Manwë stumbles

[Bêthberry]

Originally Posted by Eönwë

Well, simply put, doesn't it just make the "music" more interesting, and "rebound even more to [his] glory"? But I'm just paraphrasing here.

Oh, absolutely, although I'd be more inclined to say the glory rebounds to Tolkien rather than Eru.

Originally Posted by Ibrîniðilpathânezel

I think it's entirely possible that Eru DID know, but wanted to watch it play out, regardless of the knowing. To me (being a musician and composer), it's rather like knowing all the notes of a particular score, and how it is to be played, versus listening to an actual performance. I know (all too sadly ) that there is a huge difference between a mechanical reproduction of the sound (as made with a synthesizer or computer), and the sound as it is made by living performers. The notes will still be the same, the dynamics and tempi the same -- but a live performer gives subtle nuances of interpretation that a machine will not. Hearing someone else perform one of my works is always a surprise to me, sometimes a good surprise, sometimes a bad one. But good or bad, the performance intrigues me, even though I know the composition quite well indeed, and often, I learn from it, or am inspired to some new idea by it. Perhaps Eru Himself "learned" from watching Creation in action rather than in thought, or wanted to draw some new inspiration from observation.

An apt analogy, nicely put, and without any qualms when limited to the musical analogy.

Yet what does it mean for a god to allow and accept bloodshed and battle for his own creative amusement and inspiration? Are elves and men and hobbits and dwarves but the playthings in Eru's sandbox? And does Manwe et al acquiesce to this?