'Which is as Fate to all Things Else’

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

I haven't finished III and IV of my argument, but I'll throw it aside to intervene now.

davem:

Elves [have] freedom of thought & the freedom to choose how they will do things, but not the freedom to choose what they will do. (dave M)

We may have always been on the same side of this debate, but I was always leery of this argument of yours. The way I see it, both Elves and Men have freedom to choose what they do. As H-I loves so much to quote whenever the issues arises:

[Aragorn: ]Good and ill have not changed since yesteryear; nor are they one thing among Elves and Dwarves and another among Men. It is a man's part to discern them, as much in the Golden Wood as in his own house.

LR III 2

For instance, Fëanor revolted and left Valinor against the will of the Valar, but there was a remnant that did not go. And Finarfin chose to turn back on his decision to leave the Blessed Land. There was a choice there for every Noldo to go wherever he chose to.

Another case, while Celebrimbor and the smiths of Gwaith-i-Mírdain accepted Annatar's lies and 'aid,' Gil-galad refused to let the disguised Gorthaur into his domain. Again, there was a choice.

What's so special with Men, then? [Warning: speculation ahead]

The problem with Elves is, since their hroa is made of the stuff of the Earth, and since Earth is Morgoth's Ring, they have a tendency to fall to Morgoth's will. (cf. in BoLT, the Spell of Bottomless Dread that is laid on all the Noldoli after their defeat at the battle of Unnumbered Tears, except in Gondolin). In fact, everything, if left to its own devices, will fall to Morgoth's Will, since he practically dominated the Music of the Ainur . . .

. . . until Eru intervened.

Now, consider Men. Their fëa ultimately belongs beyond Eä. So, they bring something from beyond it to the World. The fate of the World, to fall to Morgoth's will, is not their fate.

Let's unravel the threads above.

Fëanor revolted. The Noldor falls under the Doom of Mandos. Valinor is hidden. All their attempts to plead for Valarin intervention fails.

But then, Beren takes a Silmaril (the only thing from Valinor that does not fall under the curse) from Morgoth's crown. Elwing takes it away from the clutches of the Sons of Fëanor. Eärendil sails for Valinor with its aid. They bring about the much-needed aid and Morgoth is physically overthrown.

All mortals there.

Sauron, having duped the Elves into making rings, fashions the One, which is a curse to Middle-earth, since it ensures Sauron's continued existence. The only way to destroy it seems impossible. In any case, it is on his finger.

But then, Isildur takes the Ring from his hand. Sméagol finds it and hides it deep in the Misty Mountains. Bilbo finds it, then Frodo goes to Mordor with it. Gollum guides them there, and, when he finally recovers his precious and dances in the wrong place, he falls and takes the Ring to its destruction.

All mortals there, too.

The way I see it, the Third Theme (primarily, perhaps basically Men) is the only weapon that successfully works against Melkor's domination of the Music. That is why . . .

[Men] . . . have a virtue to shape their life, amid the powers and chances of the world, beyond the Music of the Ainur, which is as fate to all things else; and of their operation everything should be, in form and deed, completed, and the world fulfilled unto the last and smallest.

TS - Ainulindalë