Manwë stumbles

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by alatar

Never stopped me.

You are of the race of Man, a third creation. Manwe is of the Valar, the first created. I think there must be folk wisdom that talks of declining vigour and virility as creation continues. And anyway, Manwe was of lesser power than Melkor, wasn't he? Weren't they all? It was only Melkor who went into the void seeking the Flame Imperishable. Beware the loner.

Originally Posted by alatar

Maybe, to speak more in your terms, why is Manwe such the dog? Isn't there even a bit of feline in him, making him want to tease his "master," if not outright disobey him?

See above. Cats were domesticated long after dogs. They are still a work in progress.

Originally Posted by alatar

Why were the teams decided so long ago for these beings? Is there never even a thought of playing for the other side? Could Eru do something that would push Manwe into rebellion?

Think how lucky a parent Eru is, never having to wonder which 'kid' broke the vase.

One of the things that's really interesting about the Biblical Flood is God's reaction when Noah offers ritual sacrifices of the animals that God has just caused to be saved. (Talk of learned respsonses.)

Originally Posted by Genesis 6:20

Then Noah built an altar [note, not an alatar] to the LORD. He took ritually clean beasts and birds of every kind, and offered whole-offerings on the altar. When the LORD smelt the soothing odour, he said within himself, 'Never again will I curse the ground because of man, however evil his inclinations may be from his youth upwards. I will never again kill every living creature, as I have just done.

The Covenant is made not just with Noah, but with all future generations and with all living creatures. And it is repeated three times. Something happened when the Lord realized what he had done to creation. He will still make spot cleansing operations, with Babel and Sodom, but destroy the entire creation, no. (And he does make an agreement with Abraham to save Sodom if only ten good men could be found in the city. Lot can't find ten good men.)

(The rainbow is often regarded sentimentally as God's promise not to destroy life, but it also means that God has left man to his own responsibility, so it becomes a stoic reminder that we are on our own now.) Interestingly, Tolkien's Eru does not voice any kind of regret over the loss of Numenor or the removal the Deathless Realm, not regret such as is suggested in the Bible. Nor does he offer to save Numemor if a few faithful can be found. Nor does Eru ever make any kind of covenant with Elendil.

Note that any seriousness on my part is a small effort to forestall any further fanfiction attempts by you. But I suppose you've given more ideas for Lush's bad fanfic thread.