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The closest references to Eru or the Valar in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movies I can think of are Gandalf's vague description of his resurrection ("I've been sent back... until my task is done.") and his later description of Aman to Pippin ("White shores and beyond, a far green country under a swift sunrise." — as an aside, he's taunting Pippin here, since Hobbits suffer from the Gift of Men) and the equally vague information viewers are given about where the Elves are going when they leave Middle-earth.

Are there any more direct references I'm missing? Maybe a mention of Aulë by a dwarf?

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  • Men do stop off at the halls of mandos, they don't leave right away.
    – Shamshiel
    Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 21:14

3 Answers 3

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Fellowship of the Ring

  • There's at least one reference to Morgoth in the extended edition:

Celeborn: Tell me, where is Gandalf, for I much to desire to speak with him. I can no longer see him from afar.

Galadriel: Gandalf the Grey did not pass the borders of this land. He has fallen to shadow.

Legolas: He was taken by a foe of shadow and flame: a balrog of Morgoth.

Fellowship of the Ring (2003)

Gandalf: I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn.

Fellowship of the Ring (2003)

  • There's at least one reference in the score; according to the Fellowship of the Ring annotated score, the full text of Arwen's prayer is:

What Grace is given me, let it pass to him. Let him be spared. Mighty Valar, save him.

The Music of the Lord of the Rings Films Part 1: The Fellowship of the Ring The Annotated Score Texts "Arwen's Prayer"

The Two Towers

  • When Aragorn is floating down the river, hallucinating Arwen, she says:

Arwen: May the grace of the Valar protect you.

The Two Towers (2004)

  • In the next scene, between Arwen and Elrond, Valinor is called out by name:

Elrond: Tollen i lû. I chair gwannar na Valannor. Si bado, no círar. (Arwen, it is time. The ships are leaving for Valinor. Go now... before it is too late.)

The Two Towers (2004)

The Battle of the Five Armies

  • Galadriel has a throwaway line during her dust-up with Sauron3:

Sauron: (in the Black Tongue) It has begun... The East will fall. So shall the Kingdom of Angmar rise. The time of the Elves is over. The Age of the Orc has come.

Galadriel: You have no power here, servant of Morgoth.

The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

Considering Peter Jackson didn't have the rights to the Silmarillion material2, and very little mention of the Valar is made in the Lord of the Rings books themselves, I actually find it surprising that so many exist.


1 Nod to Hatandboots for reminding me of this one

2 To the point where reference is made of the Blue Wizards in An Unexpected Journey, but Gandalf can't remember their names; the Blues are referenced in the Appendices, but their names are only revealed in The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales

3 Nod to suchiuomizu for pointing me to this one.

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  • 3
    Maybe Gandalf's whole "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udun. Go back to the shadow! You cannot pass."?
    – user45549
    Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 15:49
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    Galadriel called Sauron a 'servant of Morgoth' in the Battle of the Five Armies. Commented Dec 10, 2015 at 23:22
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    Doesn't Frodo and/or Sam invoke Elbereth when fighting off Shelob? Commented Dec 11, 2015 at 1:15
  • 3
    @DougWarren Not in the movie; Frodo just invokes Eärendil Commented Dec 11, 2015 at 1:16
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    The Valar as a group are mentioned by name when the Ithilien rangers see the mûmak. Commented Apr 28, 2022 at 13:53
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In addition to what's been said here, at the Battle of Helm's Deep, Aragorn addresses the assembled defenders in Elvish, crying "A Eruchin!" which means "O (ye) Sons of Eru!"

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  • Good catch! Usually anglicised as eruhin I think elfdict.com/w/eruhin Commented Apr 28, 2022 at 13:51
  • @DavidRoberts Q: eruhini, S: eruchîn
    – OrangeDog
    Commented Aug 25, 2022 at 9:45
  • @OrangeDog thanks for the correction! Commented Aug 25, 2022 at 13:03
  • @DavidRoberts it was from your own link
    – OrangeDog
    Commented Aug 25, 2022 at 13:26
  • @OrangeDog I guess I didn't read down to the Sindarin entry. I do know the plural of eruhin is eruhini, but was getting the two languages confused, since I was assuming the OP was going for the singular, given the S. ending of -in. Commented Aug 25, 2022 at 15:13
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There's the scene of The Passing of the Elves, which is also a music piece by Howard Shore. Here is the movie snippet; apparently this was deleted from the theatrical release but happens to be on the extended DVD edition (which I am familiar with). The song, A Elbereth Gilthoniel, is a hymn to Varda. Shore's music composition is here.

Curiously, as opposed to books, in the movies there's apparently no invocation of Elbereth either at Weathertop, or at the ford of Rivendell, or at Cirith Ungol (to name a few).

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  • The name Elbereth was poisonous to Ungoliant and Shelob. It is explicitly credited with pushing back darkness at critical times. Commented Aug 25, 2022 at 12:04

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