[simon22cat]

What is the religion of the race of Man? I am pretty sure they are not all Baptists. Do they worship a certain 'God'? Or do they follow the same beliefs of the elvish race.

[SilverMoonLady]

I'm likely wrong, but I think Tolkien purposely steered wide of an intitutionalized sort of religious set-up; there were no churches etc in Middle Earth.
One would probably see, if anything, some knowledge etc of the Valar among the descendents of Numenor though... But wiser heads than mine shall soon deluge you with much accurate info:)

Welcome aboard, btw!

Sil

[Andreth]

I've been working on an essay about the religion of Middle-earth for quite a while, but it's still lingering in my 'Unfinished Tales' pile. I wrote up a summary some months ago on a list I used to do research for. Someone asked about the idea of having Rohirrim or Gondorian characters calling on the Valar in times of need or if they would have called on Eru. I'll cut and paste it here for you to have a look at. It's kind of all-encompassing, so if you need any specifics just let me know.

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The short answer is that most would have probably called on Eru/Iluvatar, but not by his actual name, which was reserved for special occasions. Other names that have been used for Eru are the Creator, the One, the Father, the Father of All, the Allfather… so anything along those lines would do.

It wasn't uncommon to call on the Valar in times of trouble or peril, but people usually called on the one that had special meaning to their culture: the Elves – Elbereth/Varda/Elentári; the Rohirrim – Oromë/Béma (Unfinished Tales); Númenorean mariners – Uinen. These are all referred to in the books, but I'm sure you could think of other Valar who might apply; for instance, the Dwarves and the Smiths of Eregion may have called on Aulë.

Professor Tolkien actually did discuss religion quite a bit in Letters and made some references throughout the various books. Basically, most people view the Valar as Gods similar to the Greek, Norse or Roman pantheon, and given the way they're referred to in LotR and the Silm, it's understandable. That was how I originally thought of them. But Tolkien didn't mean for them to be seen in that sense, as a set of Gods who were worshipped. The name Valar meant "the powers", but the professor said it "Englished" as "gods"; the same way Istari translated to "wizards" and he caught some flak about using the word wizards. Obviously religion was something he was asked about often because there are quite a few references in his letters. He usually referred to the Valar as "gods", enclosed in quotes. Richard Nixon-style.

The world of Middle-earth was a MONOTHEISTIC world and the Valar were the attendants of Eru, just as the Maiar were the attendants of the Valar. The Valar were comparable to Gabriel, Michael and the other archangels in some religions; or like the saints in Catholicism. They have power and people may call upon them, but everyone knows the true power ultimately resides in Eru.

The Númenoreans, Gondorians and Rohirrim were, in Tolkien's words, `purely monotheistic'. Meneltarma was an imitation of Taniquetil in Aman, where the Valar made their praises and adorations of Eru. The remnant of the Faithful who came to ME to establish Arnor and Gondor carried on these monotheistic beliefs and "religion as divine worship seems to have played a small part; though a glimpse of it is caught in Faramir's remark on `grace at meat'". (Vol II)

There are instances of these peoples calling on the Valar: Faramir's companion, Damrod, calling for the Valar when they were under attack; Isildur's request of the Valar to hallow Elendil's original tomb on Amon Anwar; and the Númenorean sailors calling on Uinen, who they actually considered to be on the same level as the Valar, even though she was only a Maia.

Speaking of Men of Numenorean descent, Tolkien said, 'Those under special Elvish influence might call on the angelic powers for help in immediate peril or fear of evil enemies.' The footnotes to this say the Elves often called on Varda-Elbereth, the Queen of the Blessed Realm.

The Rohirrim, although not a transplanted Númenorean culture, originated from the same source as the Numenoreans, because they were all descendants of the Houses of the Edain who remained in ME; this is where the Rohirrim inherited their monotheistic beliefs from. They are familiar with Oromë, calling him Béma, which is not surprising given that they remained in ME and did not have the knowledge of the Numenoreans; and also given Oromë's nature and that Rohan was a horse- based culture.

Orome would have special meaning for the Rohirrim also because of their belief that the Mearas originated from him. Technically speaking, someone could get picky and say it's possible that the Rohirrim at the time of the War of the Ring may have known the Elvish names for the Valar because Theoden was born in Gondor and spoke Common Speech which he learned in Minas Tirith, but personally, I seriously doubt it.

The Elves, even the Avari and the woodland Elves (as proven by Legolas) would have called on Elbereth. Their relationship with her was based on their reverence of her creations, something that began at their awakening under the stars before any Elves made the journey to Aman. In the subgroups, however, the Noldor may have also called on Aulë; and the Teleri on Ulmo, or even Ossë.

The Hobbits didn't practice any kind of `worship or prayer', only those who had a great deal of contact with the Elves did, such as Frodo or Bilbo. Sam also picked this up; probably something learned from Frodo or even from his time spent in Lothlórien. Personally, though, I believe Hobbits would have known of, and had respect for, Eru/Ilúvatar based on the fact that the professor generally made a connection between monotheism and all `good' peoples.

The idea of `worship' and `temples' seems to be generally assigned in a negative sense to the followers of Melkor and Sauron, who worshipped them, and had lost sight of the overall rule of Eru. However, although Sauron encouraged atheism, he wasn't a true atheist himself. He knew Eru existed because he had spent time with him, but Sauron was convinced that Eru had turned his back on Arda and didn't care what happened there. And Melkor; well, I think by the end Melkor was deluded enough to convince himself that he was more powerful than Eru or possibly that Eru didn't even exist, but that's all conjecture on my part.

Mahal is the Khuzdul name for Aule, used in Ch. 2 of the Silm. I have some information about the Dwarves, mostly concerning their devotion to Aule and their belief in reincarnation, which is exhibited in the Longbeard's (Gimli's people) legend of Durin the Deathless being reborn in certain descendants. But I don't have it put together and I don't feel comfortable enough yet to give a fair summary.

[SilverMoonLady]

Told you the info was forthcoming

*bows to the Mistress of Knowledge*

[Andreth]

Oooooo....Mistress. I like the sound of that.

[SilverMoonLady]

[GypsieRose]

I would add that the Standing Silence (TTT, "The Window on the West") has been called the closest thing to a religious ritual/observance anywhere in LOTR.

--Rose

[Eyborg]

[Andreth]

Lutherans?! *hastily makes the sign of the cross* I can just hear our good Catholic Professor rolling over in his grave as we speak. Only kidding.

And yes, the silent homage to Numenor, the West and beyond by Faramir and his men at Henneth Annun was the 'grace at meat' scene that Tolkien was referring to in one of the quotes above.

But there was one important point that I forgot. The return of the King had another significant meaning, besides the unification of the Dunedain kingdoms. Tolkien said that the mountain of Meneltarma on Numenor was an imitation of Taniquetil in Valinor. Taniquetil was the place where the Ainur paid homage to Eru, and the Numenoreans did the same on Meneltarma. Another similarity was that on Meneltarma only the king was allowed to speak to Eru and ask his blessings, just as Manwe, as the King of the West, was the only Ainur who spoke directly with Eru.

Only the King of the Dunedain could publicly invoke the name of Eru in oath or ceremony. (Cirion was able to do so in his oath with Eorl because Cirion was descended from Elendil and held the powers of the King as the King's regent, although it was considered highly unusual and he was the only Steward to have given or taken an oath in this fashion) So with the return of the King also came the return of the religious rituals, and the holy days observed on Numenor would more than likely have returned as well, now that the Priest-king, so to speak, had been restored.

[Eyborg]