[Legate of Amon Lanc]

I agree with Inziladun, and I have always seen it that way, especially LotR is very strong in that. Likewise the very end sentence of the Silmarillion underlines it. Of course I have never been thinking about where it "started", but for some reason, I have been always looking at it from the complex point of view, and that this was just thing that has been sort of present there from the beginning. Arda Marred, everything fades. Elves cannot just bear it forever either. And not just Elves, I always think also of the last debate with Treebeard (in reply to his famous line about "never" being too long word even for him, Gandalf's rather shocking - in that context - remark that maybe kingdoms of Men will outlast him in this Age). It's a sort of thing soaking through and through everything (at least everything ancient and "magical"), I don't see why the Elves would be an exception.

Originally Posted by alatar

Aren't they Eru's 'insurance policy' against the guttering of the light? When Melkor rose up again with another theme, Eru counters with Man, and only then are we assured that the Music will never stop completely.

That's one good point too, however I would not call them "insurance policy" just like that. They, as a theme, are a response to Melkor: they mean life and new creation instead of death and destruction presented by Melkor. In that sense, they are "insurance policy", but partially sort of unknowingly. Just because they are, if we wanted to use some philosophical language, we could say that "life and continuation of creation is Men's essence". However, there is also of course the chance of Men grasping sort of consciously the role of the "insurance policy", meaning that they would really materially oppose Sauron or Morgoth (as it happened). But I think the fundamental truth of what you said lies in the former thing I mentioned.

Originally Posted by alatar

But I think that chaos was part of the plan...just not too much chaos.

Sure, that's what I meant. I see despite my effort it did not sound clear enough: I said "against totally unchecked chaos", meaning "against that kind of chaos, which is totally unchecked". That was the whole point of it.