# Silmarillion ... doesn't Melian have a job? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** middle-earth\ **Created:** [April 25, 2002, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silmarillion-doesnt-melian-have-a-job/105577 "2002-04-25T17:39:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silmarillion-doesnt-melian-have-a-job/105577/1 "2002-04-25T17:39:33Z")
I’m re-reading the Silmarillion now, and it just struck me that Melian’s taking it pretty easy. Doesn’t she have a job or a boss like the other Maia? She’s just busy dancing in Beleriand, Thingol snares her, then she settles down and has a kid. Seems to me that almost all the other Ainur are pretty busy creating the world and fighting Morgoth and such. Granted, she’s helping the forces of good by making Thingol a strong foe of Morgoth, but she never has to report back to Yavanna or anything. Cushy job! ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silmarillion-doesnt-melian-have-a-job/105577/2 "2002-04-25T17:59:27Z")
Hey, why do you think **Iluvatar** created her in the first place? “They also surf who only stand on waves…” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silmarillion-doesnt-melian-have-a-job/105577/3 "2002-04-25T18:59:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Doesn’t she have a job or a boss like the other Maia? They’re all free agents, so to speak. All of the Maiar are associated with one (or more) of the Valar, but the relationship isn’t exactly boss/employee. And as Maiar go, Melian does a heck of a lot. There are a heck of a lot of Maiar (hundreds or thousands, presumably), but we only ever hear specifically of the dozen or two who actually do something. I would say that creating and defending one of the three great strongholds against the power of Morgoth qualifies as “doing something”. Besides, as with all queens in Middle Earth, it seems, she has to keep her considerably less wise husband from shooting himself in the foot, politically, and that has to be a job in itself. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2002, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silmarillion-doesnt-melian-have-a-job/105577/4 "2002-04-25T22:47:33Z")
Well, she does have to do whatever it is she does to keep the Girdle up, so the whole kingdom doesn’t fall into the clutches of Morgoth; that may take up a few hours of the day. The REAL question, IMHO, is does THINGOL have a job - or is he just an Eldarin gigolo that she keeps around the place for his pretty silver hair? ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2002, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/silmarillion-doesnt-melian-have-a-job/105577/5 "2002-04-27T00:35:46Z")
I think her major role was to just produce Luthien, so a strain of the Ainur could mingle with elves and men. Without Luthien, there was no Elwing to bring Earendil the Silmarillion and trigger the War of Wrath, no Elros or high Numenorean Lords, No Elrond, no Aragorn, etc. etc. Besides, out of all those Maia, someone had to go native!