In the universe of The Lord of the Rings, there is a character who does not appear in the films. Yet his influence on the world was significant and contributed to the emergence of a great villain.
Who is meant? Those who have only seen the films of The Lord of the Rings probably do not know the name Manwë. Yet the character is important for the fate of Middle-earth.
Manwë was one of the first beings created by God Eru Ilúvatar himself – the Ainur. They were further divided into different groups such as the Maiar or Valar – Manwë belonged to the latter and was even their Supreme.
He bore the title “King of the World” because he ruled over the entire planet Arda. During this time, he was as close to his creator god as no other being. Manwë understood how God thought and what his goals were.
He was particularly interested in the element of air and everything related to it. Not without reason was he also called “Lord of the Air” by some. Manwë especially cared for those living beings that were directly connected to this element. Like birds, among them the great eagles, who rescued Frodo and Sam at the end of “The Return of the King”.
A wise ruler who overlooked everything
How did Manwë behave? As the ruler of Arda, he was always concerned with keeping everything in sight. From his palace at the summit of Mount Taniquetil, hardly anything escaped him. He was married to Varda, who was also called “Bearer of the Stars” and also belonged to the Ainur.
When Manwë and Varda were together in the palace, the king was able to see even further. He was very wise and used his great empathy for the living beings among other things to bring elves and humans together. Additionally, he made sure that the kingdom of Númenor did not perish.
In one regard, however, Manwë made a serious mistake that would bring much suffering to Middle-earth.
What was Manwë’s mistake? He had a very famous brother, but it was not yet known how terrible his actions would turn out. This brother was Melkor, who was greatly possessed by greed for power and brought evil into the world.
Manwë freed Melkor from his captivity because he did not understand what evil is. Despite his great wisdom, he was blind to his brother’s dark thoughts. This led to Melkor’s rise and eventually to his transformation into Morgoth. As such, he terrorized Middle-earth.
However, Manwë will also be remembered for another important act: He sent the Istari to Middle-earth. The Istari were the five wizards, including Gandalf and Saruman.
They were sent by Manwë to assist the free peoples in the fight against evil. It is, therefore, thanks to the ruler over Arda himself that the wizards confronted the evil, including Sauron. We had the Istari compete against each other on MeinMMO: The Lord of the Rings: The 5 strongest wizards of Middle-earth in the power ranking
