Why take a body? Why make a Ring?

[Raynor]

It seems that the valar weren't always 'clothed' after all; in letter #212, which I previously quoted, it is said that the "habitual" shapes of the valar when visible or clothed are antropomorphic. In the commentary on the first section of the Annals of Aman, it is also stated that they "most often" used shapes of human form.

[Lalwendë]

Err, I certainly doubt that the halls of Mandos would ever come close to the Hells of Iron - Angband, which many of the elves would have experiened long before the halls of Mandos. Not to mention that in Mandos, Nienna brings pity, endurance, hope, strength and wisdom, cf Of the Valar.

But Angband would be a living Hell, a very different thing to a hell for the soul or spirit. I also tend to view Mandos as more like purgatory, certainly for those who do not leave due to being 'punished'. Perhaps there simply is no Hell for Elves that we can conceive of, due to their different nature?

And following on from that, what can we take from what happens to Saruman after his physical 'cloaking' is broken? His 'spirit' reaches out to the West but is blown away. Is it dissipated? Is it just rejected and left to wander? If the 'spirit' can be dissipated so easily, maybe Ainur sought out a physical form as a way of attaining some kind of protection - especially if wanting to commit evil deeds?

In fact,can we call it a Fea if we are talking about one of the Ainur? Or do the terms Fea and Hroa only apply to Incarnates, i.e. Elves, Men, Dwarves? In the Osanwe-kenta Tolkien makes a clear distinction between the Ainur and the 'Incarnates'.

[Raynor]

But Angband would be a living Hell, a very different thing to a hell for the soul or spirit. I also tend to view Mandos as more like purgatory

Mandos as a purgatory is something I can live with ; there is no suffering coming from outside, on the contrary, given the Nienna factor. Maybe even purgatory is strong a word.

Is it dissipated?

I doubt that:

Originally Posted by Letter #211

The indestructibility of spirits with free wills, even by the Creator of them, is also an inevitable feature, if one either believes in their existence, or feigns it in a story.

In fact,can we call it a Fea if we are talking about one of the Ainur? Or do the terms Fea and Hroa only apply to Incarnates, i.e. Elves, Men, Dwarves? In the Osanwe-kenta Tolkien makes a clear distinction between the Ainur and the 'Incarnates'.

I believe the difference lies only in orders of magnitude; in the text you refer to it is also stated that:

Pengolodh says that all minds (sama, pl. samar) are equal in status, though they differ in capacity and strength.

and from the context it is understood that he referrs to ainu-level and Incarnates too. The term fea is translated as spirit; the valar and the maiar are also referred to as spirits in the Silmarillion.

[littlemanpoet]

So the Valar (Ainur & Maiar), as non-incarnates, could & did influence incarnate (bodied) beings in Arda. The question of 'why take a body' still seems to have been adequately answered (to use SPM's rewording), to interact with incarnates.

The Valar could subcreate without being incarnate, at least at first. But could it perhaps be that after the initial forming of the structure of Arda, that ability was lost, or set aside?

I suppose it doesn't really matter: Melian chose to become incarnate so that she could love Thingol and have union with him, and give birth to Luthien and raise her, and set a destiny for Elves and Humans that none but Eru foresaw. Is this not subcreation for the purpose of enjoyment and sharing? But is it not more? ...because there's something of destiny in this now, which suggests something more powerful than mere enjoyment or sharing; but what?

To give the dark example, Sauron chose to become incarnate so that he could possess and control. Could he not do so without becoming incarnate? If so, why then take a body (back to the original question)? Why make a Ring?

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

Originally Posted by littlemanpoet

I suppose it doesn't really matter: Melian chose to become incarnate so that she could love Thingol and have union with him, and give birth to Luthien and raise her, and set a destiny for Elves and Humans that none but Eru foresaw. Is this not subcreation for the purpose of enjoyment and sharing? But is it not more? ...because there's something of destiny in this now, which suggests something more powerful than mere enjoyment or sharing; but what?

That could not really be why she chose to become incarnated unless she knew all this would happen in advance. Why did she chose to walk in a earthly body in the forrest when Thingol came by? Surely she did not expect him to show up, then again she is a powerful Maia. . .Maybe she had forseen some of what would happen.

