Magic by Melkor, No Returns Accepted - Page 8
© Michael Martinez
As a King of Gondor, Isildur was, in fact, a priest of Iluvatar on behalf of his people. "It later appears," Tolkien notes in Letter 156, "that there had been a 'hallow' on Mindolluin, only approachable by the King,...
...where he had anciently offered thanks and praise on behalf of his people; but it had been forgotten. It was re-entered by Aragorn, and there he found a sapling of the White Tree, and replanted it in the Court of the Fountain. It is to be presumed that with the reemergence of the lineal priest kings (of whom Luthien the Blessed Elf-maiden was a foremother) the worship of God would be renewed, and His Name (or title) be again more often heard. But there would be no temple of the True God while Numenorean influence lasted.The Gondorian kings (and, presumably, the Arnorian kings) were only continuing or reviving the ancient worship their people had practised in Numenor.
The Numenoreans thus began a great new good, and as monotheists; but like the Jews (only more so) with only one physical centre of 'worship': the summit of the mountain Meneltarma 'Pillar of Heaven' -- literally, for they did not conceive of the sky as a divine residence -- in the centre of Numenor; but it had no building and no temple, as all such things had evil associations....Iluvatar did not imbue Arda with his personal essence as Melkor had, but then there would be no need. Iluvatar created Ea with the Flame Imperishable, and he set the Flame at its heart. The Halls of Ea are indisputably identifiable with the will of Iluvatar, and Melkor's petty machinations could only bestow a veneer of identification upon Arda. Hence, Iluvatar is free to act within his own creation when he desires. And Gandalf points out to Frodo that there is some guiding purpose at work in Arda, when he says, "There was more than one power at work, Frodo. The Ring was trying to get back to its master....Behind that there was something else at work, beyond any design of the Ring-maker. I can put it no plainer than by saying that Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and not by its maker...." And we can be sure Gandalf was speaking of Iluvatar because Tolkien says so in Letter 156, "So God and the 'angelic' gods, the Lords or Powers of the West, only peep through in such places as Gandalf's conversation with Frodo". Whether the Valar had some part in the decision that Bilbo should find the Ring or not, Tolkien was clearly including Iluvatar in the decision.
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