Nice work with the maps indeed,
Hookbill! If I'm allowed to nitpick just an tiny bit - are the Silmarillion and LotR maps actually to the same scale? My Sil map is not yet unpacked after moving, so I can't check, but I've got a feeling Beleriand should be smaller in comparison; the Ered Luin form a double curve (roughly like a mirrored 3) in both maps, which probably should have about the same north-south extension.
(Btw, is it just me, or does the big lake in the middle of Enedwaith look suspiciously like the Sea of Nurnen rotated 90 degrees
?)
Otherwise, good point about the increasing distance between the Valar and M-E. It just came to my mind that maybe Eru actually
planned this - and
therefore didn't show the Ainur all of the story, because he never intended them to play an active role in the later ages of history. After all, the Valar, as I see them, were essentially demiurgic beings - which is to say, their chief work was during the creation and the early ages of the work, shaping and preparing the habitation for the Children; and of course, while one of their order was messing with the project, the rest were needed to counteract him.
But I think Eru always planned for Men to eventually inherit the Earth, and there is evidence that he considered Men, much more than Elves, under his personal jurisdiction (according to Adanel's Tale in the
Athrabeth, he spoke to the Fathers & Mothers of Men directly, which he never did with his Firstborn Children!). So the more the Elves faded and Men took over, the less the Valar would need, or indeed be permitted, to intervene. Their extremely cautious and indirect action in the Third Age (sending the Istari incarnated in human form) seems to indicate that by this time they, too, had finally got the message. The final stage - after Sauron had been dealt with, from the Fourth Age onward - was probably always intended to be Mankind Directly Under God, without any intermediary divine or angelic powers playing an active part in the physical world any more.
(In extra-textual terms, we might call this a transition from a mythological to a theological world-view. When Tolkien first created his mythology, he felt the need for something like the Greek or Norse Gods in his secondary world, but the more the history of the secondary world approached the (pre-)history of the primary world, the more the mythological elements (Gods and Elves) were eliminated in order to make the secondary world conform to his primary world faith.)
(P.S. -
Mnemosyne, what is it with those Estimated Time of Arrivals of yours? Or am I misunderstanding something?
)