[Lalwendë]

Some useful grist for t'mill from Osanwe-kenta:

The Valar entered into Ea and Time of free will, and they are now in Time, so long as it endures. They can perceive nothing outside Time, save by memory of their existence before it began; they can recall the Song and the Vision. They are, of course, open to Eru, but they cannot of their own will 'see' any part of His mind. They can open themselves to Eru in entreaty and He may then reveal His thought to them.

and

...a mind can only learn of the future only from another mind which has seen it.But that means only from Eru ultimately, or mediately from some mind that has seen in Eru some part of his purpose (such as the Ainur who are now in Ea).

So a Maia such as Melian might know from before Time some of the purposes of Eru, or she might have asked Eru about the future, but likewise, there are no guarantees. We are also told in the Sil that she simply loved Thingol and so took on a physical form (and in Osanwe-kenta we are told that the act of begetting children is particularly likely to 'fix' someone in physical form, so she must really have been in love!). Therefore, it could be either - I would say the 'magic' is in not really knowing the truth.


Of course, if we go down the path that Melian knew Eru's purpose, why should Sauron not have known it? And that leaves us with one of two options - evil was unavoidable as Eru made it happen, or Sauron (and the Dark Side) were actually trying to free Ea from 'fate'.

EDIT

And another thing...

Thinking about the way that the Ainur entered Ea and were then 'stuck' there until the end of Time, there is an odd occurence of one of the Ainur who does not seem to have been stuck there. Gandalf.

A great smoke rose about us, vapour and steam. Ice fell like rain. I threw down my enemy, and he fell from the high place and broke the mountain-side where he smote it in his ruin. Then darkness took me, and I strayed out of thought and time, and I wandered far on roads that I will not tell. 'Naked I was sent back--for a brief time, until my task is done. And naked I lay upon the mountain-top. The tower behind was crumbled into dust, the window gone; the ruined stair was choked with burned and broken stone. I was alone, forgotten, without escape upon the hard horn of the world. There I lay staring upward, while the stars wheeled over, and each day was as long as a life-age of the earth. Faint to my ears came the gathered rumour of all lands: the springing and the dying, the song and the weeping, and the slow everlasting groan of overburdened stone. And so at the last Gwaihir the Windlord found me again, and he took me up and bore me away. '"Ever am I fated to be your burden, friend at need," I said. '"A burden you have been," he answered, "but not so now. Light as a swan's feather in my claw you are. The Sun shines through you. Indeed I do not think you need me any more: were I to let you fall, you would float upon the wind." '"Do not let me fall!" I gasped, for I felt life in me again. "Bear me to Lothlorien!" '"That indeed is the command of the Lady Galadriel who sent me to look for you," he answered. "Thus it was that I came to Caras Galadhon and found you but lately gone. I tarried there in the ageless time of that land where days bring healing not decay. Healing I found, and I was clothed in white. Counsel I gave and counsel took.

What's this then? Gandalf seems to have gone right outside Time (as has been discussed before), but he is returned seemingly as a Fea only, judging by what Gwaihir says. The Sun shines straight through him. Does his Hroa come back to him as Gwaihir bears him along? Does it come back to him in Lothlorien? Can that be ruled out as surely even Galadriel cannot be permitted to rehouse a Fea? Note that Galadriel formed the White Council, and she is the one who clothes Gandalf in White. Is she the one who chooses the White Wizard?

[littlemanpoet]

I didn't really mean to suggest that Melian had all this in mind when she revealed herself to Thingol. Rather, that she loved him and intended to become his Queen (if that title is appropriate), and all that would ensue therefrom; and it was Eru who knew just what that would all be. I really meant that all those things were results of a once-in-time choice. Sort of like real life, eh?

But I'm not getting answers on the newly stated Dark question:

If Sauron didn't need to be incarnate in order to subcreate, own, possess, ruin, torture, and make a Ring to do the same, why become incarnate at all? Was it something that Eru required in order for Valar to be part of the History of Arda? Were there ever any really non-incarnate Valar in Arda? Ulmo does not fit this description, as he was incarnate as Water rather than as Human(oid).