The place of Christianity's angels is taken by the Ainur, who are divided into two orders of beings, the Valar and their servants the Maiar. The Valar are powerful, and behave much like the pagan gods of Greek mythology. Flieger calls their role in Middle-earth eccentric from a Christian point of view: they are lower than the One God, certainly, but unlike angels they are sub-creators, each with their own realm. So, for instance, Manwë is King of Arda (the Earth), Ulmo is Lord of Waters, Mandos Judge of the Dead, and they were married. This positions them, as Tolkien stated, as demiurges, godlike figures in the Platonic scheme of things with the ability to shape the material world. As with the splintering of light, Flieger writes, the choice of the name demiurge implies subdivision, its original meaning including to do by dividing.