and so learned much in the art of craftsmanship, mechanics, and metal-working, as was seen in the later Third Age. Gandalf was the servant of Manwë or Varda, but was a lover of the Gardens of Lórien, and so knew much of the hopes and dreams of Men and Elves. Radagast, servant of Yavanna, loved the things of nature, both animals and plants. As each of these Istari learned from their Vala, so they acted in Middle-earth. Balrogs Demonic creatures of fire and shadow, Balrogs were fallen Maiar, loyal to the first Dark Lord, Morgoth. They participated in the wars of the First Age of Middle-earth but were mostly destroyed during the War of Wrath which ended the Age. By the Third Age, the only remaining Balrog was "Durin's Bane," the Balrog of Moria, killed by Gandalf. Free peoples The Free Peoples of Middle-earth were the four races that had never fallen under the sway of the evil spirits Morgoth or Sauron: Elves, Men, Dwarves and Ents. Strictly speaking, among Men it was only the Men of the West who were Free People, particularly the descendants of the Dúnedain of the Isle of Númenor, as most Men of the East and South of Middle-earth became servants of Morgoth and Sauron over the ages. The Ent Treebeard quotes lines from a traditional lay listing them: First name the four, the free peoples Eldest of all, the elf-children Dwarf the delver, dark are his houses Ent the earthborn, old as mountains Man the mortal, master of horses After encountering the hobbits Merry and Pippin, he consents that hobbits are a fifth free people, adding a fifth line, "Half-grown hobbits, the hole-dwellers". Dwarves The race of Dwarves preferred to live in mountains and caves, settling in places such as Erebor (the Lonely Mountain), the Iron Hills, the Blue Mountains, and Moria (Khazad-dûm) in the Misty Mountains. Aulë the Smith created Dwarves; he also invented the Dwarven language, known as Khuzdul. Dwarves mined and worked precious metals throughout the mountains of Middle-earth. The seven different groups of Dwarf-folk originated in the locations where the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves first awoke before the First Age. Elves The Elves, or Firstborn, were the first of Eru's Children to awaken. Born under the stars before the ascension of the Moon and the Sun, they retain a special love for light and an inner spirit endowed with