Eönwë the Clumsy

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

(Disclaimer: I do NOT hate Eönwë. I think he's quite cool, being the best Maiar and all, but a lawyer sets aside his personal feelings for the facts. So there!)

Eönwë must have had a lot on his mind after the War of Wrath. After all, he did let at least a Balrog and a few Dragons loose, and then about Sauron. Why was he not taken to Valinor? I think his (I say "his" because he has been given operational command in the expedition, not because it's all his fault.) shortcomings set the troubles of the succeeding ages.

So, am I bashing Eönwë too hard, or does he deserve it?

[Finwe]

I think you might be bashing Eonwë dahling a bit too hard. After all, even though he's a Maia, he isn't omnipresent. There was no way he could have scoured all of Beleriand and all of Middle-earth looking for all of Morgoth's creatures and minions. It was just physically impossible. I think he felt that if he captured Morgoth, then the worst of the hostilities would end, and in a sense, that was almost true. Sauron very nearly repented, and it was only his jealousy of the Elves that made him become corrupted again.

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

But I was not bashing him as a single entity; only as the leader of the expedition to Middle Earth. He was given command over the forces of Valinor: Now with their numbers, they could have scoured the whole of Beleriand, or at least the tunnels of Angband. He could have brought Sauron to Valinor. For crying out loud, the Valar should have learned a lesson about Morgoth's "repentance" and betrayal. Even if Sauron's repentance was true, he should have been judged. After all, he killed my father(or at least, his wolf did) and did other worse things.

[Finwe]

I understand where you're coming from (after all, Morgoth did kill me!!!!!!) but we've also got to take into consideration that Manwë just did not comprehend evil. That ability was not part of his nature, and thus, I think Eonwë thought pretty much the same way that his master did. Besides, we all know how glib-tongued Sauron is. He could have genuinely repented, and persuaded Eonwë to let him stay in Middle-earth, and just hid out somewhere. Afterwards, the "second corruption" could have happened.

[Gwaihir the Windlord]

The opening of Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age:
'When Thangorodrim was broken and Morgoth overthrown, Sauron put on his fair hue again and did obesiance to Eonwe, herald of the Valar, and abjured all his evil deeds. And some hold that this was not at first falsely done... but as it was not within the power of Eonwe to pardon those of his own order, and he commanded Sauron to return to Aman and there recieve the judement of Manwe. Then Sauron was ashamed, and he was unwilling to return in humiliation and to recieve from the Valar a sentence, it might be, of long esrvitude in proof of his good faith; for under Morgoth his power had been great. Therefore when Eonwe departed he hid himself in Middle-Earth, and he fell back into evil, for the bonds that Morgoth had laid upon him were very strong.

He fled after Eonwe's decree, of course, ran away and hid out until Eonwe was gone.

[Legolas]

Eönwë, as far as we know, did as he was directed to do. Personally he did not have the authority to pardon Sauron, nor could he forcefully bring Sauron to Valinor with him.

When Thangorodrim was broken and Morgoth overthrown, Sauron put on his fair hue again and did obeisance to Eönwë the herald of Manwë, and abjured all his evil deeds. And some hold that this was not at first falsely done, but that Sauron in truth repented, if only out of fear, being dismayed by the fall of Morgoth and the great wrath of the Lords of the West. But it was not within the power of Eönwë to pardon those of his own order, and he commanded Sauron to return to Aman and there receive the judgment of Manwë. Then Sauron was ashamed, and he was unwilling to return in humiliation and to receive from the Valar a sentence, it might be, of long servitude in proof of his good faith; for under Morgoth his power had been great. Therefore when Eönwë departed he hid himself in Middle-earth; and he fell back into evil, for the bonds that Morgoth bad laid upon him were very strong.

He did all he could with the balrogs. The key word is 'inaccessible':

The Balrogs were destroyed, save some few that fled and hid themselves in caverns inaccessible at the roots of the earth;

The dragons (at least those at the battle) were destroyed:

Then the sun rose, and the host of the Valar prevailed, and well-nigh all the dragons were destroyed;

All quotes from The Silmarillion.

[FingolfintheBold]

is there a quote on Eonwe being the mightiest maia? i remember his being "the mightiest in arms" of any upon the earth, which is stinking awesome, but perhaps his power wasnt the best for other things, like the mop up after the battle. He might have been really good at slaying an enemy with a sword, but perhaps his "sixth sense" for seeking out evil wasnt the greatest.

But altogether, you cant say it was his fault. There were alot of mighty maia there, but none of them could dig out the hidden depths of Morgoth's fortress, or change Sauron's true nature by will alone.

