Of Eru, Orcs and Evil

[doug*platypus]

if Melkor DID create anything on his own, would Iluvatar grant it the Secret Fire? I think he probably would; bound to his own rules.

But time and time again, O Candle of the Marshes, Ilúvatar does flout his own rules, proving that he is indeed omnipotent, and not subservient to any rules, even those of his own making. Three hobbits were known to have sailed to the Undying Lands. Tom Bombadil is allowed to exist without fitting into any scheme of things. And the Gift of Men was altered by Eru after they fell and started to worship Melkor in the east. He can basically do whatever he wants.

Aulë's Dwarves, we are told, were spared because of the spirit in which they were created. Aulë never intended any harm in creating them, and was not seeking to further his own ambition or power. I think also Aulë's willingness to destroy his creations by Eru's wishes was the deciding factor, in a very Abraham kind of way. We can be sure that Yavanna's motivation for desiring Shepherds of the Trees was out of love and care for the kelvar. Melkor's motives cannot have been noble, from what we know of his character and the way in which Orcs were used, against their wishes (at least against Shagrat and Gorbag's wishes).

I think that to propose Ilúvatar sanctioned and sanctified the creation of Orcs is to flout The Silmarillion, which is not unthinkable, but I don't see any solid evidence that Tolkien envisaged this change in the plot.