If all beings, regardless of their good-evil alignment, can find the cause and origin of all things to lie ultimately in Illuvatar, then can it be said that Morgoth - and other Ainur who went rogue - are ultimately acting by Illuvatar's will, and therefore will have a place in the Second Music and in Arda Reborn?
96220
Did Ilúvatar know that Melkor would 'turn bad'? Was it part of his vast design? Tolkien often hints that also Morgoth's evil is part of the grand plan, and that he does the will of Ilúvatar in the long run, despite opposing him. But why did he oppose Ilúvatar in the first place? Why did Ilúvatar make someone who would oppose him? Surely THE God would have complete control and knowledge.
17443
I am sure Elrond is half-elven, so Arwen is too.  I recall something saying Argorn was half-elven as well.  Shouldn't half-elves not have to become mortal to marry each other?
61945
Orcs were the most commonplace villains serving the Dark Powers in all of Tolkien's Legendarium, a race of sentient beings bred by the evil Vala Melkor (Morgoth) during the time of the Great Darkness.  If Orcs were made by Melkor (by breeding Elves he had captured and corrupted) then are they immortal?
8270
One thing that is notably absent in Middle-earth is any mention of temples, churches, priests or religious rites.  There are passing mentions of Men who would "worship" Sauron, but generally the world of Middle-earth seems much less religious than medieval Europe, or even classical antiquity.  One never hears about "the cult of Aule" or "the cult of Yavanna," although historically there were many "cults of Athena" or "cults of Poseidon."  Aragorn doesn't (to my memory) make an offering to Tulkas before battle, nor does he pray to Eru Ilúvatar for victory, and all the holidays and solemnities seem to commemorate historical figures, not religious ones.  This is especially strange in a world where there are still living witnesses, like Galadriel, to the actions of the Valar and other "divine" beings, and where there are still Maiar wandering around talking to people and putting on flashy firework shows.  Now, a lot of people talk about how Tolkien didn't want the Valar to be considered "gods," but at the same time he did use phrases like "the gods of old" numerous times.  Clearly, these beings would have qualified for worship in most cultures.  And even without the Valar being considered a true pantheon, there is still Eru, a closer analogue to the Christian God of Tolkien's beliefs, and we know the denizens of Middle-earth knew of him (Him?) because of the line "Eru, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar."  And yet, Ilúvatar seems not to be terribly important to anyone on a daily basis.  So my question is this: how familiar with the "theology" of Middle-earth were the citizens of Middle-earth?  Would the average merchant in Rohan know about the Valar and the Maiar and Iluvatar and the Music of the Ainur?  The average noble in Minas Tirith?  The younger Elves, like Legolas?  The Dwarf Lords?  Were the theological truths about the formation of the world, the Valar and the Maiar just so well known that they weren't worth commenting on, or had they been forgotten by most?  And if they had been forgotten, why wasn't the knowledge (whether through deliberate teachings or casual conversation) re-invigorated by witnesses like Gandalf or Galadriel?
28070
In the Middle-earth universe, there are a handful of wizards who work in various ways to fight evil. Out of universe, we know these wizards to be Istari, Maia who are in Middle-earth working to defeat Sauron, and we know this thanks to The Silmarillion which explains the origins of Middle-earth.  In universe though, I'd expect this sort of knowledge to be pretty rare.  Do we know how rare it is?  Who in Middle-earth knows that these wizards are Istari, and the ramifications of this?  I'm not looking for a list of specific individuals here, I seek more a list of groups of people.  For example, I'd expect the Noldor who remain in Middle-earth to know what's up with the Istari, since it's part of their personal past.  But do any dwarves know?  Do any humans?  What about Rohan's royalty?  The Stewards of Gondor?
81250
Watching The Lord of the Rings movies I was really captivated by the   elephant riders and the men in brazen scale armor who aided the orcs   against the forces of Gondor and Rohan. From what I know they are from   the cultures that worship Sauron. I'd like to know what Tolkien wrote   about them, their religion, their way of life, and so on.   From
58026
In the Lord of the Rings I recall some mention of when Cirdan gives Narya to Gandalf when the Istari arrive in Middle Earth. I think it is in the appendices but I cannot recall exactly, but I remember something about him suspecting Gandalf's origins and giving him the ring to aid in the fight against Sauron.  Throughout the novel, we learn that Saruman is more powerful than Gandalf and is his superior in some way. I recall somewhere in the novel Gandalf himself confirms this when he describes Saruman as the head of his order (here I assume that when he refers to "his order" he means the Istari - please correct me if this is wrong).  This being the case, I wonder if Tolkien ever discusses in interviews or other works the reasons that Cirdan chose Gandalf over Saruman as the person to pass Narya onto. It would seem to me that without the knowledge of the events to come that Saruman would be the more natural choice if Cirdan was intent on passing on Narya to someone else.
109427
I never made it through Silmarillion by J. R. R. Tolkien, but it may have the answer. We know there were good men and bad men in Middle-earth and there were good Wizards and bad Wizards there too...  Did Tolkien ever provide a example of a good Orc in any of his writings?
62818
As a corollary to my other  I was wondering about this:  Once Quorra enters the real world does she become human or is she something else? i.e. Is she a living, breathing, human being with blood, sweat, and tears, is she some kind of human appearing 'alien', or is she a synthetic creation like a robot?
