10 things the God of the Lord of the Rings, Eru Ilúvatar, did in the history of Middle Earth

This article contains spoilers for The Silmarillion.

The One Eru Ilúvatar may not be known to everyone as the God of Middle-earth, but he was behind the scenes of The Lord of the Ringspulling strings and occasionally intervening directly. High fantasy pioneer JRR Tolkien, the creator of The Lord of the RingsIt was always clear that the story was not an allegory, but that it contained allegorical elements (The Letters of JRR Tolkien). As such, while LOTR is not an allegory of Tolkien’s Catholic faith, Eru Ilúvatar had much in common with the Christian God and was a benevolent entity of omniscient power.

It’s easy to forget Eru’s presence all the time The Lord of the Rings book, as it is only briefly hinted at. It is much more developed in The Silmarillion. It’s even easier to miss his presence watching Peter Jackson’s film Lord of the Rings films, where Arwen’s mention of the Valar may be the story’s closest reference to the divine will in effect. The Valar are also mentioned in The Rings of Power but with a little more context. But Eru himself was the start of it all, playing a much larger role in the events of Middle-earth than the Valar in general.

10

Eru Ilúvatar created Ainur, elves and men

Before time in timeless corridors

Eru created Ainur, Elves, and Men – three of the most powerful species in Middle-earth, while every other species needed Eru’s input to truly take off. The most famous Ainu (singular of Ainur) may be The Lord of the Rings’ titular villain, Sauron the Abominable, although he can be rivaled by Gandalf. Eru created the Valar and Maiar first in the Timeless Halls. These were the two orders of the Ainur race, with the 15 Valar being the most powerful Ainur and the Maiar being the inferior beings.

The Ainur sang among themselves until Eru led them in a huge symphony that envisioned a new world. While the Ainur provided most of the visual aids, Eru placed her children in the vision – Elves and Men. AND, as Eru ordered, Elves and Men awoke in Middle-earth many distant years ahead, all Eru’s work. As such, Elves and Men are commonly called Children of Ilúvatar.

9

Eru directed The Ainulindalë, planning Middle Earth

Before time in timeless corridors

After creating the Ainur in the Timeless Halls, Eru gave them a theme, and they sang the Song of the Ainur, or the Ainulindalë in the elven language of Quenya. Music was more than just music in Middle-earth. Once the theme ends, Eru revealed the fruits of the Ainur’s labor; he revealed the Vision of Ilúvatar. It was basically a sort of cosmic video showing the formation and history of the universe up to a certain point, which is what the Ainur sang about.

The Vala Morgoth, then known as Melkor, sang against Eru’s theme, wanting to bring other ideas, but this only created discord, forcing Eru to stop and restart the Ainulindalë twice. Eru confirmed that “no theme may be played that does not have its remotest source in [him]nor [could] any changes to the song [his] despite.” Clearly, the Ainur were subcreatingwhile Eru was the first and only true creator. Eru and the Ainur then created the universe together and looked after it as it grew, letting the music unfold and only intervening directly when it was truly necessary.

8

Eru gave life to Middle Earth, Arda and Eä

Before time in timeless corridors

After the Vision of Ilúvatar was finished, Eru confirmed that the Ainur would then have to build what they had visualized. Outside the Timeless Halls was the Void. Only Eru had the ability to grant lifethen he sent the Imperishable Flame – life itself – into the Void and within it was created Eä, the universe in which The Lord of the Rings is defined. Within Eä was Arda – the world. And in Arda, despite the changing landscapes of multiple ages, Middle Earth eventually became a continent.

Although many Ainur chose to remain in the Timeless Halls, many chose to enter Eä and build it, and these were bound within its confines until it was finished, as Eru decreed. Some of the most powerful Ainur entered Eäthese being the Valar – the Powers of the World – along with many Maiar. Despite their discord, Melkor was one of them. But the discord foreshadowed Melkor’s turn to more arrogance, and he attempted to assert his rule. The Valar opposed him and everything that Melkor could not rule, he sabotaged. This conflict was the Battle of the Powers.

7

Eru created the laws of Middle Earth, Arda and Eä

Before time in timeless corridors

Tolkien’s little-known apocrypha published in Morgoth’s Ring reveals that Eru Ilúvatar created the laws of the universe that were rooted in the very structure of being. These worked in the same way as the fundamental laws of physics in the real world. Tolkien discussed these laws in an essay called “Ósanwe-kenta,” describing the breakable decrees of Eru as axani and the insurmountable limitations of being as únati.. An example of an únat is the barrier of “Reluctant“in telepathy – a deliberately closed mind cannot be violated by another.

An example of axan (the singular of axani) was that begetting or conceiving would link an Ainu to his physical incarnation, had he chosen to take on a physical form. Although in-universe, this trial was the tradition of the Eldar Elves, who theorized that this binding effect could be a “necessary consequence“instead of an axan. The tradition was clearer in Axani when it came to telepathy – “It is a universal axan that no one shall, directly by force or indirectly by fraud, take from another what he has a right to possess and keep as his own.“

6

Eru had a plan, including Gollum’s journey to Mount Doom

Always

Eru’s omniscience facilitated his constant direction of events in Middle-earth, from beginning to end. The men had “a virtue to shape their lives, amid the powers and opportunities of the world, beyond the Music of the Ainur, which is the destiny of all other things,” confirming that part of Eru’s gift to Men was a certain level of exemption from pre-planned history in the Ainulindalë. However, all of history and the beings within it were subject to a level of divine providence – even the Valar, as Melkor demonstrated through his discord. Even Gollum, falling into Mount Doom:

Frodo deserved all the honor because he spent every ounce of his willpower and his body, and that was just enough to get him to the destined point, and nothing more. Few others, possibly no others of their time, would have made it this far. The Other Power then took over: the Writer of History (by which I do not mean myself), “that ever-present Person who is never absent and never named.”

