April 23, 2003

God Save Us...
Brett C.

Mehtare, God is indeed a pivotal factor in the history of Middle Earth. In Tolkien's mythology he is named Eru Iluvatar, the divine being who created the Valar you hear referred to in the movie and also the creator of both Men and Elves. His influence can be seen working subtly throughout the history of Middle Earth, including such instances as the coming of Beren to Doriath, the [not so subtle] destruction of the island of Numenor when it's inhabitants had turned to wickedness, and the finding of the One Ring by Bilbo. Even in the movie Gandalf explains to Frodo that there are other forces at work in that occurence "...besides the will of evil."

It is true that there is no record by the Professor of worship of Eru being formalised into a religious doctrine, the closest thing to this being the prayres offered by the King of Numenor on the hallowed summit of the Meneltarma, Numenor's towering central peak, but it is not impossible that the Hobbit's would have some passing knowledge of his existence through their interaction with the Dunedain when the Shire was founded.