XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien
From: schwarzb@dqel.com
On Wed, 27 May 2015 07:40:24 -0400, Stan Brown
wrote:
>But if the Istari were forbidden to overawe Men and Elves, how much
>greater constraint must the Valar have put upon themselves? A few of
>them appeared to Men and Elves in the early days, but as Men and
>Elves matured those visits grew fewer and briefer. By the end of the
>First Age the Valar had stopped coming to Middle-earth, and the Maiar
>had left or were leaving.
I wasn't looking for the Valar to overawe men and elves. I was
looking for them to take responsibility for one of their own, however
belatedly, and remove him from Middle-earth.
Melkor was one of the most powerful beings in Arda. When the Valar
moved against him, it was catastrophic for the land and many people
(like open heart surgery). I could understand the Valar not wanting
that to happen again. By comparison, Sauron was a pipsqueak. Any of
the Valar could have brought him back to Valinor (like removing a
splinter) and the damage could have been limited to Mordor which men
and elves avoided anyway..
If not stated outright it is strongly implied that if Sauron should
reacquire the One Ring, he would be unstoppable and all would be lost.
Since the only power in the Ring was what Sauron put there himself, it
follows that elves and men had no hope against a full strength Maia.
(It also raises the question of how the Last Alliance defeated Sauron
when he still had the Ring.) Even the destruction of Numenor and the
changing of the world did Sauron little harm.
Basically, the Valar were sent to Arda to prepare it for the Children
of Iluvatar but were only willing to take token measures to protect it
against one of their own. Eru should be really pissed at them.
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