel
o menel palan-diriel,
le nallon sí di’nguruthos!
A tiro nin, Fanuilos!
Which roughly translates to:
O Elbereth Starkindler
from heaven gazing afar,
to thee I cry now beneath the shadow of death!
O look towards me, Everwhite!
Here we see that in times of darkness and despair, the heroes of The Lord of the Rings call out for the aid of Varda. The Marian imagery in Tolkien’s song to Varda is unmistakable. When we are tempted, or when we are in danger, whether it be temporal or spiritual, we should call upon Mary to help. In the history of devotion to Mary, She has never disappointed anyone who has called upon Her name.
Joseph Tuttle
Joseph Tuttle is a Catholic writer and author. His essays, articles, book reviews, and poetry have been published with or are forthcoming with Word on Fire Blog, Aleteia, Catholic World Report, Adoremus Bulletin, The University Bookman, The St. Austin Review, Homiletic and Pastoral Review, New Oxford Review, Voyage Comics Blog, and Missio Dei. He is the author, editor, or contributing author of numerous books including An Hour With Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (Liguori, 2021), Tolkien and Faith: Essays on Christian truth in Middle-Earth (Voyage Comics, 2021), and The Christbearer (Voyage Comics, 2023) He graduated cum laude from Benedictine College with a Bachelor of Arts in Theology. He is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Catholic Philosophical Studies at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology.