[obloquy]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hickli

Well, perhaps this can be viewed "structurally"? Some propositions:

1) "All Ainur who entered Ea" does not equal "The Valar + Maiar." This is nowhere stated, though often assumed; Maiar I feel confident refers to those lesser Ainur who entered the service of the Valar. This does not include, e.g., the Balrogs, who apparently had already fallen beforehand. Contrast Sauron, who was expressly a Maia of Aule's retinue, and who only (openly) joined Melkor later on.

If there are other Ainur who were not designated either Maia or Vala (and even CT makes the assumption that the term represents one group with two parts in the Sil index), they were beings that are not referenced in the text--in other words, we have no explicit examples. You may not have meant to imply the contrary, but the Maiar are all those Ainur who served the Valar, not just the lesser ones. Balrogs are also expressly Maiar (See HoMe X, p. 411; also Umaiar: see HoMe X, p. 79), though the names of their prior masters are not given. And, in fact, the whole of the corpus appears to take for granted that "primeval spirit" and variants thereof refer either to a Vala or Maia. Melkor is said to have had many Maiar in his service, and the Balrogs are said to be the greatest of his servants, though they are lesser spirits than Sauron.

2) "Ealar" does not necessarily equal "Ainur." Eru it would seem to me was capable of creating sentient spirits within Ea, as opposed to the Ainur who were created before it. E.g. the 'spirits' sent to dwell in the forests and become Ents; or the very anomalous status of Dragons and Eagles.

Ealar does not equal Ainur in the sense that all ealar are not Ainur; yet all Ainur are ealar, so the distinction is not so great as to render two separate groups. The term is defined merely as a naturally discarnate being. I agree with the possibility that some ealar existed in Arda that were somewhat rogue, not adhering to the official roles given to the Valar and Maiar, simply because it seems plausible. However, HoMe X, p. 410 explicates that "only the Valar and Maiar are intelligences that can assume the forms of Arda at will."

The dragons are easily explained either as Maiar incarnated (fully) in shapes of Melkor's design, or shapes animated by Melkor but lacking a true fea. The eagles also provide little difficulty either as somewhat aloof Maiar (and there were plenty of other Maiar even less involved in the affairs of Middle-earth) or as trained beasts. The Ents are admittedly more anomalous, but, in any case, they are not ealar since they are naturally incarnate.