Silmarillion - Chapter 03 - Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor

[Bêthberry]

Hmm, maybe I'm the only one who finds that echo of Genesis interesting. In Genesis, the emnity is between the serpent who led the woman astray and it is imposed as punishment by Yahweh. Yet the echo does not reproduce a similar situation.

In The Silm the occasion of strife is much different and is not a punishment per se. The discord between the elves and men is described in part as a sibling rivalry, but it is occassioned not by seduction or by a breaking of a prohibition directly. It happens because Aule is overcome by the urge to subcreate and by his desire to ensure suitable people to fight Melkor. He remembered parts of the Music, but his memory was unclear. His creation--and it is a creation and not a breaking--arises not from a desire to harm or to destroy, but from an impatience and a desire to ensure that right prospers. It would seem that here he succumbs to the very kind of temptation which Gandalf envisioned for himself should he take the Ring.

That ill effect may arise from the misplaced desire to do good is, I think, very intriguing, especially since Aule is not condemned for his actions.