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Thanks for the great post, Lalwendë.

Originally Posted by Lalwendë

There are some facts to be had on the history of Numenor which help. The first is that it wasn't a gift of Eru, but of the Valar. The rules about not setting foot on the shores of Valinor (technically, not leaving sight of the shores of Numenor) were also set by the Valar, and not Eru. It was also Manwe who called upon Eru to do something about Ar-Pharazon's expedition (possibly following Amandil's journey to Valinor to parley with the bosses?).

I never saw it that way before. This is yet another blunder by the Valar. Seems that every time they intervene with lesser beings, those beings die. Thinking about it, maybe this is the way it is supposed to be, where Manwe et al are just greater versions of ourselves. We are all children of the One; some just have greater abilities/responsibilities, and when they make a mistake, the foundations of Arda shake. I guess that instead of seeing the Valar as perfect, we can see them as like us, trying to get it right but not always doing so.

Must be those lies of Melkor, making me think that they're all gods or something.

Reading on from there, the Valar clearly did all they could within their remit (not being permitted to meddle with Men) to stop the Numenoreans from their plans, even causing an earthquake, which just leaves Sauron looking even cooler to Ar-Pharazon and his mates in a fabulously diabolical scene where he defies lightning. So they called on Eru.

As you say, these beings may not be perfect and all-knowing as their PR makes it seem. Maybe Eru removed Aman from the world to protect US from them!

I find it hard to take that Eru would do this in order to teach Men a lesson, as those who were doing wrong were killed, along with a lot of innocents - not just in Numenor but also in Middle-earth as that too suffered huge floods and earthquakes - and who would there be to learn from this? Plus it would put Eru in the position of being an unpleasant figure.

It does put the One in a bad light. Why did the innocents die? Was there some reason they had to be sacrificed?

I'm quite happy to go along with Macalaure's idea that Eru did not intend to kill these people, just to change the shape of the world (which was something the Valar could not do).

Omniscient beings don't get the pleasure of saying, "Oops! Sorry."

In matter of fact, the perpetrators weren't really punished. Sauron got a fright and legged it from the ruins, while Ar-Pharazon and his Men are entombed in Valinor waiting for the final day, in a strong echo of Loki waiting for Ragnarok:

Do we have any direct evidence that Eru actually exists? Or is it all based on hearsay via the Valar? What if they, consciously or subconsciously, created this overbeing as a useful tool? When things get really bad, they can blame him. No one's the wiser.

Would Eru be so petty as to try a school teacher trick of keeping the whole class behind because one of them has been shooting spit balls? Hmmm...

One would hope not. But I thought that not all warriors were so entombed, but just those few that set foot to Aman with the King?