[Mithadan]

It seems appropriate for me to reiterate here my view of the role which "fate" plays in Tolkien's Legendarium. In the Ainulindale, the Ainur are given a great theme to play in music before Eru. The Theme requires the Ainur to make their music in a symphonic fashion rather then alone or few together, but the Ainur may weave their own details and thoughts into the Music. Melkor (Morgoth) disrupts the first Theme, which is then followed by a second and a third. Eru then shows the Ainur of vision of what their Music has portrayed in the form of the unfolding of Arda's history. Like the Music, the vision is ended early, perhaps prior to the coming of the Elves and the later arrival of Man (Elves and Men were the subject of the third Theme). The Music is then given substance and the Ainur are allowed to chose to enter it and many do. But most of the Ainur are only aware of the Music they played themselves rather than the entire Themes (the exceptions being Manwe and Mandos).

The world unfolds per the Music, including the disruption of Melkor. Thus the Music created streams of events which were fated to occur or at least the beginnings of such streams of "fate". However, the Music consisted of broad brush strokes. The "details" are free will as to the Valar and the Elves and, of course, the Music and the Vision ended early so that much history was not "set".

Men were given the "gift" of free will and the desire to seek beyond the bounds of Arda. But the Valar and Elves remained bound up in the the "streams of fate" created by the Music. This is not to say that everything was preordained but rather that certain courses were set from the start and other courses became set as the Valar and Elves acted within the world. When men acted on their own without contact or influence of the Valar and the Elves, their actions were governed wholly by free will. But when men interacted with Elves and the Valar, their actions could be caught up in the streams of fate. To an extent this was inevitable so long as Elves and Ainur (including Morgoth, Sauron and the Istari) remained in Middle Earth. This explains the significance of the end of the Third Age and the coming of the time of men, for at that time the streams of fate loosen their hold on Arda and free will governs events. This also explains why Gandalf and the Elves "must" depart; their time is over and Arda must be relinquished to the free will of men. Even then there exists a limit upon the effect of man's free will because the stuff of Arda itself were created as a result of the Music.