91381
So I've been thinking if it's possible to join the Stormcloaks only to realize Ulfric's an ass and kill him after that at some point of the game (I know you can't just go and kill him at first because he's an important NPC for the main story quests).  I don't want to join the Empire and - in my mind - what would make sense in my character's storyline would be him joining the Stormcloaks at first (because of how the game starts and my character being a Nord and having escaped with Ralof), but later realizing how Ulfric is only after power and how his fight against the Empire might even benefit the Altmers by weakening both forces (Empire and Rebellion). His Talos talk is just an excuse for his actions, as I see it. I really don't like this guy (he's a crazy racist who would do anything for power), but I also don't like what the Empire has become.  Please note that I don't really want spoilers about the plot, I just want to know if it is possible to challenge Ulfric to one-on-one combat "in the Old Nord Way" or just take the Rebellion for myself by assassinating him.
62354
The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, The Histories of Middle Earth, all lore related to this universe is acceptable fodder. Regardless of their power, susceptibility to The One Ring, amount of appearances, or any other constraint, who or what is the oldest?   Since Eru is the "easy" answer, then who or what is second? Any canon source, including letters, is acceptable.  I am asking this as more defined version of  which was put on hold.  And if it matters, the criteria would be oldest at the end of LotR or whatever place he left off in his tales whether the being was alive or not at that point. Example: if being 1 was 999 years old at point A and died, and being 2 was 998 at point B (years after point A) and died, being 1 was oldest in the lore.   (I am not well-read in the Histories and letters and such. If he continued the tale much past the end of LotR, then that is the cut-off point. Oldest sentient being, alive or dead, at the end of canon.)  If you have a question about if some source counts, ask yourself: Did it come from JRR or Christopher working from his father's notes? If the answer is Yes, then it counts. If it does not come from the family, then no. I can trust scholars, but would like the trail to be only one degree of separation. If your case is compelling enough, a pass may be granted.   EDIT  If it's not bad form, can I extend the question to the oldest four? Eru is too obvious and as Kevin comments, "Eru was clearly first, he created the ainur second, and it's generally indicated that Tom Bombadil is tied to Middle-Earth and so third." The "generally indicated" thing is not decisive, but, if this is indeed accurate, I'm curious to know just a little bit more. Please either play along with me, or slap my hand for grabbing too many cookies. It's a fascinating and complicated history I know too little about. (I do plan to remedy this someday.)  NEWER EDIT  I just noticed this question still gets viewed and was active a few months ago. Let me further clarify. I am after the oldest entity AT ANY POINT in the canon. If a creature lived to be 99 years (I'm using low numbers to keep it simple) and then died, and another lived to be 98 at the close of the canon, the dead one wins. Living, dead, doesn't matter. Age at end of canon is all that counts.
90740
Every wizard in The Lord of the Rings obviously had a purpose to be sent to Middle-earth, with Gandalf's being to help out in the defeat of Sauron and Morgoth's forces, etc. However, because Saruman was not returned to life after his death by Grima, he must have fulfilled his purpose.  I've read that Gandalf came back as the White in order to fulfill the purpose Saruman had failed in. So, obviously, Saruman had a purpose and failed it, but why? What was his purpose? And why was he not sent back to complete it, but instead Gandalf was sent in his place?
36449
I've not seen/read any female Orcs mentioned in the movies or in the books. In one of the movies, an Uruk-hai is momentarily shown emerging from a giant, grown-Orc sized flesh packet. So are they created with spells, or do they follow the Standard Reproductive Model.
39618
In Tolkien's lore, they are many very old beings. Is there any indication that some or even one would have been truly immortal and survived into what we would call "our" history or Age? Galadriel, Cirdan, Ingwe, Bombadil, Ungoliant, or any Maia or Ainur? Anyone or anything? Seems there must be some kind of carry-over seeing as how "man" existed in this time.
92018
led to a suggestion that I open a separate question on a related subject.  Sauron started out good, became bad, briefly repented, the went full-on evil.  Saruman too started out as a good guy, but very gradually turned to the Dark Side, so to speak.   I know some of the factors which contributed to his slow decline - jealousy of Gandalf, gradually increasing egotism, corruption at the hands of Sauron via the Palantir, and so on. And I know - in part because of the answers to  - what Saruman's intentions were during the events of The Lord of the Rings:  basically, he wanted to pretend he was Sauron's buddy for as long as it was profitable to do so, steal the Ring, use it to defeat his enemies (including Sauron), and eventually take Sauron's place (which, whether or not this was Saruman's intention, would automatically make him the baddest baddie in Middle-earth).     But I know little (aside from what I have already mentioned above) about what his intentions were from the time he came to Arda to the time Gandalf located the One Ring, how soon they began to change, and why.  What were Saruman's original intentions, how soon did he begin to stray, and what started that process?
27032
So, I've been reading Lord of The Rings, and other Tolkien books, and I've always wondered something. What did the other rings of power, given to the various races by Sauron actually do?
101555
Did Frodo take it off? Or was the fell spider's sting simply too strong to be stopped by Mithril?  If it is the latter, that would be pretty surprising, because that would mean Shelob could possibly sting a sleeping dragon! (I remember Gimli saying "Mithril... hard as dragon scales!")