In Tolkien's legendarium Saruman is a maia. There were two orders of the angelic beings created by the one god Eru Iluvatar called ainur who entered the world of Ea, the valar and the maiar. The ainur participated in the creation of Ea with their song; they sung themes given by Eru and then Eru gave existence to their song by allowing it to manifest itself with the creation of Ea. The valar and the maiar were those ainur who entered Ea and tethered their existence to it in order to help shape it. The valar were of higher order, more powerful and wiser than the maiar, who would most of the times assist the valar in their missions.