Yona

The word Yona in Pali and the Prakrits, and the analogue "Yavana" in Sanskrit are words used in the Ancient India to designate Greek speakers. "Yona" and "Yavana" are transliterations of the Greek word for "Ionians" (Homeric Greek: Ἰάoνες, Ancient Greek: *Ἰάϝoνες), who were probably the first Greeks to be known in the East.

The Yavanas are mentioned in the Majjhima Nikaya, in which Gautama Buddha mentions to the Brahman Assalayana the existence of the Kamboja and Yona people who have only two castes, master or slave.

Examples of direct association of these with the Greeks include:

Vala (Middle-earth)

The Valar [ˈvalar] (singular Vala) are characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium. They are first mentioned in The Lord of the Rings, but The Silmarillion (published posthumously but assembled mostly from material written before The Lord of the Rings) develops them into the Powers of Arda or the Powers of the World. They are angelic powers, the Ainur that chose to go into the World (Arda) and complete its material development after its form was determined by the Music of the Ainur (Ainulindalë).

Origin and acts

Eru Ilúvatar first revealed to the Ainur his great vision of The World through musical themes.

This World, fashioned from his ideas and expressed as the Music of Ilúvatar, was refined by thoughtful interpretations by the Ainur, who then created their own themes based on each unique comprehension. No one Ainu understood all of the themes that sprang from Ilúvatar. Instead, each elaborated individual themes, singing of mountains and subterranean regions, say, from themes for metals and stones. The themes of Ilúvatar's music were elaborated, and the Ainur added creative touches to blend with the themes of other Ainur. Melkor, however, added discordant themes: he strove against the Music; his themes became evil because they sprang from selfishness and vanity, not from the enlightenment of Ilúvatar.