Work Text:
*~*~*
Extract from "Of the Daemons of Elves and Men"
" … and it is said Eru had great pity for the Dwarves that Aule had made, for they were not made as he would intend for his children, and were each of them One, and Alone as one, if they were not with another of their race.
So, in his pity, Eru gave as well as true life to the Children of Aule the power to make with their hands a vessel through which a part of their souls might be set free, and this craft would be a great comfort to them, whether in the form of metal, wood, stone, fabric or any other form through which the dwarf came to express. And should these crafts be damaged, great pain would be caused to the maker, yet they would endure and survive to craft anew a Mock-Daemon, as Elves called these crafts, or as the Dwarves call them – 'Soul-Work'.
But Eru Illuvatar, for his own part, wishing that his children should never feel the agony of solitude, created both First and Second born* with a wondrous Gift – that is, a 'Daemon', a physical manifestation of an individual's soul moulded from the Music that underlies the Music that is All That Is.
And they were made so that from birth until death their voice could be heard in the heart of their other self without the slightest sound made, and the voice of their elf or man is heard always by them in turn. So they could not be separated from their partner – for to attempt to do so would cause death to both parties, and the form of the daemon to disappear into golden dust that is the fate of any daemon who dies, and the spirit it carries to reunite with its partner in the World Beyond.
And these Daemons, being a part of the world, took the form of things upon the world, and appear to our eyes as kelvar, that is as animals, and the form of each Elf or Man's daemon reveals something of the character of the individual, and many songs were composed that celebrated the revelation, and many texts in many libraries discuss it.
This form, it must be said, is not immutable. Though the daemons of the Eldar are born in the form that it will remain in throughout his or her elf's life – with few exceptions – the daemons of the Edain are born in a shape that may change by the minute when their Man is an infant, then less and less often until it Settles into a fixed form, normally before the onset of adulthood.
It is only if the soul is twisted by great pain that the form of the daemon shifts thereafter, in Elves or in Men. So it is that the daemons of orcs, for they retain this nature though it is made unnatural, are grotesque, and vile to look upon in their monstrosity.
Now, the daemons of Elves and Men speak intelligibly to their partners not only in their minds, and they may also speak to other elves or men, and to each other – sometimes by way of their own language that neither Elf nor Man may learn. In this language, the daemon of a mother and father name the daemon of a child, and they are considered the father and mother of the child's daemon: that is, the daemon of the mother is considered the father, and that of the father the mother, for in almost all cases the daemon takes for their form that of the opposite sex to their partner.
(It should be noted that this is not always the case, though so few are the examples of a daemon that is the same sex as its elf or as its man, that the cause for these anomalies remains a mystery. But Melkor, who is called Morgoth, seeing opportunity to sow discord in any point of confusion, has taken great delight in deceiving the Men under his control regarding this – saying a daemon who is born the same sex as their Elf or Man is a sure sign of misfortune, and that both parties should, as such, be persecuted. This, wise people know, is not true; for among those gifted with a daemon of their own sex are counted such noble persons as the Lady Galadriel Finarfiniel and her husband Celeborn of Doriath.)
Such is the nature of the daemons of Elves and Men. However, it also happened that Eru Illuvatar also created the daemons of the Eldar and the daemons of the Edain differently from each other, even as their partners are different, and He did so in several ways.
First, He willed it that the daemons of Elves in more than five in ten instances would take the form of birds, whereas the daemons of Men in the same number of instances take the forms of beasts of the land, and it is thought only one in five of theirs may fly, which is considered lucky among their people. In both races, it is observed that fewer than one in five daemons take the forms of animals not of warm blood. In general terms, it is observed that the daemons of Elves may travel further from their partners than those of Men, before the bond between them is over-stretched to the point of pain.
Second, He willed it that the daemons of Elves form outside the bodies of their parents at their conception, while those of Men remain within the womb of the mother until the birth of the newborn, when they take their first form. Indeed, in the later months of a woman's pregnancy, the golden glow of the daemon may be observed beneath the mother's skin; a marvel to any of the Eldar who has seen it.
Third, though the bond between daemon and their partner is sacred and must not be violated in the mind of both races; He willed, it seems, that Men take such bonds more seriously than do Elves, for their daemons rarely talk to any but their partner, which is not the way with the Firstborn. As such, Men mislike for others to address their daemon unless they are close friends. To do more than speak with another's daemon, which is to say to lay one's hand upon it, is regarded with horror by all Men except for those most taken by Shadow.
The Eldar too consider the laying of hands upon another's daemon as a crime. Yet, among elves it is also accepted that parents might touch their children's daemons and children their parents', siblings their siblings' and spouses their husband or wife's. Among the Edain, children are taught from a young age not to touch any other daemon but their own, though in their very earliest years they too accept contact with the daemons of close relations.
It is said that only the truest of couples, who have been at each other's side for many a year, would ever touch one another's daemon among Men, and some have said that this difference between races above any other is what both peoples find the most unsettling about the other.
In conclusion it should also be said that the daemons of Elves and Men tend to be smaller than an adult of either race – with few exceptions – and with only one known exception all take the form of a creature than Yavanna has brought into the World.
Of the one exception, more is told in the part of this work titled 'of Feanor'.
*~*~*
*It is noted that the race known as Periannath, who call themselves 'Hobbits', also possess the Gift of Daemons, and their daemons conform mostly to the nature of those of Men, though it is thought that theirs are more talkative outside of their own partner than a Man's daemon tends to be.
*~*~*