Eru Ilúvatar

The single omnipotent and omniscient creator, Eru Iluvatar was the supreme deity of Arda. He is believed to have been existing eternally and holds an imperishable flame in his spirit that creates existence from nothing.

Eru Iluvatar was a character in ‘The Lord of the Rings’ and described as one beyond the world. Firstly, he created a group of beings called Ainur before anything else. Each of the beings came out from a portion of his mind. The holy spirits were involved in the creation of sacred music called the ‘Music of The Ainur’. Out of the music, Eru drew some of the Ainur to his vision and this gave rise to the creation of the Universe. He could create an independent life with the use of ‘Flame Imperishable’ and was named ‘the All-Powerful’ [1]. Secondly, Eru created Ea which existed outside of the world. He asked Eru to shape the world as they wished. The Valar were the biggest of the Ainur to fashion the world, and they took charge of the Arda. The Ainur were not able to create life, and there were things beyond their own understanding. These included the creation of Men and the Elves who came directly from Iluvatar without the involvement of Ainur. Some other things that only Eru knew were the end and destiny.

While the activities of Iluvatar about the lives of Ea and Arda are not so clear, it is known that he took consent from Manwe many times. Some of the direct interventions of Eru are –

• Supported the creation of Dwarves and gave them life, making them his adopted children. [2]
• He allowed the creation of Ents at the effort of Yavanna.
• During the Years of the Trees, he created the Elves and Men and named them his children.
• He was responsible for the changing of the entire world, that Valar could not do.
• In the resurgence of Gandalf after being killed by Durin’s Bane. This was something that a higher authority than the Valar could only do.
• There are signs of authority throughout history, including the finding of the One Ring.

The name Iluvatar means ‘the Father of All’ in Quenya. It is made up of ‘ilu’ (universe) and ‘atar’ which means father. Eru means ‘Alone’ or ‘The One’ in this language.

The reference to Iluvatar appears right in the earliest versions of ‘The Book of Lost Tales’. It is worth noting that Iluvatar translates to ‘sky-father’ in Quenya as the phrase ‘il’ refers to the sky. However, this etymology was replaced by newer meanings in later revisions. ‘Ainatar’ meaning holy father was a less-used name for him.

1. ^How Powerful Is Eru Iluvatar?
2. ^Dwarves Were Adopted By Eru.