Deities of the 01st Age - Valar

Deities of the 01st Age - Maiar

Olorin iii

i A rare image of Morgoth's lieutenant. As a Maia who went of his own will to Middle-earth, Sauron kept all his powers. One such power was the power to take any form he wished, and Sauron used this power to take on the physical form of a human necromancer to seduce the Numenoreans and cause the sack of Numenor.
He was ultimately vanquished by the Last Alliance and stripped of all physical appearance, thereafter appearing only in the form of the Lidless Eye.

ii As the de facto head of the group of Maiar sent to Middle-earth, the Maia that became Saruman the White took the avatar of a man of skill and wisdom and openly assumed the role of head of the Istari and was of great standing and knowledge. It was the lust for knowledge that led Saruman to ally himself with Sauron and to his ultimate downfall and death at the hands of a hobbit at the end of the 3rd age..

iiiAs the de facto head of the group of Maiar sent to Middle-earth, the Maia that became Saruman the White took the avatar of a man of skill and wisdom and openly assumed the role of head of the Istari and was of great standing and knowledge. It was the lust for knowledge that led Saruman to ally himself with Sauron and to his ultimate downfall and death at the hands of a hobbit at the end of the 3rd age.

iv The 03rd known member of the group of chosen Maiar took the form of an Istari, devoting his mission to the flora and the fauna of Middle-earth, and was known as Radagast the Brown.
Little is heard of Radagast other than occasionally when Gandalf called on him for help, notably in contacting the eagles; other than that, he appears no more in the tales of Middle-earth.

Finally. The entire group of chosen Maiar in Middle-earth numbered 7 or 8. What happened to the others? No mention is made other than a brief reference in the Silmarillion, where it is mentioned that they went East, and nothing more is said of their work.

Elves of the 01st Age

Feanor*

Turgon of Gondolin
(High King of the Noldor)

Fingolfin

Gil-Galad (Ereinion)

Luthien

Glorfindel**

    * Of Feanor, prince of the Noldor. Known as the greatest of the Elven craftsmen. Feanor captured the light of the Two Trees of Arda and imprisoned them inside jewels called the "Silmarili". This caused the banishment of the Noldor to Middle-earth and was the starting point of a very long story.

     **Of Glorfindel. A noble Elf of Gondolin, who fled the Fall of that city with Tuor and Idril and whose battle with a Balrog in the Encircling Mountains secured their escape with their son Eärendil.

     Only a few of the Elves are mentioned here and only one woman, Luthien; however, to be correct, women of the Elves played very important roles in the history of the 01st age.
Nerdanel of the Noldor (Feanor's wife and mother of their 7 sons), Nienor (Turin's wife), Melian (Thingol's wife), a Maiar in her own right, and last but not least, Galadriel.

Men of the 01st Age

Earendil* and Elwing
(The parents of Elros** & Elrond***)

* Earendil: Son of Tuor married Elwing, grand daughter of Beren and Luthien. They had 2 sons.
** Elros: Brother of Elrond, father of the long line of Numenorean Kings, including Isuldur and Aragorn
*** Elrond: Father of Arwen, wife of Aragorn.
****Isuldur: Strictly speaking Isuldur belongs to the 02nd age. In fact his death coincided with the end of the 02nd age and the decline of the line of Kings and the beginning of the Stewardship of the realm of Gondor that lasted until Aragorn reclaimed the throne that heralded the end of the 03rd Age.

(NB. After the victorious battle, at the end of the 01st age, that finally overthrew Morgoth, Elros and Elrond, already of half-Elvish descent, were rewarded for their part in the victory. As half man and half elf, they were allowed to choose between joining the elves and staying with the men of Middle-earth. Elrond chose to become an Elf and was assured a place in Valinor when the time came. Elros chose to remain with the men of Middle-earth and became the first in the long line of Numenor kings.)

Although Elros chose not to become an Elf and become immortal, he, as with his descendants, benefited from an extremely long life span.

The fact that Elros was accorded this favour became a source of discontent with later generations who contested the fact that they could not aspire to immortality, like the Eldar. It was Eru's will that the Atani benefit from the "right" to die, whereasthe Eldar were condemned to live eternally; however, towards the end of the 02nd age, the Numenoreans' life span had diminished considerably, and by the end of the 03rd age, their life span, although much longer than the other men of Middle-earth, was nothing like it was when Earendil ruled.

A special thanks to all the artists who help "bring to life" Tolkien's characters and their and notably:
Roger Garland ; Ted Nasmith ; John Howe; Alan lee, without who these pages, and many like them, wouldn't be possible!

©Nick Richards Nov 2004, appended Oct 2016