Interesting post/topic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Huinesoron
1. Tolkien meant the order of the Ainur, not the Valar. Booo-ring!
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I also think he used "Valar" sometimes in a poetic or figurative sense to refer to the Valar and Maiar collectively.
Professor Tolkien did also say in Letter 183 that Sauron was "Of the same kind as Gandalf and Saruman, but of a far higher order", so if Gandalf is a Vala then Sauron and Saruman are too. In Letter 153 [CORRECTION: 156] he says that Sauron was "a lesser member of the race of Valar", although admittedly that could have been a shortcut to make an already complex narrative overview more digestible for his correspondent Rob Murray.
Sometimes I think it's not necessary to be
too rigid about the delineation, really. Trying to determine what distinguished, say, Nessa from a prominent Maia like Ilmarė or Ossė seems to involve role, responsibility and position as well as any sense of "potency". Perhaps being a Maia is more like a job than a "species"?
Wikipedia claims that in "Words, Phrases and Passages", which was published in Parma Eldalamberon 17, Professor Tolkien stated that "Maia is the name of the Kin of the Valar, but especially of those of lesser power than the 9 great rulers." If this is the case, perhaps the distinction is really quite hazy.