Why so secret, Rangers?

[Forodan]

I'm somewhat of a speed-reader, so I never really grasped the fact that the Valar were mentioned in TTT until just a few years ago. I would add that in the passage, we just have Damrod saying, "May the Valar turn him aside!" which doesn't even tell us if "the Valar" is singular or plural.



We hear the names, certainly, but we still don't have much information about them, and even less to indicate that they're not Elven. Elbereth has been invoked a lot, but this in itself doesn't tell us much about who or what she is. At the Ford, Frodo invokes both Elbereth and Lúthien the Fair, and we know that the latter was an Elf.

I think it's not until the parting song as the Fellowship departs Lothlórien that we really hear enough about Elbereth to begin to infer that she's much more than just some important Elf.

Don't forget Gandalf's direct reference at Aragorn's coronation before Minas Tirith:

Then Frodo came forward and took the crown from Faramir and bore it to Gandalf; and Aragorn knelt, and Gandalf set the White Crown upon his head,
and said, “Now come the days of the King, and may they be blessed while the thrones of the Valar endure!”

That seems to make it pretty clear that the Valar are plurals, and at least a near-equivalent of 'gods' in this world.

 

[DolorousStroke]

The point about the Istari being likely lumped with Sauron (fooled me once) is an incredible one to think about: I have the vaguest recollection that G & Co. first showed up at the Grey Havens and if I were Cirdan, rather than giving him a nice ring, I would have probably shouted “burn the witch!” G would have had some ‘splainin to do upon his appearance.

“Look, I know you’ve had some bad experiences with Maiar...{gulp} But I’m *much* less charming and handsome than Sauron was. Basically I’m crotchety and eyebrowy and drably dressed—look, grey!—and I look foul and feel fair, amiright? We are really a shipment of good guys here. {hugs Saruman} Right, buddy, tell ‘em?”

I release copyright on the above dialogue so SilmFilm can use it.