The sinking of Numenor - a lesson to whom?

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

Hey, wasn't there even something like that only the King (in the function of "high priest" here) would make the prayer to Eru? That would be similar to the thing in pre-exile Judaism that only the high priest would call on the Name of God once a year there.

Yes, that was the way of it. During Eruhantale, when the people went up to the top of Meneltarma, only the King would speak.

Well, I would say it was the way that there was certain "plan" laid down in the Music - the plan with which Valar counted; and that there were some "inner laws" of the world, some apparent on first sight, some more obscure, but still, they were set in some way, so to say, to the law of action and consequences.

There was clearly the "plan" that was made in the Ainulindale, of course, but within the world, there are also the workings of free will, which is a quality Eru appears to have given both to the Children and the Ainur. The smaller "plans" of the Valar -- such as the sending of the Istari, the bringing of the Elves to Valinor, and the creation of Numenor -- weren't necessarily in the bigger "plan" (indeed, Eru didn't care much for the notion of the Valar taking the Elves out of Middle-earth), and thus I don't think that the destruction of Numenor was a "change of plan" that meant a change of something that was specifically included within the Music. It, I think, was a variation on a theme that cropped up as a sort of "cadenza" during the "performance," so to speak, and thus required an alteration of some "measures" to bring things back into harmony with the original "score." (Cripes, do I have "I'M A MUSICIAN" tattooed on my forehead or something...? )