Key Takeaways

• Powerful Maiar like Aiwendil and Tilion remain unseen in films, despite their crucial roles in Middle-earth history.
• Characters like Ossë and Melian showcased immense power and played key roles in battles and protecting kingdoms.
• Maiar like Gothmog, Mairon, and Durin’s Bane served and fought for evil forces, posing threats to Middle-earth.

Tolkien’s vast universe of The Lord of the Rings stretches well beyond Peter Jackson’s vision of Middle-earth. That includes several characters that are so epic in scope that no screen is big enough to hold them, and the sad truth is that many of the most fascinating characters in the history of the IP have yet to appear on film.

A few of the Maiar, the higher order of beings that carried out the will of the Valar in Middle-earth, have appeared in both feature films and high-profile shows like Rings of Power. On the other hand, there are other powerful Maiar that were essential to the history of Middle-earth throughout the First Age and Second Age, and they’re essential to the story even though movie fans have never heard of them.

Updated on October 3rd, 2024, by Kristy Ambrose: The lore of Middle-earth goes back thousands of years, long before the events of the War of the Ring, and includes a pivotal tale called The Silmarillion, an epic legend locked firmly behind the Tolkien family’s copyright. The immortal characters in the classic movie series had already seen eons of the history in Arda before Frodo took the One Ring to Mordor, and those who have the patience to read the books can experience some of their magic. Much of that history led to the events of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but most of the Maiar are still missing from live-action and animated versions of Tolkien’s work.

14 Aiwendil

Known For Guidance And Wisdom, Not Power

• Ruling Vala: Yavanna
• Strengths And Powers: A friend to the wilderness, especially the animals. His name means “Lover of Birds” in Quenya.
• Appearance or Departure From Middle-earth: Arrived with the Istari in the Third Age, departed sometime after the War of the Ring.

Aiwendil was closest to Yavanaa, the Vala that loved all the trees, plants, and green things of the earth, which explains why he became close to the woodland realm and its residents when he became the wizard Radagast in Middle-earth. It is not that he is weak but more that he lost his purpose, and despite this, he still manages to aid his fellow Maia Olórin and his quest to find and destroy the One Ring.

When the first elves appeared, Yavanna sent Aiwendil to guard them against the already malevolent Melkor, and he was known among them by the name Hrávandil. Curomo, a Maia that served Aule, disliked Aiwendil and only took him to Middle-earth as one of the Ishtari when Yavanna requested it.

13 Durin’s Bane

Destroyed Moria And Waited For The Fellowship

• Ruling Vala: Morgoth
• Strengths And Powers: Carries a whip and a flaming sword
• Appearance or Departure From Middle-earth: Followed Morgoth as one of his soldiers, was killed by Gandalf in the Battle of the Peak

The beast that lies in wait beneath Moria is only one of many Balrogs that roamed Middle-earth doing the bidding of Morgoth in the First Age. Some of them were named and had positions of high rank in the armies of the realm of Dor Daedeloth, the land that would be called Mordor in the future.

When Morgoth fell, and his fortresses and cities were destroyed, the Balrogs either fell with him or went into hiding. The Balrog that eventually became known as Durin’s Bane chose the deep, cold innards of the Misty Mountains as his hiding place, rising later to destroy Khazad-dum and giving the formerly proud Dwarven kingdom to goblins and orcs.

It wasn’t until the Fellowship of the Ring, led by Gandalf the Grey, ventured into the ruined city that the creature’s presence there was confirmed. Gandalf managed to defeat the creature, becoming one of the very few heroes to ever slay a Balrog.

12 Tilion

A Master Archer But A Careless Guide

• Ruling Vala: Oromë
• Strengths And Powers: Archery and Tracking
• Appearance or Departure From Middle-earth: Carries the moon, his appearance over Middle-earth is regular but arbitrary

There were two trees in Valinor, and when they were destroyed by the spider monster Ungoliant, two Maia were tasked with taking their remains into the sky, where they would become the sun and the moon. A servant of the Vala Oromë the Huntsman, legend has it that in ancient times he would visit the gardens of Lothlorien before he became the guardian of the last surviving light of Telperion, the Silver Tree.

Tilion is a powerful guardian, using his silver bow to fight off any enemies that would seek and destroy the last light of Telperion. However, he’s not the most dedicated or serious guide. Sometimes, the careless path he takes leads the moon into the sky during the daytime or blocks out the light of the sun, carried by the burning hot Arien.

11 Olórin

Humble And Self-Conscious, Found Power In Mercy

• Ruling Vala: Manwë
• Strengths And Powers: Friend to nature, expert in pyrotechnics, and holder of Narya, the Ring of Fire.
• Appearance or Departure From Middle-earth: Arrived as one of the Istari in the Third Age, departed with Frodo, Galadriel, and Elrond from the Gray Havens in the year 3021

It was intended to be ironic that one of the most understated of the Maiar would be the key to saving Middle-earth. A servant of the King of the Valar, Manwë, Olórin spent his early years in Lorien and learned the ways of Middle-earth from the other Valar that lived there. He was one of the Maiar who was sent to guard the primeval elves against Melkor.

