The atrocity of the Akallabêth

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Raynor

It is worth noting that part of the blame rests with the valar for giving the numenoreans such great gifts - all the more reason for their vanity

I read that into it too. The Valar had been given the power to order things within Ea as they wished (even to the extent that it was they who dealt with Melkor, not Eru) and their wish was to 'reward' this small group of Men with Numenor and other gifts such as long life. There's a thought in my mind that they had to appeal to Eru to 'deal' with the problem as they were dealing with people not of their nature - mortals, created by Eru and 'known' to him alone, as opposed to Elves who shared something of the timeless, earth-bound nature of the Valar.