[Inderjit Sanghera]

Although we hear several 'prayers' to the Valar ( note Damrod's request that the Valr 'turn aside' the Mumakil) we still get the impression that Eru is acknowledge as the 'supreme authority' by those who knew of him. Who would these people be? Well, the descendants of the Atani. Notice in the Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth (HoME 10)we hear from Andreth that the House of Hador alone had kept a name for 'Eru' and that the Beorian elements of the Edain had almost forgotten about them. I think that the Marachian tribes who remained in Eriador or Rhovanion may have forgotten about Eru, after a while and mayhap the elements of Bereg's tribe that went into Eriador and the Marachian peoples who passed over the west may have kept some element of Elvish teachings esp. Eru but this too, eventually may have passed. Evidently, the Atani knew many customs from the Eldar. For example, in the Wanderings of Hurin(HoME 11) we learn that the Haladin had inherited the 'custom' of naming Namo and Manwe before a moot, so the moot was 'hallowed'. The House of Stewards and tomb of Kings was also hallowed (Maybe Rath Dinen was too hallowed?) and so evidently such customs were passed on to the Numenoreans (I don't know if this is significant in any way but Norinan, the tombs of the Numenorean kings was on the valley on the south-eastern valley of Meneltarma, maybe all Dunedain burial places were hallowed, a custom they made themselves since Elves would not have or have had burial grounds in Aman or Beleriand) also, since the custom of naming certain Vala to hallow the moot was taken from the Elves, one can presume that Eru was too 'high' to be named in such circumstances. We learn in Cirion and Earlthat Cirion swore a oath of friendship with Rohan, and in it he named Eru, and such a oath had not been sworn since Elendil and Gil-Galad's and presumably the only other time a oath upon Eru would have been sworn was when Aragorn and Eomer re-newed the oath of Eorl and Cirion. So a oath sworn upon Eru was not something to be taken lightly.

The Valar, you must remember, are not gods, though men do confuse them as being gods, at times, many men confused the Numenoreans as being 'gods' and later on the men of darkness took Sauron who preached atheism (to wekane resistence to himself) as 'god'.

Also the Eagles are not Maia or gods.