Origins of Iluvatar

[Man of the Old Hope]

Quite right, Gwaihir. That was a foolish overstatement on my part for which I beg Arothir's pardon.

I do stand by the subsequent, more precise statement that I wrote:

To conceive of the Valar as being merely analogous to the Olympians would, I think, misconstrue the mythology and cosmogony (dare I say, theology?) that Tolkien created in the Valaquenta and the Ainulindalë.

(Meaning that construing the Valar as analogous to or comparative with the Olympians alone would be a misconstrual. And of course, Eru Ilúvatar does not beget the Valar in the way that Uranus got the Titans on Gaia, or the way that Cronos begat his Olympian progeny on Rhea. In fact, Eru would be similar to Uranus were Eru to have produced (by his thought) not only the Valar but also the monstrous creatures like werewolves, orcs, and dragons that Melkor "created" by corruption, recalling the notion that Uranus was the father not only of the Titans, but also of the monstrous Cyclops and Hecatoncheires.)