Aside from Manwë, the other Vala that influenced Olórin was Nienna, the lonely keeper of grief and compassion. It might have been this crucial understanding of humanity and mercy that gave Olórin the edge over the most powerful Maia in Middle-earth.

10 Uinen

The Principal Diety Of Numenor

• Ruling Vala: Ulmo
• Strengths And Powers: Calms the seas and advocates for the misguided or lost.
• Appearance or Departure From Middle-earth: Appeared and guided the Teleri on their Great March west, departed after the First Kinslaying of Alqualondë in YT 1495.

The Lady of the Waters and the patron of all mariners, Uinen was one of the most important Maiar in terms of authority and was worshipped in Númenór. Ossë, her spouse, controlled the sea, but he was a harsh master, and her benevolence protected travelers and sailors from his wrath. As long as the people of the island kingdom were loyal to the Valar, Uinen was their most important deity.

She eventually proved to be even more powerful than her husband Ossë, who defied his original Vala Ulmo and was on the side of Melkor for a time. Uinen was able to return her husband to the good graces of the Valar, and only because of her influence were they able to forgive him. This courtesy was denied to other servants of Melkor, such as Curomo and Mairon, who did not have such powerful advocates.

9 Ossë

Defied Ulmo And Served Melkor

• Ruling Vala: Ulmo or Melkor
• Strengths And Powers: Controlled the sea, but islands and shorelines as opposed to the briny depths
• Appearance or Departure From Middle-earth: First appeared to the Lindar and taught them the lore of the sea, now dwells in Valinor and enforces the Doom of the Noldor

A Maia of the sea would be wild and unpredictable. Ossë is one of the few beings in the history of Middle-earth who was redeemed after following Melkor for a time, but the grace of his wife, Uinen, saved him. He would go on to befriend and mentor the Lindar elves, raise Nuemenor out of the ocean, and influence Cirdan the Shipwright to stay in Middle-earth.

These were impressive displays of power, especially given the importance of the ocean as the great divide in the world of Middle-earth, along with being a vessel of the Valar’s immense power. Ossë raised Numenor from the sea, but he was also the one who sank and destroyed it, and when a ship attempts to sail to Valinor against the Doom of the Noldor, Ossë’s his hand that sinks it.

8 Curumo

Rose To Head Of The White Council

• Ruling Vala: Aulë
• Strengths And Powers: The ruling Wizard of Middle-earth and the most powerful of the Ishtari.
• Appearance or Departure From Middle-earth: Arrived with Gandalf and the other Ishtari in the Third Age. After he was killed, his master denied him, and his spirit faded away on the western shore.

Curumo was a leader among the Maiar from the very beginning, interested in the crafts and machines of Middle-earth like the Vala that was his master, Aulë. This was a Vala of great skill and initiative, and personally instructed Feanor, the elf who eventually created the Silmarils.

Always the leader of the Ishtari, Curomo volunteered to lead the Wizards into Middle-earth while Olórin, who didn’t have as much confidence in his power, had to be ordered to go. Gandalf once commented that Curomo had grown too prideful as the wizard Saruman, and this weakness led to his downfall.

7 Ilmarë

The Higest Order Of Maiar

• Ruling Vala: Manwë
• Strengths And Powers: The Handmaiden of Varda and the Guardian of the Stars
• Appearance or Departure From Middle-earth: Always stayed in Arda to serve her master and his Queen.

The hierarchy of Valinor isn’t strictly enforced, but as a collective, the residents acknowledge the authority of the king and queen of the Valar, and second only to them are their most loyal Maiar. Ilmarë is the handmaiden of Queen Varda and is also considered the leader of the Maiar, and her counterpart is Eönwë, who carries the banner of King Manwë.

Ilmarë is designated as the Guardian of the stars, and her name comes from the Quenya word “ilma” which means starlight. In earlier versions of Tolkien’s stories, she’s the daughter of the king and queen and therefore a princess, but this idea evolved into the Maia instead.

6 Eönwë

One Of The Most Powerful Beings In Tolkien’s Creation

• Ruling Vala: Manwë
• Strengths And Powers: Often led the Valar’s military campaigns and was one of the first beings to defeat Morgoth.
• Appearance or Departure From Middle-earth: Led the charge in the War of Wrath in FA 545, stayed until the Second Age to guide the Edain to build Numenor

In terms of arms, Eönwë was one of the most powerful beings to ever exist in Arda, and his place was next to his master, the leader of the Valar, Manwë. He tends to stay close to Valinor should he be needed, but was present at some of the most important events in history.

Eönwë was the Maia that greeted Elrond’s father, Eärendil when he appeared on the shores of Valinor carrying a Silmaril. He was the one who led the forces of the Valar against Morgoth in a war that the Noldor also fought, a war which not only resulted in Morgoth’s final defeat but the recovery and loss of the other two Silmarils.

Despite his vast power, he was willing to show Sauron mercy after his master had been defeated and bring him to the Valinor to be judged. Rather than face the Valar, however, Sauron ran and hid, quietly building up his forces until the Numenoreans would confront him centuries later.

