Were there clerics in Lord of the Rings?

[shilsen]

As tends to happen with these discussions, the answer depends purely upon your definition of cleric. Precisely the D&D fighting holy man with spells from his god and martial ability to boot? Nope. Some variant thereof? Perhaps.

 

[Felon]

So, what's that little flashy business that Gandalf does in the RotK film to drive off the ring wraiths? Don't recall it being in the book. Seems a lot like turning undead.

 

[dreaded_beast]

Great responses everyone!

Gives me a lot of food for thought.

I should have realized that Tolkien wasn't the only source of inspiration for DND.

 

[driver8]

I think someone from these boards ( or maybe not) put it best: Nature is the religion of Middle Earth, and the elves are its priests.

 

[der_kluge]

Wait, I thought all elves were fighter/magic users?

Yea, I could see the elves being Clerics in LoTR. Definitely some healing capabilities there.

Although, according to S'mon, getting rid of clerics totally unbalances the campaign. (see my thread on removing divine magic from the game). So, it's a wonder the fellowship survived at all!

 

[driver8]

Wait, I thought all elves were fighter/magic users?

Yea, I could see the elves being Clerics in LoTR. Definitely some healing capabilities there.

Although, according to S'mon, getting rid of clerics totally unbalances the campaign. (see my thread on removing divine magic from the game). So, it's a wonder the fellowship survived at all!

This is true but I was sort of being metaphorical. While you can argue back and forth, traditional D&D "battle priests" dont really seem to fit the worldview/feel of Middle Earth. But thats just my opinion.

 

[mmadsen]

So, what's that little flashy business that Gandalf does in the RotK film to drive off the ring wraiths? Don't recall it being in the book. Seems a lot like turning undead.

Read the book again. He definitely casts something similar to D&D's searing light (a 3rd-level cleric spell).

 

[Felon]

Read the book again. He definitely casts something similar to D&D's searing light (a 3rd-level cleric spell).

Think I'll just take your word that it's in the book...but searing light is just a ray of energy that does more damage to undead than everyone else. This seemed more like burst of light that specifically drives off the wraiths. Very much like a turning check.

 

[kenobi65]

Stuff that influenced specific aspects of D&D:

http://www.geocities.com/rgfdfaq/sources.html

Very neat link, Claudio, thanks for posting it.

Boy, you really see how much "Three Hearts and Three Lions" contributed to D&D. I hadn't read the book until about 2 years ago...and was just stunned at how much of it got directly lifted into the game.

 

[diaglo]

Radagast was definately more like a druid than a wizard.

EDIT: mistype

the Brown is my closest guess to a druid too.