Faithfulness in Middle Earth

[Silver Dragon]

Sorry, this is going to be rather long...

Perhaps this is what Eru did. While listening to the Music, in fact, the audible embodiment of his own thoughts, he came to this greater understanding. When he percieved Melkor's themes, he simply tried to cover them up with his newly enlightened theme

Okay, this is what I got out of the Silmarillion:

Then the discord of Melkor spread ever wider, and the melodies which had been heard before foundered in a sea of tubulent sound...an endless wrath that would not be assuaged...Then Iluvatar arose...and he lifted up his left hand, and a new theme began amid the storm, like and yet unlike to the former theme, and it gathered power and had new beauty . But the discord of Melkor rose in uproar and contended with it, and again there was a war of sound more violent than before...and Melkor had the mastery. Then again Iluvatar arose...a third theme grew amid the confusion, and it was unlike to the others. For it seemed at first soft and sweet, a mere rippling of gentle sounds in delicate melodies; but it could not be quenched, and it took to itself power and profundity... (Tolkien, Silmarillion 16)

The way I used to look at this description of the Music was that each theme represented a group of people [Melkor/Discord="Forces of Evil"; Second Theme=Elves, maybe Ents(fought the evil, but left by themselves were overwelmed); Third Theme=Humans, Hobbits, etc. (species that followed after and who were unlike to the Elves)]. But, as you illustrated, it could also be interpreted in other ways. If we interpret the Discord as the epitome of treachery, the Second Theme could be seem as the embodiment of courage, endurance, or some such trait, while the Third Theme represent something constant/enduring (I think I'm looking for "unquenchable") such as optimism or hope. You know, it's a lot more fun to disect the meanings behind the books when you're not in English class. And to think Tolkien put in his LOTR foreword that there was no meaning in the books...I wonder if this means he was wrong, or that we're all extremely delusional...