Ainur

The **Ainur** or Holy Ones are immortal, transcendant spirits created by Eru before the beginning of time. They took part in the creation of the world or Ea, and some of them entered it in corporeal forms.

The Ainur that resided in the world (or Arda) could be divided into two main classes: Valar and Maiar.

## Valar

The Valar were the chief of the Ainur. They were ruled by the Elder King Manwe and his wife the Valier Varda. They were identified with certain aspects of Middle-earth and were held by some inhabitants of Middle-earth as gods. Varda, for instance, was the Vala of the Stars. She is recalled by the Wood Elves who Frodo and Sam see passing through the Shire, as Elbereth Star-kindler. The Valar as a collective are invoked multiple times by various characters during the course of the films.

Another Vala was Melkor, the Vala of might. He turned to evil, however, and even after being incarcerated, he returned to his evil ways, stole the Silmarils and killed the Noldorin king Finwe. He earned the moniker Morgoth and became the first Dark Lord.

## Maiar

The Maiar were lesser spirits. The most known among these were the Istari - five Maiar sent to Middle Earth in the guise of old men to help in the battle against evil. They became known to the denizens of Middle Earth as Wizards: Saruman, Gandalf, Radagast and two Blue Wizards.

Another Maia was Sauron, who was turned by Morgoth to evil, and became the second Dark Lord after the fall of his master. The Balrogs and several other of Morgoth's servants were also corrupted Maiar.

## Characteristics

The Ainur are immortal, angelic beings, nonetheless they do possess gender. Those who later descended to Arda took on common male and female forms to appear to the Elves in, and have an inherent male or female gender even when formless. This is because their gender is based on their being, which is independent of any physical form they may assume. But unlike the Children of Ilúvatar, they do not actually need hröar. Nevertheless, they can take tangible physical form called ***fana***, but this is a manifestation of their spirit and they do not technically have bodies the way Elves and Men do. As such, an Ainu cannot quite be killed. However, Ainur's spirits can be weakened, in ways that hinder their ability to take shapes, influence the world, or even affect the world at all.

For example, Sauron's spirit was repeatedly weakened by successive damage when he was defeated by Huan in the form of a Werewolf; in the Downfall of Númenor which destroyed his ability to take fair form; his defeat in the War of the Last Alliance when he lost the ability to take a physical form, and had to regain his power in the East for about 1000 years; and finally with the destruction of the One Ring which broke his ability to affect the world at all, reducing his spirit to a state that could no longer do harm. None of these things killed Sauron outright. A similar fate faced Saruman when he was murdered by Gríma—because of his evil deeds, his spirit was allowed to fade as Sauron's spirit faded.

But when Gandalf the Grey was killed by Durin's Bane, not only was he brought back, but his spirit was significantly restrengthened into an even more powerful form, Gandalf the White.

Melkor though was the most powerful of the Ainur (greater than the rest of the Valar combined), and his spirit, instead of fading away, was exiled from Arda altogether through the Door of Night into the Void. It's prophesied that Melkor would return at the Dagor Dagorath in Arda's last days for one final confrontation against the Valar and the Children of Ilúvatar. In this confrontation, it is stated that he is "destroyed".