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Originally Posted by Esty
Where would that put Saruman then? Was he trying to rearrange the music to fit his own taste and desires? Did he perhaps think that he could change it all the way through to the very end? (Sauron would have thought similarly.) And yet he managed only a brief stanza, that peters out and gives way to the main theme again after all.
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This is the one of the most interesting questions, because according to Ainulindale, not being a Man, he
couldn't change the Music ('which is as fate to
all things else'). It would seem that Saruman's fall stems from his apparent conviction that he
could change the Music in Eru's despite. He couldn't - not because Eru wouldn't let him, but because only Men have that power - one with their gift of mortality. Clearly he could have repented & accepted his part in the Music, ie his
fate, but what he could not do was change his fate. Why did he think he could? As one of the Ainur he would actually have heard Eru tell Melkor in no uncertain terms that None may change the Music in His despite. He would also have known that only
Mortal Men ('doomed to die') were not bound by the Music & only they had the freedom to act beyond the restrictions imposed on all others by it.
Obviously, he could concieve of himself changing the Music - he had freedom of thought - but he also knew the Rules - that he couldn't actually act outside the Music. Was it simple jealousy of Men? I wonder about the Istari's mission - they came to help in the fight against Sauron, but they were restricted by the Music, which bound them & limited their freedom of action.
The whole problem is that Tolkien has made those statements about Men's unique freedom within Middle -earth. If he hadn't it would make everything so simple - 'all are fated to act out the Music, no-one has free will. It was all pre-ordained. But he didn't - into this world of absolute predestination he introduces Men & their 'gift' of mortality/freedom of action (under Eru). Yet, he states unequivocally that all but Men are bound by the Music, & cannot act beyond it. Yet, if Men can change the Music (Eru willing, of course) then this 'pre-destination' which controls & determines the fate of Valar, Maiar & Elves, can
change. Thus, we have the apparently crazy situation of Valar, Maiar & Elves having an inescapable destiny to do 'X'
until[ the moment that Men act beyond the Music, alter it, & thus
change the 'inescapable' destiny of Valar, Maiar & Elves
So, I hear some ask, why not just take the simplest option - there is no free will for anyone in M-e? They're all just 'robots' walking along pre-destined paths - men as well as all the other races. Because Tolkien has made it clear that Men may act beyond the Music, & we can't ignore that. Besides, it would remove any meaning in the tales. Frodo was just a robot. There's no point asking why he took the Ring, & why in the end he couldn't cast it into the fire - he was just a robot acting out his programming. None of the courageous, self sacrificing, acts in the tales have any value because the people who did them were just robots who couldn't do anything else.
The other alternative is that alll the races had freedom of action - not just Men. Problem there is that it makes the whole of the Ainulindale pointless. My take on it is that the freedom of Men to act beyond the Music is a consequence of their mortality - in that because their spirits are not permanently bound to the stuff of Arda like the Elves, or by solemnly binding agreement never to leave it till the Music they sang is played out (the Valar). It is the
stuff of Arda - matter/hroa - which is bound by the Music. The minds/spirits of beings are
not, so freedom of thought is possible for all beings, but freedom of action is curtailed in Valar, Maiar & Elves because they are bound within the Circles of the World. It is the
different relationship of fea to hroa in Men which enables their freedom to act beyond the Music, & to alter it (though
not in Eru's despite.