Imagine no religion

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by The Misfortune Teller

Now, Tolkien could have written this scene differently, from an animist perspective, in which case the Balrog on one side of the door and Gandalf on the other side of the door each get down upon their respective knees imploring their respective invisible deity-spooks (Melkor or Iluvatar, respectively) to either open or shut the damned door for them. But Tolkien didn't write the scene that way, for which considerate mercy I have always felt profoundly grateful.

Agreed, if for no other reason then because having them get down to pray in the middle of an action-packed scene would have ruined the pace (a thing that irks me about clerics in D&D); but also because the Balrog broke Gandalf's spell, which if it was due to divine intervention rather than their respective innate power would imply that the Balrog's 'god' was stronger than Gandalf's, and I can't see Tolkien intending that.

(Can we, however, also agree that, whatever we may believe about our real world, from the immanent perspective of Tolkien's subcreated world Eru and the Valar were reality? Dismissing them as 'spooks' doesn't seem quite adequate.)

Originally Posted by TMT

Tolkien's magical mythology appeals to the deeper and more universal levels of the human psyche which persist stubbornly throughout human history regardless of the transient local dominance of various animist factions.

Looking strictly at LotR, and leaving the Silmarillion and Tolkien's later theological/metaphysic writings (where Eru and the Valar figure much more prominently) out of the picture, yes. Even in LotR, there are hints of divine providence at work behind the scenes, but done very subtly and vaguely and avoiding any mention of specific systems of theology or worship (or 'animist factions').

About prayers to Elbereth or the Valar in general (which are about the only instances of overt religious behaviour in LotR that come to my mind), I doubt they would have to be told when their attention was needed, and I really can't see that any coercion was involved. (Frankly, the thought that e.g. Sam 'speaking in tongues' at Cirith Ungol would be able to coerce Elbereth feels rather ridiculous.) So what exactly was the point of prayer in Middle-earth? Maybe it was just a question of the praying person acknowledging "I can't cope with this on my own, I need help."

(To illustrate my point, my other favourite fantasy writer, Stephen R. Donaldson, wrote a short story Unworthy of the Angel from the pov of angel on a covert mission to save the soul of an artist who has made or is about to make a pact with the devil; the story derives its tension from the premise that the angel is powerless/forbidden to interfere openly until the person concerned, i.e. the artist, gives him permission by calling out for help. Maybe the Valar were under a similar restriction regarding the Younger Children in the Third Age?)