Salmar
Maker of the Ulumúri; minstrel of the deeps
Name and Office
Salmar — a Maia of Ulmo, the maker and player of the great conches of the sea. The Valaquenta names him among the servants of the Lord of Waters: “Salmar, who made the Ulumúri, the great horns of the deep sea whose sound was the voice of Ulmo”.
The Ulumúri The
Ulumúri are the instruments Salmar made — great conches or horns that, blown beneath the waters and at the shores, carried the voice and tidings of Ulmo to all who had ears. Their music is among the most beautiful and strange things of the elder world: “the sound of the Ulumúri is deep and wonderful, and those that heard it longed for the sea”. They are the means by which Ulmo’s counsel reached Beleriand, and their echo is said to remain in the hearts of the seafaring peoples.
In the Texts
Like most Maiar, Salmar appears only in the Valaquenta and the tradition of the deep horns; he takes no part in the narrative. Christopher Tolkien’s note remarks that Salmar represents Ulmo’s “hidden ministry of music” — the beauty that persists beneath the sorrow.