[The Saucepan Man]

Hmm, good point Meoshi.

If the host of the Valar had been defeated, would Mandos simply have been able to let out from his Halls all those who had died in battle, so as to enable a new army to be built?

I suspect that, in the time that it would have taken to rebuild a force strong enough to challenge Melkor, Melkor would himself had had the opportunity to strengthen his forces. And so, victory in a second battle might not have been guaranteed. But then, could the Valar have just kept attacking, rebuilding their armies when defeated, until Melkor was finally defeated?

Really, you would have thought that Melkor should have taken the pretty strong hint that Eru gave him during the Music of the Ainur that he could never win. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]