In Tolkien's earlier conception the Valar could mate and produce offspring - they were much more like, say, the Olympians. Second-generation members included Fionwe/Eonwe, sonof Varda and Manwe, and Orome was the son of Aule and Yavanna. In this scheme Melkor/Morgoth actually raped the sun-maiden Arie, Fionwe's beloved. The Morgoth/Luthien moment always strikes me as a sort of last echo of this original conception.
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