[davem]

In the Ainulindale, its stated that men are not bound by the Music, which is as fate to all things else. So it seems that when Beren & Turin enter Doriath, they both become enmeshed in the Doom of the place & the people, but also in some way, they change it, or at least have some major effect on it.

So, it seems that in some way, they are meant to come there, in that there is some kind of destiny which drives them, but that their own choices change that destiny. Without Beren's appearance ultimately there would be no intervention by the Valar, because Earendel would not have come into posesion of the Silmaril, & so would not have been able to find his way to Valinor to plead for Elves & Men, & Morgoth's victory would perhaps have been assured, & we cannot guess what devastation Glaurung would have wrought. Men, therefore, are effectively 'wild cards' which have unforseen effects.

All of which begs the question - does Illuvatar make use of the freedom of Men, or does he 'direct' their choices to make them do his will? Morgoth attempts to manipulate men - as with Hurin, when he controls what he sees happening to his family, but is Illuvatar equally manipulative?

The Music is a directing force throughout history, but we never know how much Men's freedom can change it - not totally, obviously, as Men live in a world bound to the pattern it sets out, but without their freedom to change it to some degree the whole story would be fixed before it started, & the Music would have been enough, without Arda needing to have been frought into being.

Thingol can only be seduced by the desire of the Silmaril because Beren makes it possible for him to come into posession of it. Beren's love for Luthien makes possible Thingol's destruction, & the destruction of Doriath. But is Beren's love for Luthien determined by the Music, or is it something which changes the Music at that point? Or would Thingol's destruction have come about anyway - would he have come into posession of a Silmaril in some other way?

Flieger makes the freedom of men a major issue, but I don't know how much Tolkien meant by it, or how much thought he gave to the idea. The appearance of Men is a major part in Morgoth's seduction of the Noldor. So, would they have gone down the road they took if Men hadn't been present in the world?

Ultimately, for all the struggles & sacrifices if the Elves, its men who bring about the destruction of Morgoth, through Beren, Turin, Tuor, Earendel, & its Aragorn who leads the forces of the West in the overthrow of Sauron, but how much of what they do is the fulfilment of the Music, how much of it is in despite of the Music, & how much is the result of their behaviour actually changing it?