Rocks, Hard Places, etc....

[Formendacil]

Of course there is free will...

Even if no one else has free will, Men do. Men are clearly granted this by Eru in the Ainulindale, the power to shape their fates amid the workings of the world.

I would say that the Elves have free will as well. Precisely HOW this is supposed to relate to destiny, I have no idea, but to my mind, it appears that the Elves MUST have free will.

As my prime example, I present Feanor. Feanor appears to have chosen, very definitely and angrily, to rebel against the Valar, lead his people to death and exile, and then betray most of them in the process.

Now, one COULD make the argument that Feanor was just doing was he was foresaid to do, but why then is he doomed to remain in Mandos- forever, when all other Elves are let go later? If he is doing what he is "destined", and thus has no free will, then he should not be punished, because he has no control in the matter. Not unlike the insanity plea, I suppose.

So Elves have free will. I have no idea how that works with fate, but that isn't the central issue on this thread.

If both Elves and Men have free will, I would say that it logically follows that all other sentient creatures have free will. The Ainur DID during the Music, and seem to have the same constraints as Elves in Arda. The Dwarves are quite similar to Men- and Eru gave them Free Will, so that they are not bound to Aule's mind.

So yes, Free Will exists. How it works, I am not sure...