Mith -- Yes, perhaps my choice of the word "bleak" to describe this aspect of Tolkien's creation was a bit strong. And I know that Tolkien would certainly agree that, in the end, any discord woven by Melkor will be transformed into an even greater rendering of the Music. Indeed, as you point out, some of that can already be seen in the wonderful variations introduced into Arda.
However, this week, I have been rereading the Silm and I can't shake the feeling that Tolkien's idea of history as a "long defeat" and his strong bouts of personal pessimism greatly influenced his portrayal of the Creation and fabric of Middle-earth.
And see also the statement by JRRT below in one of his Letters which is a fairly strong staement regarding the corruption of Ea.
Bethberry --
Actually, I checked in the Letters to see what Tolkien says about the contrast of the two "myths".
Quote:
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I suppose a difference between this myth and what may be called Christian mythology is this. In the latter the Fall of Man is subsequent to and a consequence (though not a necessary consequence) of the 'Fall of the Angels': a rebellion of created free-will at a higher level than Man; but it is not clearly held (and in many versions is not held at all) that this affected the 'World' in its nature: evil was brought in from outside, by Satan. In this myth the rebellion of created free-will precedes creation of the World (ea); and Ea has in it subcreatively introduced, evil, rebellions, discordant elements of its own nature already when the Let It Be was spoken. The Fall or corruption, therefore, of all things in it and all inhabitants of it was a possibility if not inevitable.
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So it sounds like we were both "right". The Fall of Angels did preceed the Fall of Man, but the fabric of Earth remained untainted. This, of course, is in sharp contrast to what the author says about the corruption of Ea.
sharon, the 7th age hobbit