Eruaistale

Eruist Belief (Q. "Eruaistale")

The religion of Eru Ilúvatar as it was taught to Elves by the Valar and to men by the Elves. Eruist religions venerated Eru as the one true god and creator of all, while the Valar were merely seen as angelic powers and removed guardians of the World. This faith tended to be varied in form, from very simple and tribal religions without priesthood or ritual, to elaborate ceremonies involving feast and prayer. Regardless of doctrine, Eru was almost never directly called upon, but adressed as a distant deity above all, and hymns and praises were addressed to the Valar. However, some Eldar and Men held to the Vision of Finrod and the Old Hope, the belief that Eru himself would one day incarnate in Eruhin shape ( S. Ilon) in the very world of Arda.

Culture

Eru was sanctified and praised as Lord, and given thanks, by His worshipers, especially at seasonal ceremonies, but He was seldom called upon or prayed to directly; due partially to His untouchable and incomprehensibly superior divinity, and partially to the corruption of Melkor, the world was thought to be below His domain, and it was said that He did not interfere with its affairs save at great need. Rather, prayers to Him were addressed through the Valar, who were considered His viceroys in Ëa. However, many Eldar and High-Men had faith in the Vision of Finrod amongst the former and the Old Hope amongst the latter, that Eru Himself would one day incarnate in Eruhin shape ("Yésus") in the very world of Arda, and in this form He would re-sanctify the world and cleanse it of Melkor's influence; and men believed that in this form, He would redeem their people of their many sins.
Besides of His ancient nature and being as "Adar" or "Ainatar", the eternal Maker of Eä , or "Ilon," and His physical incarnation in Eruhin form as "Crisan", "Ion", "Elpino" and "Runando", (that is "the Christ or "the Incarnate", "the Son", "the Anointed" or "the Redeemer"), the Eruists also believed in a third form or nature of Eru: "Airefeä" (Q. "Holy Spirit"), in which form Eru was omnipotent and omnipresent throughout the entirety of His creation, invisible and yet flowing through the world as a sort of guided force. In this form, He saw all things, knew all things, and could speak to the Valar or to His Children, and even at times work miracles. Some of these miracles were His acceptance of the many oaths made by his Children over the long ages, His alteration of the form of Ambar resulting in the Akallabêth, or his indirect destruction of the Ruling Ring.
The Airefeä was also identified with the "Sā" or ritual temple-fire of Elves and men, and with the flame imperishable or the secret fire. All three natures of Eru were collectively known as the "Neldië," or "Trinity."

Mythology & Lore

Eru created the Ainur before anything else, whom he kindled with the Flame Imperishable. Each Ainu came from a part of his mind. To further their comprehension, he presented his thought in the form of music, and listened as the Ainur picked up his themes and elaborated on them, slowly learning to sing in harmony with each other. Eventually he showed them his greatest theme, and made them sing it in harmony and develop it with newly granted powers. This was the Music of the Ainur.
Out of this great music, Eru showed them the Vision which showed vast halls of spaces and stories unfolded in the deeps of Time, and some Ainur were drawn to it. Eru said "eä" ("let it be") and thus Eä, the universe, was created.
Upon creating Eä he also created and fixed the natural laws and physical rules (axani) in which it will function, limited within impossibilities (únati) that can't be broken by any being, no matter how powerful or evil. Ilúvatar also set and fixed the conditions of the World (Ambarmenie) in which the creatures would live.
The Ainur entered Eä and shaped the world according to the Music. Eru delegated most direct action within Eä to the Ainur, including the shaping of the Earth (Arda) itself.
The Ainur were not omniscient and there were some things beyond their comprehension; those were the creation of the Elves and Men, who are directly the Children of Ilúvatar (Eruhíni) created without the delegation of the Ainur. Other things known by Eru alone are their destiny, and the End itself.
The activities of Eru in regard to the life of Arda or Eä are not clear. Manwë was the vicegerent of Eru on Arda and it is known that he sought for his consent several times, as before the creation of the Ents or before the Battle of the Powers.

According to some sages among the Edain of the First Age, Eru would someday enter Eä itself to save his beloved Children. It is said that after the End of Days, Eru will unite the Ainur and the Secondborn to create a music even greater than the one of creation.

Divine Origins

The original Eruist religion, the Elvish variety was in its most ancient form a very simple, tribal religion. Stories and histories were passed down orally, and in these days there was no official clergy or priesthood. Sometimes the High-King appeared as an acting High-Priest of Eru on the seasonal rites. The Lesser Elves, did not adhere to any advanced and organized methods of worship, for they had not learned them of the Valar; while the Sindar, and to a lesser extent the Nandor, had incorpotated the Valar into their cosmology, the Avari chiefly maintained the traditional practices of the Elves, holding no priesthood, and their faith was of a personal and unpretentious sort, emphasizing personal faith and meditation over organized social ceremony and prayer.

