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and even after Gandalf died, he came back stronger than before.
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Excellent post Durelen. One minor note that has some relevance to the topic at hand. Iluvatar was the one who intervened and sent Gandalf back, not the Valar. Tolkien states that the Valar's plan for the Istari failed in the moment of Gandalf's death. However, Iluvatar stepped in and enlarged the plan of the Valar. (Letter 156)
What the Valar would have done if Eru had allowed their plan to fail must remain opaque to us mere mortals.
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I have sometimes wondered why the Valar never took a more active interest in the lives of Men when the first awoke. If they had done so then, men would not have come under the influence of Melkor...
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Alas, they were rather preoccupied at the time by the mischief of Melkor.
And also they were having a nasty spat with the Noldor who had just returned to Middle earth and they did not really want to get involved there again.
[ November 21, 2002: Message edited by: Kuruharan ]