Magic in Middle-earth

[Gurthang]

But you must also remember that Man and Elves came from Eru, also, so they may have had some 'magic' in them from the start. It does seem that men possess very little(if any) magic, but that may come from them being much younger than Elves.

In some cases, 'magic' does seem to simply stem from technology. For instance, Sauron's ringcraft was something developed and refined. That doesn't sound like magic. It sounds more like the painstaking work that it took to harness electricity.

But I think there is a line where 'magic' becomes the magic that we think of. Luthien singing and putting Morgoth to sleep would be an example of this. The 'light-up" ability of swords like Narsil and Sting is another. These seem like magic magic to us, but may not have to the elves.

It's kind of like magic tricks. All magicians know that their tricks are just that: tricks. It seems like magic to those who don't know how it's done. They see the trick, and say, "That's magic!". But anyone who knows how the trick is done knows the truth. They can see that it's just an illusion, so it isn't magic to them.