5 Mairon

The Greatest Threats Come From Within

• Ruling Vala: Originally Aulë, changed to Melkor
• Strengths And Powers: Smithing, crafting, magic, shapeshifting, and a political opportunist.
• Appearance or Departure From Middle-earth: Arrived with his master Sauron during the Sleep of Yavanna, his death marked the end of the War of the Ring in TA 3019.

Not all the Maiar used their powers for good. Sauron, the big bad of The Lord of the Rings trilogy, was also of this order of powerful beings, and he served the Vala Melkor under the name Mairon and was later named Morgoth. Like his master, Sauron was more of a mage and manipulator than a fighter, and it was under these pretenses that he made the rings and gave them to the races of Dwarves and Men.

He planned to dominate Middle-earth through guile as opposed to military force and when it came to deception, he was one of the most powerful Maiar in LotR. Sauron recruited other Maiar to help him, such as the two Balrogs Durin’s Bane and Gothmog. One survived and slept under Moria, to be awakened by the passing of the Fellowship, while the other was killed at the Fall of Gondolin.

4 Luthien

Her Descendants Survived To Defeat Sauron Forever

• Ruling Vala: None, but her mother served both Vána and Estë.
• Strengths And Powers: She inherited the magic of her mother, who used music, poetry, and embroidery to create magic
• Appearance or Departure From Middle-earth: Born in YT 1200, final death FA 503.

Luthien was not a Maiar in the strict sense, but the daughter of one, and the power she inherited from her mother was enough to confound Melkor and take one of the Silmarils from his crown. She and her companion and lover, a man named Beren, accomplished what countless armies and heroes that had come before them could not.

Luthien was the oldest child of Melian, a Maia who stayed in Middle Earth for the love of King Thingol. It was the king who gave Beren what he thought was an impossible task of retrieving one of the Silmarils from Morgoth’s crown. He miscalculated the depth of his daughter’s love, devotion, and power, and it was through a spell that she invented herself that Morgoth’s whole court fell asleep, and she and Beren escaped with one of the precious jewels.

3 Arien

Powerful Enough To Carry The Sun

• Ruling Vala: Vána
• Strengths And Powers: Cannot be deceived by illusion or shapeshifting, carries the sun
• Appearance or Departure From Middle-earth: Daily, as her eternal task demands

In Germanic folklore, the sun is a woman, which seems to be a unique idea on a planet where most cultures see the sun as male and the moon as a feminine symbol. Tolkien was a scholar of ancient Germanic languages and their stories, so perhaps this was the inspiration for Arien, the only Maia powerful enough to be entrusted with carrying the sun across the sky.

The Vala Vána was Arien’s master, and she was the guardian of both light and youth. This was not only the light of the sun, as Arien was also a spirit of fire, but the light of knowledge and understanding. Arien is one of only two beings in the history of Arda that could not be deceived by Sauron, the other being Galadriel.

After the two trees were destroyed, a single fruit from each one was preserved, and the golden light of Laurelin became the sun. Although it was encased in a magical vessel to hold its heat, only Arien could bear it without being hurt.

2 Gothmog

Responsible For The Death Of Feanor

• Ruling Vala: Melkor, called Morgoth at this time
• Strengths And Powers: A front-line warrior who conquered almost all of Middle-earth in the name of his master
• Appearance to Departure From Middle-earth: Followed Melkor to Middle Earth at the same time as Sauron, and was killed by King Ecthelion in F.A. 510.

Gothmog was a Balrog who served Morgoth, and unlike Mairon, he took a role on the front line. He was famous for killing several elf kings until he was killed by Ecthelion, the Warden of the Great Gate in Gondolin. It’s a good thing that Gothmog was dead by the time of the War of the Ring and the Fellowship never had to deal with him.

Gothmog was one of the earliest of the Maiar to be named in the books as a close ally of Melkor and was his close lieutenant before the rise of Sauron. One of his first exploits was attacking and mortally wounding Feanor, the creator of the Silmarils; other notable elves that fell under his hoof include Fingon and Ecthelion, the latter of which managed to mortally wound him in return.

1 Melian

Protected Her Kingdom And Predicted Its Fall

• Ruling Vala: Vána and Estë
• Strengths And Powers: Illusion, protection, songs, and patterns of enchantment
• Appearance or Departure From Middle-earth: Appeared in the woods of Lorien at the dawn of Arda, and returned to Valinor after King Thingol’s death in FA 503.

Perhaps the most powerful Maiar that existed, she had already retired to the Undying Lands by the time the One Ring was lost. She was recognized as another being by the people of King Thingol, who called her Melian the Maia, and she had manifested into material form out of love for her king.

She used a powerful spell, called Melian’s Girdle, to hide her husband’s kingdom from Morgoth’s servant Mairon, and it was eventually breached by a single traitor as she predicted. Her only child was Luthien, who recovered a Silmaril and made a pact with Men by taking Beren as her husband.

When Thingol fell in the final battle against Morgoth, Melian left Middle-earth forever, leaving her memory with her family. Especially favored among these was her grandniece Galadriel, who continued to rule in Lothlorien, one of Melian’s favorite places.