Ossë
Master of the waves upon the shores; servant of Ulmo
Name and Office
Ossë — a Maia of the sea, servant of Ulmo, and “the Master of the waves that beat about the shores”. He is the power of the restless water — the breakers, the storms of the coast, the wild music of the sea against the land. His wife is Uinen, the Lady of the Seas, gentler than he.
Nature and Temptation
Ossë is among the most interesting of the Maiar because he was
twice in danger of falling:
- Melkor’s temptation. When Ulmo went into the deeps and Ossë was left guardian of the shores, Melkor befriended him, promising him all the joy of the sea’s wildness if he would serve him. Ossë “listened to the words of the Darkhe was brought to think that the storms of the sea were his own to command”; only the love of Uinen kept him, for she “cast her hair into the sea” and drew him back — “she begged Ulmo to forgive him, and he was forgiven”. From that time he has served faithfully but with his own wild love of the storms.
- The Teleri. He loved the Elves of the sea — above all the Teleri, the third kindred of the Eldar. It is due to Ossë that the Teleri stayed so long by the western shores, and that some — the Falathrim under Círdan — never left Middle-earth at all, remaining by the beaches of Beleriand in his delight. He it is whom the Sindar of the havens credit with the making of their ships; “from Ossë the Teleri learned the craft of ships” — citable: he “loved the Teleri and their ships, and taught them the making of ships and the music of the sea”. He “brought the Teleri ships safely to the shores of Tol Eressëa” in the Great Journey — In the Valaquenta: “when the Teleri sailed… it was Ossë who ferried them” The Valaquenta: “Ossë and Uinen… were beneath the dominion of Ulmo… he loved the Teleri, and they were his delight; and it was the love of Ossë that kept the Teleri by the Sea, insomuch that some never completed the Journey, and abide by the Sea in the shadow of the world for ever.” Good.
In the Tale
When the Noldor fled Valinor and were barred from the Teleri’s ships, it was the dream of Ossë; his name sounds in the leaving of the last ships of the Falathrim, and in the famous tradition that the havens of the Havens (Brithombar, Eglarest) were built under his tuition. He is favorably disposed toward the Exiled
— he is counted among those that continued to help the Sindar of the coast.