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Originally Posted by Ibrīnišilpathānezel
(...) Still, Tolkien had a lot of ideas about the nature of the Ainur that changed over the years. As I recall, the Maiar were originally the Valarindi, the children of the Valar, and he dropped that notion over time.
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Generally speaking, the 'lesser' or 'following spirits' (literary precursors of the later Maiar) appear to have been distinct from the Children of the Valar even in the Lost Tales. For example Fionwe is the son of Manwe and Varda in the Lost Tales, but with Manwe and Varda came
'many of those lesser Vali who loved them' and these are the Manir and Suruli, the sylphs of the airs and winds (keeping in mind that in
The Book of Lost Tales the term Valar did not refer to 'power' as in later conceptions).
In later texts the Children of the Valar were said to be 'accounted' among the Maiar, for instance, yet they were distinct by simply being the offspring of the Valar. At some points the Children of the Gods appear to be 'many'. A post-Lord of the Rings text,
The Annals of Aman, helps show the distinction:
'... and the Maiar and the Sons of the Valar were arrayed as for war.' (section 6), and...
'And with them [the Maiar] are numbered also the Valarindi, the offspring of the Valar, their children begotten in Arda, yet of the race of the Ainur who were before the world; they are many and fair.' Annals of Aman (section 1)