Middle Earth Gods

[Fundin Strongarm]

I'm starting a D&D campaign set in Middle Earth about 50-60 years after the destruction of the Ring.

What I'm wondering is if anyone has done any work on what kind of domains the various Valar would have.

 

[Desdichado]

I've never seen anything like that. There's also the problem that the concept of the Valar having domains, granting spells, having clerics, or even being worshipped is pretty contrary to the entire concept of Middle-earth to begin with, though.

Not that I haven't thought of converting up the Valar as D&D gods, mind you. But I've never actually done so.

 

[Michael Morris]

The actual religions of middle earth where one area Tolkien kept well away from. The Valar aren't gods, they are Arch-Angels reporting to Iluvatar. Now if you have no problem with Arch-Angels granting spells, then have at it.

I would strongly recommend that you read The Simarillon before engaging in this endevour. It has much more on the mythology of Middle Earth than what surfaces in The Lord of the Rings

 

[Umbra]

No gods (although the Valar are seen as gods by some) but angelic beings of THE God Eru or Illuvatar (sp?). Each of the Valar do have fields of interest. As Michael Morris suggested, check the opening two parts of the Silmarillion for details (eg Manwe who could be considered the head honcho specialises in Air and Divination/Communication, Ulmo who is like Neptune would be water and maybe chaos, Melkor - Sauron's original boss - evil and war.)

The wizards or powers in Middle Earth (Gandalf, Sauron, Balrogs) are all lesser angelic beings known as Maiar, generally incarnate in physical form. They too could be assigned domains although in the case of Gandalf his ring would also grant him the fire domain.

The five Istari (Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast the Brown and two others ) were forbidden to challenge Sauron with their full power and were meant to guide the peoples of Middle-Earth to achieving his overthrow. They thus appeared as old wise men and you rarely see demonstrations of their might.

Druidical power is certainly available (elvish abilities, healing power of the king/rangers, Treebeard) but I'm not sure you would consider them granted but inherent powers.

 

[Darth Shoju]

... Melkor - Sauron's original boss - evil and war.)

From what I remember, he was also associated with earth and fire.

The five Istari (Gandalf, Saruman, Radagast the Brown and two others ) were forbidden to challenge Sauron with their full power and were meant to guide the peoples of Middle-Earth to achieving his overthrow. They thus appeared as old wise men and you rarely see demonstrations of their might.

Really? Interesting. What book is that from? It certainly explains a lot but I can't remember seeing it in my reading (although I haven't read LoTR in a while and I may have missed it in the Silmarillion)

 

[JackGiantkiller]

It's in the specific section on the Istari, in the silmarillion. Also, gandalf refers a couple of times to what he is and isn't allowed to do in LOTR. Personally, I think the Valar make marvelous D&D gods. Valar does, after all, mean the Powers of the World.

 

[Bhaal]

The Encyclopedia of Arda is great reference for the overall scope of Tolkien's world. While there's no real substitue for reading the Silmarillion, it certainly would be a quick way of tying the spell domains with a specific vala.

http://www.glyphweb.com/arda

 

[Squire James]

Since Tolkien never really detailed religion in Middle-Earth, I generally assume it existed but was deliberately being avoided.

The impression I got was that only the Elves and people heavily influenced by them (like the Dunadain) had a clear conception of Illuvatar and the Valar. The Dwarves generally worshipped their creator, whom they called Mahar (and is generally agreed to be another name for Aule).

Humans worshipped all sorts of gods, most of which were some mish-mash of several Valar as viewed by human minds. Morgoth and Sauron figured heavily in eastern and southern religion, as evidenced by their actions during the War of the Ring.

Worship did not draw power in Middle-Earth at any time during the chronicled stories, but it is not unreasonable (from a D&D standpoint) to say that the Valar might have instituted such a system in the Fourth Age to avoid having to send Maiar back to Middle Earth again. Similarly, Illuvatar might have "let the leash slip" a little on who was allowed to use "arcane magic".

Here is a list of some of the more important Valar and 3 PHB domains for each. I'd suggest adding 1 or 2 domains from other available sources for each.

Manwe: Air, Law, Good
Varda: Air, Travel, Good
Aule: Earth, Fire, Knowledge
Yavanna: Earth, Healing, Plant
Mandos: Death, Magic, Travel
Lorien: Good, Healing, Protection
Tulkas: Luck, Strength, War
Orome: Animal, Travel, War
Melkor: Destruction, Evil, Trickery

The Sun domain actually belongs to a powerful Maiar called Arien (the actual Sun in Middle Earth mythology). This suggests to me that some Maiar may also draw worship and grant domains:

Arien: Fire, Sun
The Moon (name escapes me): Luck, Trickery
Olorin (Gandalf!): Knowledge, Magic
Erome (name may be wrong) the Herald: Law, War

Finally, keep in mind that the Valar and Maiar wear bodies like most humans would clothing, so certain Maiar who have been "killed" (most noteably Sauron, Saruman, and the Balrog) might still be spirits looking for a decent body to wear! Of course, Melkor himself is like Tharizdun... just lurking Out There somewhere waiting for some group of insane cultists to release him!

 

[Fundin Strongarm]

Thanks for some of the tips. I've read The Silmarillion and knew the Middle Earth "Gods" were closer to demi-gods than what D&D would consider Gods. However, they are relatively close to the Greek and Norse pantheons in some ways. Also, Middle Earth had no organized religion beyond some of what Sauron did in the Second Age.

I've decided to use Middle Earth as the setting mostly because I'm very familiar with it's history. However, this being D&D, I've had to adjust Middle Earth a little -- for example there is way more magic in D&D than Middle Earth. There will still be no Gnomes (although if a PC wanted to be one that's fine -- it would just be a sub-race of Dwarves) and Half-Orcs are mostly "queer eyed" humans. Half-Elves will be Dunedain (although I'm still working on that). There will be Clerical orders and temples as in a typical D&D realm. Also, Melkor has somehow come out of the Void and is attempting to influence Middle Earth once again (so that evil clerics can get spells).

Anyways, this is what I've come up with. Does anything seem out of whack?

God............Alignment...............Domains
Manwe.....Lawful Good............Air, Good, Knowledge, Law, Strength, Sun
Varda.......Neutral Good...........Good, Luck, Magic, Sun
Ulmo.......Chaotic Good...........Chaos, Good, Strength, Water
Aule........Lawful Good............Earth, Fire, Good, Law, Magic, Protection
Yavanna..Neutral Good............Animal, Earth, Good, Plant
Namo........Neutral.................Death, Knowledge, Magic, Protection
Nienna.....Neutral Good...........Good, Knowledge
Orome.....Chaotic Good...........Animal, Chaos, Good, Strength
Vana.......Neutral Good............Fire, Good, Plant
Tulkas.....Lawful Good.............Good, Law, Strength, War
Nessa.....Chaotic Good............Good, Luck, Magic
Irmo.........Neutral..................Knowledge, Magic, Travel
Este........Neutral Good...........Good, Healing, Luck
Vaire........Neutral..................Knowledge, Luck, Trickery

Melkor.......Neutral Evil.....Chaos, Death, Destruction, Earth, Evil, Fire, Magic, Trickery, War

 

[Desdichado]

It's in the specific section on the Istari, in the silmarillion.

Actually, it's in Unfinished Tales.