Predestination in Middle-Earth

[The Saucepan Man]

Hey, Iarwain, I just noticed that you got round to choosing your PT at last! Great choice - it certainly suits you. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

But really, why would Eru intervene in the quest of Erebor, but allow the house of Hurin to go down the drain without a gleam of hope for redemption?

A good question. Eru does undoubtedly intervene in the Quest of Erebor, at least indirectly through Gandalf if not directly (although I like my Thrush as divine intervention idea [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] ).

The Silmarillion is a profoundly tragic book (at least until Morgoth gets his final come uppance) and there are certainly less examples of fortuitous events occuring to aid the characters in their struggles than in the decidedly more upbeat The Hobbit and LotR.

Maybe it links in with Mithadan's reference to the Elves being more bound up in the Music of the Ainur and therefore less subject to the vagaries of free will. The First Age was primarily the Age of the Elves. Perhaps, being closer to the Music, they were less in need of guidance through divine intervention. Although that does not explain why Morgoth was allowed to bring them to the brink of destruction, or why the Houses of Men (and Hurin's line in particular) were so neglected by the divine powers ...