[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by davem

The 'permanent problem' of evil in LotR is dealt with & answered if we read it in the light of the Sil. If we don't the problem remains unanswered.

I don't think this is true. Bear with me as it will take a few quotes and explications to develop my point. For starters, a few quotations from Fellowship of the Ring illustrate this:

Fear seemed to stretch out a vast hand, like a dark cloud rising in the East and looming up to engulf him.

~FotR p60

Note the foreshadowing of the presence of the Dark Lord virtually reaching across Middle Earth to the Shire, in the shape of Fear. Note that this is not mere foreshadowing; the fear is real, and "seems" to stretch out from the East. Is this mere description for the sake of effect? No, it is reality that Tolkien is describing, in terms of his cosmos, and Frodo is for the first time perceiving that reality that lies behind that which he has always "known" to be real.

(Gandalf speaking)'There was more than one power at work, Frodo. The Ring was trying to get back to its master .... it abandoned Gollum. Only to be picked up by the most unlikely person imaginable: 'Bilbo from the Shire!'
'Behind that there was something else at work, beyond any design of the Ring-maker. I can put it no plainer than by saying that Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and not by its maker. In which case you also were meant to have it. And that may be an encouraging thought.'
'It is not,' said Frodo.'

~FotR p65

Setting aside Frodo's disagreement regarding encouragement a moment, who is doing the meaning? Who does Gandalf mean by it? Gandalf is an emissary from the West. He is a Maiar, who has learned great wisdom in Lorien of the West. Before that, he was amongst those who witnessed the Ainulindalë of Ilúvatar. He was in the presence of Ilúvatar before the making of Arda. So this meaning is being done either by Manwe and Varda, or by Eru. Since Manwe and Varda are viceroys of Eru, the meaning is ultimately Eru's. The Walls of Arda cannot prevent their Maker from sending messages into Arda to be heard by the Valar. Nor can they prevent the direct action of their Maker. Nor can those Walls prevent their maker from being present in Arda, even if Eru has not taken bodily shape as have the Valar. Gandalf's words here and elsewhere signify a consistent and purposeful working of Eru within Arda, even though Eru does not physically enter Arda as did the Valar of the Silmarillion.

'Of course, my dear Frodo, it was dangerous for you; and that has troubled me deeply. But there was so much at stake that I had to take some risk---though even when I was far away there has never been a day when the Shire has not been guarded by watchful eyes.

FotR ;69

Gandalf, as emissary of the Valar and Eru, reveals the heart of Eru in this kindly word to Frodo. If Eru can create a being who is as kindly and caring as Gandalf, Eru Himself must necessarily be at least as kindly and caring, and very likely much more.

A great dread fell on [Frodo], as if he was awaiting the pronouncement of some doom that he had long foreseen and vainly hoped might after all never be spoken. An overwhelming longing to rest and remain at peace by Bilbo's side in Rivendell filled all his heart. At last with an effort he spoke, and wondered to hear his own word, as if some other will was using his small voice.
'I will take the Ring,' [Frodo] said, 'though I do not know the way.'
Elrond raised his eyes and looked at him, and Frodo felt his heart pierced by a sudden keenness of the glance. 'If I understand aright all that I have heard,' he said, 'I think that this task is appointed for you, Frodo; and that if you do not find a way, no one will.'

~FotR p284

As if some other will? Any honest reader of Tolkien knows in his or her bones that the "as if" is virtually a signal that, indeed, what is about to be described, is the reality. Some other will? What will? Appointed? By whom? Again, either Manwe and Varda, or Eru.

Note also the dread of a pronouncement, and of all people, it is Frodo himself who speaks the dreaded pronouncement! ... as if another will was using his small voice. Here in poignant story, is a microcosm of the immense debate between free will and suffering, and the answer, if I may make so bold as to use that term, is "both/and". Because story, reflecting reality, is wrought from whole cloth. It's only in proposition that we can dissect such things. In other words, Frodo has made a choice, and Frodo is that choice made by Eru.

'You cannot pass,' [Gandalf] said. The orcs stood still, and a dead silence fell. 'I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the flame of Anor. You cannot pass. The dark fire will not avail you, flame of Udûn. Go back to the Shadow! You cannot pass.'

~FotR p344
What is the Secret Fire, this flame of Anor? It is not merely the Elvin Ring he wears. It's something that is greater than the fire or might of the Balrog, of any demon, and must be greater than the source of the Balrog's power, Morgoth. There is only one Being greater than Morgoth: Ilúvatar. Gandalf is Eru's hand in Middle Earth, the most direct embodiment of the will of Eru.

[Melkor] had gone often alone into the void places seeking the Imperishable Flame; for desire grew hot within him to being into Being things of his own, and it seemed to him that Ilúvatar took no thought for the Void, and he was impatient of its emptiness. Yet he found not the Fire, for it is with Ilúvatar.

~Sil p16
The Imperishable Flame is the Secret Fire of Anor. It is with Eru/Ilúvatar. Gandalf is its wielder, in Arda. Eru is very much interested in the details of Middle Earth, very much concerned with the 'fortunes' of the Free Peoples, which are of his making. The Children of Eru, who are the Eldar, Edain, Dwarves, and Hobbits, are the special province of Eru. It is a shortsighted reading that thinks Eru is not at the back of, the power behind all that is good in, LotR, does not care for, and has no mercy or pity on all that goes on in Middle Earth.

In The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien has woven Eru into the deep fabric of Middle Earth.