The Lord of the Rings is known for Middle-earth, but Middle-earth is just one continent in Arda, which is the world within E – the universe created by J.R.R. Tolkien. Middle-earth’s God, Eru Ilvatar, created spirit beings called Ainur first, and they lived with him in the Timeless Halls outside E. Eru proposed a musical theme and the Ainur sang the magical Ainulindal, which Eru then revealed had visualized a plan for E. The 15 most powerful Ainur, the Valar, went down into E with Ainur of a lesser degree called Maiar, and together they built what they had visualized.
