Did Huan have a fea?
 

I've been wondering about this for a while. He could talk but he was a dog. It just doesn't make sense.

Not sure about the fea, but there could be a flea. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Perhaps I should rephrase that Did Huan have a spirit? Fea is Quenya for spirit.

OK, going out on a limb, here...

All living things have a spirit.

"My-dog-has-fea!" (Only thing I learned to play on the guitar. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] )

I agree with Birdland, all things have a fea, a spirit. But not all spirits are eternal. The men, dwarves, hobbits and elves had feas. The only one mentioned as being eternal are the elves.

A thread in the canon Silmarillion forum is what made me think of this it is talking about orcish fear and it says that if orcs were beasts they would have no fear.

yeah, i suppose huan has a fea. he seemed to have some perception of right or wrong, and if i remember correctly forsook the service of the sons of feanor when they tried to do bad bad things to luthien and beren. if he was just a beast, he would have simply obeyed his baser instincts or the wishes of his master.

dunno bout orcs though...

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every man's life is a path to the truth -- hesse

No, not all things have a fea in Tolkien's world.

Regardless, Myths Transformed tells us that Huan was a Maia.

Yeah, you're right. Huan was a Maia.

Wasn't huan originally orom's (the valar who first found the elves)? I thought I read in the silmarillion that orom gave him to one of feanor's sons (forgot the name again [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]). If huan is a maia, how can orom just gave him away? It's just too disrespectful imho [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img].

Neverthless, I think only iluvatar's children have feas. The only known ones are elves and humans. Maybe dwarves too but it's more or less adopted :P. So, if iluvatar made huan and gave him a purpose, then he has a fea, if not, he only got fleas [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img].

I don't know if that Myths Transformed essay can be entirely trusted. Tolkien passed through many, many ideas over the course of those essays, and it's very difficult to tell what was final and what was not.

That is true, Aiwendil, but in the case of Huan specifically there is no conflicting account elsewhere. In fact, the note indicating a certainty rather than a possibility (note 4 to the Myths Transformed text) was originally scribbled into the AAm texts and not MT. The Eagles are another story altogether.

I do not know if Huan was a Maia or not, but he was in service of Oromë, who indeed gave him away to one of the sons of Feanor.
I think all animals in service of the Valar could speak or understand the tongues of humanoid races. Huan was permitted to speak three times and afterwards he would face his doom. The greater eagles in the service of Manwe had the ability of speech too... even Gwaihir and his eagles in the third age could speak to Bilbo, Gandalf and the dwarves in the Westron-tongue.

Just thought that I'd resurrect this thread as, having just read the tale of Luthien and Beren, I was greatly taken by the character of Huan.

My immediate thought upon reading that Huan was originally one of Orome's Hounds was that he was one of the Maiar. I was delighted to see that this possibility is reflected in JRRT's writings.

One objection to this theory is that, as a Maia, he couldn't just be "given" to Celegorm. But, surely, if he was willing, he could have entered into the service of the Eldar. Is there any futher evidece of whether or not he was a Maia? If not, what are his likely origins? I suppose that there were creatures in Valinor that were not Maia, such as Ungoliant, and that they could enter into the service of the Valar, such as a non-Maia Huan might have done.

And, that aside, isn't Huan one of the great heroes of the Silmarillion? He personifies (if that is the right word, when dealing with dogs) the faithful and valiant hound, but happily is no longer prepared to be faithful when he perceives that his master (Celegorm) is doing wrong. Any character that kills that many werewolves (including the mightiest of their kind) and sees off Sauron must desreve a place amongst the truly great characters of JRRT's works.

To answer your question
Yes Huan does have a fea. In the Silmarillion Huan gave counsil to Luthien. He understood the language of all things that spoke. He "understood" a key word.
Huan is called the The great wolf hound of Valinor he came from Valinor and was a servant to Oromë (Maia were the servants of the Vala*maybe* for there are many).
A key to prove this would be, Huan was both cursed ( by Celegorm) and he had a fate, To kill the Red Maw or Carcharoth.
And yes Everything has a spirit.Even to Tolkien [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] IMHO -(~<~> Yavanna

Pretty sure its a safe bet in Tolkien lore that if it can speak it has a Fea. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]