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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 3443595" data-attributes="member: 4937">That's kind of a loaded question because in LotR the characters make no real distinction between performing magic and having great skill at something.  This actually gets discussed tangentally by Galadriel and Frodo when she explains how the human term 'magic' always confuses her, because it seems to be used to cover so many different things, and also when Hobbits recieve the gifts from the Elves (unsinkable boats, ropes that untie themselves, color changing cloaks, so forth) the Hobbits ask if the gifts are 'magic' and the elves reply that they have no idea what the Hobbits mean, but that they are certainly 'well made'.So its a hard question to answer because magic doesn't mean nearly the same in D&D as it does within LotR.  But, I think we can safely assume that anything that goes beyond normal craftsmanship (color changing cloaks, for example) in D&D is magic in D&D, and using that standard magical healing occurs all the time in the LotR.Starting from the top, when Aragorn finds Frodo having been attacked by the Wraiths, he not only uses his knowledge of herbalism to find a magical plant, but he concentrates and mutters something in an unusual way to Frodo which is very spell-like in nature to restore Frodo's lost ability points.  Cure Light Wounds?  Lesser Restoration?  Hard to say.  When Glorfindel finds the Hobbits, he examines Frodo's wound intently and his mere touch restores Frodo's strength.  Again, Cure Light Wounds?  Lesser Restoration.  It's hard to say from the story, but its clear something like magical healing is going on because it isn't anything like surgery (unless its psychic surgery) or first aid.  He then tells Aragorn that the wound is grave and beyond his ability as a healer, and that Elrond is needed.  Offstage, Elrond heals Frodo, bringing him back from the brink of death and presumably in D&D terms restoring lost levels (Frodo is being energy or ability drained on the way to becoming a wraith).  Elrond then provides the newly enlarged adventuring party with the gift of a flask of Mirrovir, which seems to function as a multi-dose potion of cure light wounds.  The party uses this gift liberally over the next few encounters.  After fleeing Moria, Aragorn provides something like first aid to the injured Hobbits, but he also does more of his 'psychic healing' stuff (IIRC).  Later, after the Hobbits have been captured by orcs, the Orcs dose them with something that appears to be an Orc made healing potion in D&D terms.  When Gandalf meets Theoden, the encounter isn't very much like the movie version's obvious exorcism, but there is clearly some sort of mental and spiritual healing going on (which we infer from other places to be a magical kindling of the spirit using Gandalf's magic ring).  Later, after the battle of Pelenor fields, Aragorn goes in secret to the houses of healing in Minas Tirith, where his magical lore gives him the ability to do far more than the merely learned healers stationed there.  We again see Aragorn doing something like entering Dreams and psychic (or Shamanistic) healing in addition to his herbalism.  Then, in one of the most important scenes in the book, sadly missing from the movie, after Aragorn leaves the Houses of Healing, word has gotten out in the city that the King has returned because the true king will be known by the fact that he has 'the hands of a healer'.  This is really hugely important clue to Aragorn's status, and to understand it we have to know a bit of medieval lore, but for D&D purposes what we really need to know is that a Paladin's ability to 'lay on hands' and Aragorns ability to heal because he is the true king derive from the same medieval myths and stories.  So we can infer from this that in D&D terms, what Aragorn has been doing is at least in part 'laying on hands'.  Offstage, Aragorn goes throughout the city - having not slept for like 3 days already - and heals his injured subjects before himself going to bed in the morning.  The reason clerics are unknown in Middle Earth is pretty straight forward.  The one god of Middle Earth, Illuvatar, is unrevealed to his Children (elves and men).  Elves and men don't know Illuvatar, and they couldn't be his clerics even if they wanted to be.  Noone really knows how to worship Illuvatar correctly, and so the only 'clerics' per say are the Maia that have actually met Illuvatar and thus know how to worship him.   The Maia themselves, at least the uncorrupted ones, don't encourage thier own worship, because they know that they aren't actually gods but merely servants of the One God.  (The do sorta act like Catholic Saints, in the since that they can petition god on your behalf.)  Furthermore, Illuvatar hasn't authorized any clerics, and the closest we come to seeing a figure in that role is the rightful King of Numenor was allowed to on one day of the year act as a high priest of Illuvatar and offer up a prayer to him alone atop a mountain.  But no clerics don't mean no healing magic, just no clerics.</blockquote>

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