Quote:
Originally Posted by Xerxys
True.
In The Silmarilion the wizards were apprentices of the Valar. Lord Sauron, I do not remember what his name was before he was corrupted by Melkor (who is some sort of "the first satan") was also a Maiar.
The only thing in the Middle Earth Universe not explained well was Goblins. Tolkien never explained where they came from. Anyone knows?
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The wizards in Tolkein's mythos, according to his notes as set forth in "Unfinished Tales," and elsewhere in his collected manuscripts, are Maiar, who are beings of the same "divine" nature as the Valar, but of less degree in power and wisdom. Both the Valar and the Maiar were created by Eru Iluvatar (essentially, God) prior to the Making of Ea (the Creation of the physical world), and the Valar and the Maiar were said to "descend" into the created world after its initial making, in order to act as the regents of Iluvatar, ruling over the existence of all created things except for the Eruhini, the Children of Iluvatar-- that is, Elves and Men (Dwarves were something of an accident, but we are told Iluvatar considers them, "the children of My adoption").
Tolkein tells us that when Sauron (whose "original" name is not revealed, although we are told that in ancient days, when he was still the lieutenant of Morgoth [the byname for Melkor, the "fallen" Vala, the primordial diabolos of Tolkien's myths], the Sindarin Elves of Beleriand called him Gorthaur the Cruel) arose again in Middle Earth as a power of evil, following his inadvertent disbodiment during the Downfall of Numenor, the Valar became concerned for the fate of Elves and Men, and it was suggested that emissaries be sent from among the people of Valinor to assist the Free Peoples in whatever subtle and discreet ways they might find best.
These emissaries come to Middle Earth by ship, and all have taken the shape of men, old, but hardy; and in becoming "incarnate" within Middle Earth, they voluntarily lose a great portion of their powers, and much of the clarity of their Valinorean memories. They also retain their free will, permitting them to adhere to their original mission, or to depart from it, or even to fall and oppose it, as fortune may fall.
The foremost of these, we are told, is a Maia known as Curumo, who is attached to the artisan people of the Vala called Aule the Smith. In Middle Earth, this Maia appears robed in white, and turns his name as Curunir, which the Men of the Northward parts of Middle Earth translate into their tongue as Saruman. The second, who travelled with him, is a Maia called Aiwendil, who is attached to the nature people of the Vala called Yavanna Kementari, the Green-Grower. In Middle Earth, this Maia Men call Radagast, and he appears robed in brown. Two others are sent, whose names are not clear, robed in blue: they disappear into the East of Middle-Earth and are not heard from again. The last is Olorin, one of the Maiar of the Vala Nienna the Sorrowful, Mistress of Pity and Compassion. He appears robed in grey, and he is called by the Elves Mithrandir, and by the Men in the North, Gandalf.
Those five are the Heren Istarion, the Order of Wizards, and only Olorin returns to Valinor, to take up again his old name and place. Even he is not quite the same, as his body is "killed" by the Balrog of Moria, and when he is "sent back," to complete his mission he is, apparently in the interests of critical time, rebodied in the location of his death, rather than rebodied in Valinor and sent back over the Sea by ship. And in this "emergency" rebodying, he is permitted to retain more of his innate powers as a Maia, and clearer memories of his Valinorean past. Thus he comes to be, briefly, "Gandalf the White."
Sorry, I had to answer that. I did my English thesis on Tolkien and his works....