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

I just have another question: Could'nt they have brought Orome or Tulkas along? Just a Vala in the War of Wrath would have been exciting...er...gotta go! smilies/rolleyes.gif

[Gwaihir the Windlord]

but perhaps his "sixth sense" for seeking out evil wasnt the greatest.
Perhaps try reading Legolas's post again, I think.

As for a Vala in the War of Wrath; I have thought about that myself, and have come up with two thoughts. Firstly, perhaps, Valar such as Tulkas fighting alongside the Children of Illuvatar would have been too dangerous. The power of such Valar was after all quite awesome.

The Valar feared, in the War of the Powers to deliver the Elves of Cuivenen, the damage they would do to the Earth. And it is said that they did indeed cause a lot of tumult in that action. Since Beleriand was destroyed anyway, though, this seems rather pointless unless it would be that the power of Valar warriors would actually be a threat to their own side.

Either that, or the Valar did not wish to go themselves in an effort to sort of tone down their own physical involvement in Middle-Earth's wars. The Valar fought the first war on behalf of the Children of Illuvatar, the Battle of the Powers, themselves in full; for the War of Wrath they sent Eonwe and the armies of the Eldar; in the wars against Sauron, they sent the five Istari.
The host of Elves and Maiar was, after all, enough to do the job; the actual power of Valinor was used just as well by them. I get the feeling they were sort of gradually withdrawing themselves actually from Middle-Earth, here. It is certainly an interesting question.

[Maéglin]

Eonwe was indeed the mightiest in arms of all Arda, meaning that NO-ONE could have withstood him in battle (not even the Valar, according to the wording). But of course might in arms does not necesarily mean you are the most gifted. After all Sauron was a very gifted Maia in terms of craftwork albeit evil.

I think the whole point of the War of Wrath was to win back the Silmarils which they failed in. For this Eonwe can only be blamed. He set a guard on them yes, but why didn't Eowne specifically guard them himself (after all he is the mightiest in arms of all Arda) or at least send them back to Valinor straight away with a heavily armed escort. Instead he let Maedhros and Maglor get away (why couldnt he just chuck a net over them like Gothmog did to Hurin).

By the way, can someone tell me how Maedhros could carry a sword and a Silmaril when he had only one hand. It is said that when the camp was raised against them, "they prepared to die, defending themselves to the last."

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

I think they did the war mostly for the purpose of Morgoth's overthrow. The question of the Silmarils was, in my opinion, just a side issue.
Maybe Eonwe had let Maedhros and Maglor to get the Silmarils in order to prove that the Silmarilli has really rejected their claims to its ownership. But he did not foresee that they would be lost. Now question: Is that Eonwe's fault.

[Maéglin]

I don't think so Nilpaurion. Eonwe would not have let Maedhros and Maglor get the Silmarils just to prove a point. In the Silmarillion it is said that Eonwe would only yield the jewels from his charge to the Valar, as it is whence it came from in the beginning. So the jewels were Eonwe's responsibility and while he may not have known about the fates of the Silmaril he certainly was partially at fault.

The Silmarils were not just a side issue after all they continued the light of the Two Trees, possibly the greatest creation of the Valar in the realm of Arda.

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

OK, so Eonwe was at fault there.

(Talks to Eonwe)Hmmm...sorry ol' buddy, but you messed up the War of the Jewels affair pretty good. Oh, well. (tosses around Morgoth's broken tooth)

Sorry for my erroneous opinions. My friend borrowed my Silm. By the way, the name's Elenrod.

[Gwaihir the Windlord]

Eonwe was indeed the mightiest in arms of all Arda, meaning that NO-ONE could have withstood him in battle (not even the Valar, according to the wording).
Eonwe's skill with conventional weapons of battle was the greatest. I don't take that to mean that he would have beaten, for example, Tulkas in his strenth. Or the power of Manwe, or Orome in their anger. I feel certain that battles, when they involved the Powers, would take into account more than might in the weapons (not guns, obviously) of the dwellers of Arda - which Eonwe happened to be the best at, the most formidable sword-wielder in Manwe's domain.

But yes, the Silmarils weren't the primary goal for the War of the Wrath. It was for the deliverance of the Two Kindreds that Earendil pleaded. When Maedhros and Maglor took the remaining two jewels, Eonwe permitted them to leave for he would not allow their slaying - something he would have had to do had he guarded the Sils from them himself, whoever mentioned that - as he was not allowed to condone this by the Valar.

Remember, he was under their command. And the sundering of the Silmarils was fated and isn't really a bad thing; the Valar still have one, and that's the way it turned out. The Sons of Feanor fulfilled their Oath.