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Originally Posted by hewhoarisesinmight
Skimming through my newly aquired copy of Morgoth's Ring, I noticed in the Annals of Aman, that because there was only one of Melkor against the many of the Valar, they sent forth Tulkas alone to fight Melkor. This seems a stupid bit of chivalry when the fate of Arda is at stake. What would have have happened if Melkor had defeated Tulkas? Would Orome or someone else fought then? Would the Valar have formed an orderly queue waiting for their chance to fight? The Valar completly lost their advantage of being many against one.
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One thing I've always been confused about, is Tolkien repeatedly states in the Sil that Melkor is the most powerful Vala ever, and it really seems sometimes like he's trying to drive this point home so nobody will ever question Melkor's power. But as far as I can tell, he never gives any explicit examples proving that Melkor is the most powerful. And there are quite a few counter-examples - such as Tulkas defeating Melkor in 1v1 battle, and a mere Elf (Fingolfin) giving 7 wounds to the most powerful being ever before dying. I mean, we're told that the Vala have the power to destroy mountains and change oceans, and then a mere Elf is able to deal quite a bit of damage to the most powerful of them?
I'm just curious why Tolkien makes it a point to repeatedly state how powerful Melkor is. I don't think we ever see clear examples of why he's so powerful.