Q: What Do We Know about the Divisions and Actions of the Maiar in Middle-earth?
ANSWER: The full question I received in April 2017 was a series of related questions. They read as follows:
The Maiar serving Melkor and Sauron appear to be many; from Balrogs possibly to Wargs and many others in between. Is it possible to say whether those that chose evil were in the minority, so that many more of the Maiar were sided with the Valar? Would it also be possible to say that a proportion of the benevolent Maiar were acting in Middle Earth unseen, unacknowledged but doing their best to mitigate the works of Evil? Or would they have stayed in the West with the Valar?
Setting aside the question of whether Wargs were Maiar, let’s look at each question in turn.
Is it possible to say whether those that chose evil were in the minority, so that many more of the Maiar were sided with the Valar?
The short answer is that I don’t know of any statement by J.R.R. Tolkien or Christopher Tolkien that directly or implicitly answers this question. I have always assumed that a majority of the Maiar remained faithful to Ilúvatar. My assumption is based on Biblical passages that suggest no more than about 1/3 of the angels rebel against God. Because J.R.R. Tolkien wrote that The Lord of the Rings is a “fundamentally Catholic work”, I infer that to mean he would not suggest a mythology that was significantly different from that provided by the Bible and other Catholic sources.
Would it also be possible to say that a proportion of the benevolent Maiar were acting in Middle Earth unseen, unacknowledged but doing their best to mitigate the works of Evil?
Well, the short answer to this question starts with “it depends …” because the Maiar certainly took an active role in Middle-earth at some point during the history of Arda. The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth suggest that at least some of the Maiar interacted with the Eldar and possibly the Edain at some level. But we have no way of showing that a majority or even a significant portion of them had any specific, direct responsibilities concerning the inhabitants of Middle-earth.
My guess is that Tolkien meant for such interactions to be relatively few. The Ainur who entered Eä did so out of a desire to experience the Vision Ilúvatar had shown them, which gave meaning and purpose to their Music. I have always felt they were mostly observers. Of course, there were times when they directly interacted with at least some of the inhabitants of Middle-earth, mostly of elven-kind. We do know from Tolkien’s own notes that lesser Maiar who followed Melkor/Morgoth led his armies or served him directly in other ways, and these Umaiar fought against the Elves and Men who opposed him. So when the Host of Valinor invaded Middle-earth, readers assume there must have been Maiar among its ranks. It is accepted that J.R.R. Tolkien always meant for Eönwë to lead that army.
It is conceivable — and I know of no contradicting text — that some of the Maiar remained in Middle-earth, unseen, to assist in healing its hurts and guiding Elves, Dwarves, and Men toward their futures. Such assistance would be similar to the occasional interventions of angels described in the Old and New Testaments of The Bible. Olórin comes to mind, for example. But this is really open to your own interpretation of the texts.
Or would they have stayed in the West with the Valar?
Most of the faithful Maiar remained in Valinor during the years of the Noldor’s exile. Of that we can be sure. Ossë took direct action against the Noldor on at least two occasions. Only Melian is known to have remained active in Middle-earth throughout those years.
But the Maiar would have performed any tasks that Manwë gave them. For example, when the Numenoreans put boughs of Oiolairë on the prows of their ships, they were protected by the Valar. It’s conceivable that Ulmo’s servants attended to the ships and ensured they came to little or no harm.
Tolkien represents the Valar as being very reluctant to directly intervene in the affairs of Middle-earth after the defeat of Morgoth. The Lord of the Rings contains a handful of scenes that imply the Valar sent guidance and/or inspiration to Men or Hobbits (and presumably Elves) via dreams or omens or perhaps some other unseen means. But we also know that Ilúvatar intervened in Middle-earth, too, and we can’t be sure of which inspirational moments were from the Valar and which came from elsewhere.
