Hope in Middle-Earth: A Response to "The Busybody" (CMEM-08)
Argh. Celebrating Middle-Earth Month is half over already, and I haven't posted yet! I thought the worst of busy season was over, but then we got unexpectedly smacked with a huge work increase at what I expected to be a slowish time, and the result is that my job's been eating me alive again
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I don't mean, in my last paragraph, to open up the can of worms that is Middle-Earth religion! It seems odd even to use the word "religion" when referring to Middle-Earth, because their attitudes toward such things seem rather different from what we think of when we use the word in the real world. For example, reverence for the Valar while acknowleging that a greater figure lies behind them seems (IMHO) like a kind of middle ground between monotheism and polytheism.
Perhaps I overreached a little in saying that all the Free Peoples are aware of Eru and the Valar; I think it's likely that they do, but textual proof is easier to find in some cases than in others. The biggest question mark is the Hobbits, of course, as you point out. However, Frodo doesn't seem (to me, anyway) to view Elbereth as a figure alien to his beliefs, rather just as someone who is of greater importance to the Elves. There is also the point that, even if Hobbits don't think consciously and specifically about Eru and the Valar, they are in regular contact with one of the Valar's direct servants, i.e. Gandalf. For purposes of this essay, I think that is enough to have an effect on their view of the universe in general and hope in particular.
You didn't mention Ents, but I assume they are in a similar position to the Dwarves. Both were created by Valar.
In any case, I would say that all of the main characters of LOTR almost certainly are aware of Eru and the Valar, and those characters are the main ones to display hope in the book.
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