Bilbo

I apologize, but I will only be able to reply in brief, and to one selected point (I will also be absent for the next eight days).

I challenge you to find one quote of canon which classifies Ungoliant as a maia. She is said to be a 'fell thing in spider form'. Although some may simply conclude that she is a maia, this is unfortunately a flawed outlook. Tom Bombadil is some kind of 'thing' in human form. Can we simply then attempt to classify him as a one of the ainur? Like Tom, Ungoliant is an enigma, intentional or no. Yes, she may indeed be a maia, but Tolkien never states this. Therefore, I find it wrong to assume that she is of ainuric origin (this assumption being ever too common). My personal outlook is she is the embodiement of darkness and evil which has taken form, but that, again, is my opinion. Rest assured, though, that she is unaccounted for and unexplained.