While it’s tempting to think of invisible Maiar spreading out across Middle-earth, I think Sauron could have detected them. Why would they be there if the Istari were also there? Tolkien doesn’t mention or suggest such engagement occurred. If he envisioned such Maiaric visitations, I think he would have imagined there were limits to such events. I doubt he thought of Middle-earth as requiring so much direct intervention. That would undermine his theme of free will versus domination.
See Also
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Have you read our other Tolkien and Middle-earth Questions and Answers articles?
I suggest you read the Tolkien text “Osanwe-Kenta” bei J.R.R. Tolkien about Middle-Earth and the Maiar there and their offspring and breeding, because mythological creatures like gryphons or griffins (also existing like Sphinxes and Unicorns and Dragons in the old testament of the bible, there are also phoenixes in the Apokryphs and centaurs and satyrs in the legends of Christian saints) indeed have their ancestors in Maiar origins. Like the old people of the Beornings or Beorninger of Beorn in “The Hobbit”, being shape shifters who can take the form of a giant bear or a human. Indeed also the werewolves have Maiar-origins, being also shape shifters. And probably having the size of a dire-wolve as in “Game of Thrones” because Tolkien mentions big white wolves – being not identical with the wargs. These evil Maiar offspring probably also had some sort of – different – magic powers.
These big dire-wolves indeed existed in history in reality, Tolkien once said the events in “The Lord of the rings” happening at about 6000 Before Christ and the 4. th age beginning after it ending about the time of 4000 B.C. .
There should be indeed evil maiar and maiar offsping and breed in Saurons army, because J.R.R. Tolkien at least mentions werewolves and Ogre or Oger. These Oger were giant demonic orcs and witch-masters and witchers or evil sorcerors among the Orcs, leading them. They also were cannibals and cannibalistic, doing sorcery and evil magic. Probably especially Necromancy and curses and demon workship. They are mentioned in the “Fall of Gondolin”, and in the “Lord of the rings” are mentioned magic spells in Orcish language and “Runes of Power” at the doors of the dwarves (so there also should be some kind of dwarven magic, in their special own ways of course, as the human Drudedain people also had their own kind of magic and even other humans like alchemy and astrology, but the elves had a special natural skill in this – it was natural and belonging to their nature and nature).
There were also the giants, maybe elementary spirits, being Maiar offspring and descendants or even maiar themselves, see “The Hobbit”. The Problem for Sauron, also having the Maiar Thuringwethil being a vampire woman and shadow spirit in the “Silmarillion” as one of his servants, was in the third age after the loss of his one ring: He could not controll really powerful beings as the Balrog of Moria or the big fire Dragon Smaug any more.
They were to powerful and to chaotic and had their own strong will and pride and their own special elementary nature. Many other Maiar, being good or bad or neutral and wild, were similiar to this just local bound beings as Tom Bombadil and Goldberry (child of a Maiar or Water) in the old forest and the Barrow downs. They very often were elementary spirits or spirits of nature. Tolkien wrote about this Maiar. like the fairys and Sylphs and Undins and Dryads, they indeed existed also in the 3rd Age still in middle earth, but in many cases they were most times locally bound spirits of nature or the elemtents, and to elementary and wild and special in their nature for ruling or being ruled. Similiar their offspring and descendents with other Maiar or other creatures, these creatures and beings had the more Maiar power and magical skills the more and the thicker there still was Original Maiar blood in them. But the more thinner this Maiar Blood of their descendants became, the more weaker and “common” these beings became. There indeed also was a “spirit-world” in J.R.R. Tolkiens Conception, where the Nazgul for example existed, and also many Maiar and homeless spirits of the dead and nature spirits and spirits of the elements and astral beings, this indeed was the astral-plane as the psychic astralic level and plane of the elements and elementary forces and of the astral body every being having a soul posseses and this astral-plane could not be seen by most common humans. The magician Radagast should have dealt a very much exactly with these things.
The Osanwe-Kenta doesn’t make those specific connections. I’m afraid I don’t have much time for discussion as I write this comment. I’ll leave your thoughts here for others to consider.