This extract from a letter written by JRR Tolkien confirmed that Eru was behind much of what seemed like strange coincidences. or chance encounters in Middle Earth. The ever-wise Elrond pointed out the same fact as “coincidence” of the Fellowship of the Ring arriving in Rivendell around the same time – “You came… by chance, as much as it may seem. However, this is not the case. Believe… that it is so ordered.” Gandalf also spoke about the “coincidence“from Bilbo finding the One Ring:”there was something… at work, beyond any design of the Ringmaker… Bilbo must find the Ring.“

5

Eru gave his creations the free will to act as they wished

Always

Tolkien fandom has long debated whether fate or free will preside over Middle-earth, but Tolkien was always quite clear that the answer was both. This requires some research into the legendarium and Tolkien’s letters to confirm, so the debate is understandable. Like this The Silmarillion confirmed that the Ainulindalë was “destiny for all things”, with some exceptions applied to Men, Tolkien confirmed in a letter that Elves and Men “were rational creatures with free will in relation to God.“According to Tolkien scholars Tom Shippey and Corey Olsen, Tolkien was heavily influenced by a Roman philosopher named Boethius.

Eru functioned outside of time as Boethius claimed God functioned. For Boethius and Tolkien, this resolved the riddle of the conflict between fate and free will – it is only the human concept of time that makes fate and free will contradictory. Eru and his plan work constantly, at all times, fluidly rather than pre-planned, so determinism is obsolete and free will is possible. Or, as Tolkien stated in a letter – “Free Will is derivative and only operates within determined circumstances; but for it to exist, the Author must guarantee it, no matter what.”

4

Eru gave life to the dwarves of Aulë and the creatures of Yavanna

The days before the days

Eru breathed life into the Dwarves and Ents after they were created by Aulë and Yavanna respectively. After the Valar came down to Arda and began to build it, the rebel Aulë made the race of Dwarves in secretfearing the response of the Valar, knowing that only Eru should create life. They would have no consciousness of their own without Eru, which Eru did not hesitate to point out to Aulë.

Aulë demonstrated regret for his rash act and this was enough to grant Eru forgiveness and assistance. If Melkor had been capable of the seemingly simple act of contrition, things might have been different, but he never admitted he was wrong. Yavana, Aulë’s wife was worried about all the damage the Dwarves could cause to their creations, including the land and forests. And so the Ents were born – “Shepherds of the Trees.“

3

Eru offered Beren new life and made Lúthien mortal

First Era

Eru reunited the lovers, Beren and Lúthien, after their deaths. This was a unique case. Although invulnerable to age or disease, Elves can be killed or die from grief or exhaustion. In the case of a death like this, Elves went to the Halls of Mandos where they could be reincarnated in their physical forms if they had deserved it. The men, however, stopped at the Halls of Mandos before going somewhere unknown.

Lúthien went to see Beren in the Halls of Mandosbut allowing this was far beyond the pay of Mandos as Vala. Mandos asked the Vala Manwë, who asked Eru, who offered Lúthien the choice between immediate reincarnation or a mortal life, taking Beren back with her. Of course, she chose Beren, losing her immortality but sealing her fate as one of the most legendary Elves in Middle Earth – she already had a defeat of Sauron under her belt.

2

Eru sank Númenor when Pharazôn threatened the Valar

Second Era

One of the only instances of Eru’s direct intervention was in the Second Age of Middle-earth, when he sank Númenor in response to Pharazôn’s attack. From his creative efforts in the Timeless Halls Eru left the rule of Arda to the Valar and his several children, but Pharazôn’s threat was too great for him to ignore. The Men of Númenor were forbidden to sail to the West lest they begin to envy the immortality of the Elves and Valarin. However, as the centuries passed, the Númenóreans became jealous, creating feud between themselves and the Elves. Eventually, the Elves were banished from its shores.

When the power-hungry Pharazôn came to power, Númenor was vulnerable to Sauron’s manipulations. Unfortunately, Pharazôn made the wrong move when attacking Sauron and taking him captive. Sauron convinced Pharazôn to break the Ban of the Valar, sail to Valinor and demand immortality. Sauron thought that the Valar would destroy Pharazôn’s fleet, neutralizing his enemy – Númenor. But the Valar summoned Eru, and he went further than Sauron expected, sinking the island and removing Aman from the Circles of the World, killing Sauron and leaving him unable to assume a righteous form again.

1

Eru resurrected Gandalf after his Balrog battle

Third Age

Eru’s next moment of divine intervention was to resurrect Gandalf the Gray on Gandalf the White after his battle with the Balrog. Gandalf was one of the Istari, five wizards sent to Middle-earth by the Valar to oppose Sauron, in a move sanctioned by Eru. However, Gandalf was the only Istar still doing his work at the end of the Third Age, so Eru’s support was understandable.

The Istari were actually all Maiar and therefore immortal, but were sent exclusively by the Valar in bodies.”as of Men, real and not pretended,“so as not to incite admiration and adoration with displays of magic and power. It was not easy for an Ainu to simply rebuild a body after his death and time was of the essence in The Lord of the Rings. Therefore, Eru stepped in to get Gandalf back to Middle-earth and better than ever, with improved abilities.