Timeline for Why did the Valar hold different attitudes towards Elves and Men?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
5 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Jun 15, 2018 at 18:51 | comment | added | Forrest Venable | The only Ainur whose opinions of Men we know are Gandalf (a particular fan of hobbits), Radagast (who appears to stay away from them), Saruman (who seems to prefer dealing with elven stuff, especially ringlore), Sauron (second best tools to manipulate, but easier to get than elves. There also appears to be an element of spite mixed into his interactions with Numenor, maybe), and Morgoth (who wants to kill everything). The motivations of the vast majority of them isn't explicit in the text. | |
| Jun 15, 2018 at 18:47 | comment | added | Forrest Venable | As for being free from the Music of the Ainur being desirable, the elves are always talking about how much it is and, when this overwhelms them, they go to Valinor, where the Ainur broadly already are. The reasons given for the elves' weariness (among other things, their immortality) would also apply just as much to them as well, though Ainur obviously don't need to worry about their bodies fading compared to their souls. This element of refuge from the changing world would obviously be diminished if any Man could pop over to Valinor whenever they felt like it. | |
| Jun 15, 2018 at 18:40 | comment | added | Forrest Venable | Ainur and Elves being bound to Arda and immortal is common knowledge, as is the fact that the Gift of Men is, well, only for Men. Most of the instances of Eru Iluvatar's communication to the Ainur in Arda are through Manwe and are part of his judgments, with some exceptions like Gandalf's return as Gandalf the White. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't remember any pleasantries being ascribed to Eru Iluvatar in those discussions and he definitely seems like a distant character in the books. | |
| Jun 15, 2018 at 18:15 | comment | added | Edlothiad | Elves and Men were described by Tolkien as being of the same "species". As for the rest of your answer, you make a lot of claims, none of which are backed by quotes, most of which I would strongly disagree with. Can you provide any evidence that your points are in fact valid interpretations from the texts? | |
| Jun 15, 2018 at 18:11 | history | answered | Forrest Venable | CC BY-SA 4.0 |