[ainur]

I agree whole-heartedly with Iarwain. The substance of Arda is the Music of the Ainur, made real by the Imperishable Flame, and music is an art that anyone can learn, though some have more talent than others. It stands to reason that the Valar (and Maiar and the various others of the Ainu who descended into Arda) would have more of this ability than any others, for they were part of it's composition. The elves, too, would have greater ability, for they are more bound to Arda, and therefore the Music, and do not depart, even upon their death. They simply go to Mandos and wait, either to be reborn, or for the end of Arda. But Man was given strange gifts: Death (real death--departing from Arda) and the ability to govern things as they will, despite the wishes of the Valar or even Iluvatar (in other words, Free Will.) Both these gifts serve to seperate Man from the Fate and substance of Arda, the Music of Arda. It stands to reason, then, that Man would be less "in tune" with the Song, and have less skill at Magic in the realm of Arda.

I honestly believe that this is the way Tolkien perceived of magic in Middle Earth. It always seems to involve a sort of "tapping into" the Music of the Ainur, or repeating it in some way or merely listening to it. Luthien sings songs of enchantment, Galadriel's mirror is made of water ("And it is said by the Eldar that in water there lives yet the echo of the Music of the Ainur more than in any substance else that is in the Earth"--Ainulindale) and every word out of Tom Bombadil's mouth, whether song or prose, demands a melody. Even the One Ring seems to sing to It's bearer, like a tune getting stuck in your head (poor Gollum--hundreds of years in a cave hearing "This is the song that never ends . . . Yes, it goes on and on my friends . . ."). The magic of Arda is the substance of Arda and that substance is Song.