Instead of organized Priesthoods some of the Eldar, and many of the Dúnedain after them, founded convents and cults of pious dedicants known for males as "Anustari" (Q."Monks" or lit."Fellows"; S."Gomodronath") or females as "Qindestini" (Q."Nuns" or lit."Companions"; S."Gomodrilath"), who sometimes even lived in specialized communities like monasteries (Q."Anustar"), the later descendants of the Dúnedain also held fanes (S."Iaunath"), temples (Q. "Cordar") or shrines (Q."Alkarini"; S."Alchorath"), in which they revered Eru or rather the Flame Imperishable in form of the "Sā" or temple-fire.
The Númenórians alone of all Men adhered to the High-Elvish traditions, though partially mixed with their indigenous beliefs as the Edain. They believed in the truth of Eru and prayed to Him as Lord, but they knew only one central sanctuary on Meneltarma, and their High-King alone of all of their people acted as functional priest; High-Priest, to be exact. Their Elendili descendants continued these traditions, and introduced them to the Middle-Men of the Westlands, who incorporated them into their own legend, though with little adherence to tradition. High sanctuaries (Q."Airitar") of Gondor were founded, in such forms as the White Tree and the Hallows of Fen Hollen in Minas Tirith, the Ehtelë Ulmova and the High Hallow of Mount Mindolluin, and others of Arnor lay along the Lake Nenuial, Formenairë upon Fornost, in the Barrow Downs of Tyrn Gorthad, the Halls of Hollin, and in the Tower Hills.

Worship

Worship of the Quendi

The Eldar had encountered the Valar and regarded Illuvatar as the only true God and creator of all, and as a result Eruism was their chief religion. However, religion was not a distant and merely spiritual practice for their people. They acknowledged it as a political and social practice, and their religions almost resembled secular organizations as opposed to organized faiths and cults. Secular Orders or Guilds founded in service of the Valar, whose members acted as archivists and scholars rather than priests, were founded in the place of churches and temples, and Elves acknowledged their guardian-entities more as personal figures of significance to themselves and their social life, rather than distant deities demanding sacrifice.
The Avari had heard rumors of the Valar and Eru, and some of their elders had encountered Araw and Morgoth, but they largely ignored traditional religion and adhered purely to personal faith, though some revered the World itself and the Stars, Moon, and the Sun.

Worship of the Dwarves

The Dwarves followed similar religious thoughts. They also revered Eru in a rather informal way, but for the most part, they did not pay much attention to the Valar - with the exception of Mahal, their maker. They however added a worldly reverence to their ancestors and their dead forefathers (but especially the Seven Fathers) to their spiritual life.

Worship of the Halflings

The Hobbits and other Halflings had heard about the Powers of the West and the One (whom they called by the moniker "The Authorities"), but did not pay much attention to them. They turned religious holidays and feasts largely into worldly events of joy and social gathering, and only old names of days or months (Rethe, Astron, Halimath, Blotmath, or Highday) bore remembrance that they had once been the times of religious ritual.

Worship Amongst Men

Many mannish peoples had preserved memories from the First Age, legends about a Voice and a mighty Man, a first temple and various Spirits and Demons. Additionally, some early mannish tribes had been pupils of Avari and Orcs, and had learned rumors about the Powers of the West. This had led to some superstitious ideas and cults among the early Men, many of which prevailed among the Wild Men of the East and the South.
In the West, the Edain had encountered the Eldar and learned from them about Illuvatar and the Valar. Their Númenórean descendants turned the reverence of Illuvatar into a religion with their King as their high-priest and the Meneltarma as their sanctuary. When Sauron was taken captive to Númenor, he infiltrated the thoughts of the Kings of Númenor and spawned a dark cult of Melkor-worship with a dark temple on Númenór.
After the Fall of Númenor, the Elendili and Black Númenórean survivors carried on imitations of both Valarin or Eruist and Dark Worship in their realms, and found many imitators and followers among the Lesser Men and Middle-Men. The neighbors and denizens of the Kingdoms of Arnor, Gondor, and the Black Númenórean Domains added the religious lore of their new Masters and allies to their own, which led to a number of superstitious ideas. In the Westlands, religion remained largely informal, but in Harad many idol-worshiping sects emerged. The Men of the East continued their own primitive spirit-worship and remnants of the old Dark Worship, but also added a kind of nature-worship, which included indistinct memories of the Entwives who had taught their forefathers agriculture and various magical cults and arcane traditions which were brought to the East and South by the adepts of the Ithryn Luin.

Deities

• Eru Ilúvatar
• Manwë Súlimo
• Varda Elentári

Notable Members

• Melesëala