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Originally Posted by burrahobbit
So, bearing those quotes in mind, where did you get the idea that Men alter the Music?
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If the Music was fixed before the creation of Arda & could not be changed, why create it at all? If there is no freedom to alter the Music the whole thing becomes a pointless exercise. The Music is actually a 'living' process - it changes, alters, as it
must because otherwise Arda has no purpose, everyone in it is a robot, & so no-one can be held accountable, because no-one is free to act. Men's freedom actually liberates all the races to an extent, by changing the Music & so changing the fate of all the others.
Or, in short, why else would Tolkien mention Men's freedom to alter the Music if it never happened? Man's free will was central to Tolkien's thinking, both as a writer & as a man - its a central tenet of his faith. Men & Elves were not part of the Music - they sprang from the mind of Illuvatar alone, & so must have had some purpose which was not included in the Music as originally sung. The Elves were made to live 'eternally' within Arda & so were bound to its fate, Men were not so bound & that's why they die - because in them fea & hroa are not one - ie death is
one with the gift of mortality - the one is a corollary of the other.
Given the statements I quoted, what makes
you think they didn't alter the Music?
Or if you're simply asking where I got the idea from - it was from reading Flieger's Splintered Light, wherein she discusses this idea in depth...
What it has to do with Saruman is that Saruman, being a Maiar, had no option but to play the part assigned to him by 'fate' (ie the Music), but he had the freedom to choose how he would do the things he had to do. But the Music was changed by Men's freedom of choice & action - for instance by the choice of Isildur to take rather than destroy the Ring.....