Elves don't belong in Valinor?

[Keneldil the Polka-dot]

greatly respect Manwe for his decision. He was a good, kind leader, who saw a fallen comrade who needed healing, who's soul was damaged but not irreparable

Not irrepairable? From before the beginning of time Melkor did nothing but screw things up. The Song, the Pillars, etc. Melkor was the mechanism of the Marring of Arda.

I see your point, Gwaihir, about Elves no longer belonging in Middle Earth. I don’t think that precludes the argument that they didn’t belong in Valinor before Men even awoke in Middle Earth. It does make sense that Eru intended Valinor to be the Firstborn’s eventual home, however I think the Valar jumped the gun.

Something to keep in mind when thinking about what the Valar did and didn't do is that they lack free will. Everything that they do was determined During the Music. Once they enter into Arda they become a part of it and bound to its fate.

I’d guess there is probably a thread already dealing with this, but I’ll toss this out there anyway. Something to think about regarding fate, free will, and the Music: How tightly do you think the Music preordained the actions of the Valar and the Elves? Did it describe their lives down to the smallest detail or did it define the broad course the movements the world would take up to the time of Men? As far as I can see from this discussion, the complicity of the Valar hinges on that issue.

[ November 17, 2002: Message edited by: Keneldil the Polka-dot ]