XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: schwarzb@dqel.com   
      
   On 2 Jun 2015 09:26:27 GMT, Sandman  wrote:   
      
   >In article , Stan Brown wrote:   
   >   
   >> > Barry Schwarz:   
   >> > 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.   
   >>   
   >> I don't think so. There's a passage somewhere where Tolkien writes   
   >> that Sauron at the end of the Third Age was more powerful than   
   >> Morgoth at the end of the First. The reason was that Morgoth   
   >> dissipated much of his essence into all the material of Arda to   
   >> corrupt it, but Sauron did not need to do that.   
   >   
   >I think you meant Sauron at the end of the the second age, not at the end of   
   the   
   >third - which means that Sauron at his greatest was more powerful than   
   Morgoth at   
   >his weakest (end of first).   
   >   
   >Sauron at his greatest (end of second) compared to Morgoth at his greatest   
   (Years   
   >of the Trees) is no match, and Sauron is indeed a mere "pipsqueak" in   
   comparison.   
   >   
   >In fact, much of the reason why Sauron could become so powerful at the end of   
   >second is directly related to what Morgoth did in his time.   
      
   If Sauron did acquire some of the power that Morgoth dissipated, it   
   only strengthens the argument that the Valar were outrageously   
   negligent in allowing him to remain in Middle-earth.  They were the   
   caretakers of Arda, sent by Eru to prepare it for the Children.  What   
   did they think would happen when an evil super-Mia (of almost Vala   
   strength) was left unchecked.  Did they learn nothing from Morgoth's   
   quest for power and dominion?   
      
   And what of Tulkas and Ulmo after Morgoth was defeated?  Before the   
   War, they had repeatedly urged the Valar to take action.  Did they   
   fail to recognize Sauron's destructive potential?  Or did their   
   loyalty to Manwë obligate them to accept his "let's wait and see how   
   bad things can get" attitude?   
      
   And what of the fall of Númenor?  While the attitude of many had   
   changed long before Ar-Pharazôn, surely the Valar knew that Sauron had   
   instigated the final act of rebellion.  And still they did nothing.   
      
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