Magic in Middle-earth

[Morthoron]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

Adding to that Tolkien's speculation that the Blue Wizards may have failed and become "founders or beginners of secret cults and 'magic' traditions" (quoted in Note 3 to The Istari in UT), and bearing in mind that Men, as Morth has noted, seem to exhibit little or no innate magical abilities, it seems plausible to me that the only Men to use spellcraft (meaning magic based on learnable and teachable spells) would be those influenced by the Shadow or misled by other fallen Maiar - i.e. 'the enemy'.

That may well be true, Pitch, but a "magic tradition", like skaldic or shamanistic rituals, does not necessarily mean actual magic has been performed. The evil eye, curses, love philters, voodoo and putting a hex on the neighbor's cow are all part of real-world superstition. And none amount to a hill of beans.

I am reminded of the part in The Hobbit where the Dwarves and Bilbo bury their ill-gotten gold and the Dwarves put all sorts of spells on their hidden treasure. Was it effective or merely mumbo-jumbo from members of a race who had lost whatever subcreative power they had sometime after Narvi crafted the doors of Moria.