Maia (Middle-earth)

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The Maiar are a fictional race from J. R. R. Tolkien's universe, Middle-earth. They are lesser Ainur that entered Eä.

The Maiar (singular: Maia) are lesser Ainur which descended to Arda to help the Valar, the greater Ainur, to shape the World. They are numerous, yet not many are named by Men or Elves.

Their chiefs are Eönwë, banner-bearer and herald of Manwë, and Ilmarë, the handmaid of Varda. There is no warrior in all of Arda who surpasses Eönwë in armed combat.

Each of the Maiar was associated with one or more particular Valar, and they were of similar stock, though less powerful. For example, Ossë and Uinen, as spirits of the sea, belonged to Ulmo, while Curumo, who came to be known in Middle-earth as Saruman, belonged to Aulë the Smith.

Others included Sauron (most powerful of Aulë's people), Aiwendil, who was known in Middle-earth as Radagast the Brown and belonged to Yavanna, and Olórin, later (and better) known as Gandalf, who belonged to Manwë and Varda (though his ways took him often to the house of Nienna where he learned pity and patience, which perhaps aided him in his later struggles to unite the Free peoples of Middle-earth against the power of Sauron).

Alatar and Pallando, known as the Blue Wizards, traveled to the east and never returned to the west. Their fate is unknown. The Balrogs were, like Sauron, Maiar corrupted by Melkor. Their associated Vala is not known. Melian served both Vána and Estë. Gothmog was the Lord of the Balrogs. Arien was a Maia who bore the sun through the heavens, and Tilion, who loved her, was the bearer of the moon. It is likely that Thuringwethil, the vampire who served Sauron, was also a Maia.

Ainur from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium
Ainulindalë (Music of the Ainur)
Lords of the Valar:	Manwë | Ulmo | Aulë | Oromë | Námo (Mandos) | Irmo (Lórien) | Tulkas
Queens of the Valar (The Valier):	Varda | Yavanna | Nienna | Estë | Vairë | Vána | Nessa
The Enemy:	Morgoth (a.k.a. Melkor)
Maiar:	Eönwë | Ilmarë | Ossë | Uinen | Salmar | Sauron | Melian | Arien | Tilion | Gothmog Curumo (Saruman) | Olórin (Gandalf) | Aiwendil (Radagast) | Alatar and Pallando | Durin's Bane