The curse of Morgoth in CoH.

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Originally Posted by Raynor

I disagree that Melkor himself introduced evil as a moral category: I would say he was merely its most potent agent. The choice to do good or evil was there, given to him and all the others by their Creator; I would say it is a prerequisite of free will, which all the Valar/Eruhini have. The potential for good and evil actions/thoughts would have existed without Melkor; we could speculate if it would have been better worse without Melkor, but that's fallaciously based on a hypothesis contrary to "reality", so I don't think it could serve us much.

The Ainur existed before the creation, but whether they have a free will to do good or evil is not certain, although I belive thay do. It is possible though that Eru created Melkor to do exactly what he did, so his children could rise above it. After all, good deeds aren't possible without a choice to do wrong. Obviously there are a lot of parallells to christian mythology in Tolkiens works. Now, the use of the word "evil" can be debated, but I certainly believe that Morgoth was the rote cause of "evil" or whatever you want to call it, and that Arda was marred by 'Melkorism' from the very beginning.

Originally Posted by Raynor

I disagree; one counter-example is Ungoliant:

When I say that doing evil is doing Morgoth's bidding I'm not talking about obeying a direct order. Feanor for example wouldn't dream of obeying Morgoth directly, but certainly did so indirectly, inflamed by his lies and subtle influence.
So when Ungoliant disowns her master, she disowns Morgoth as an incarnate being, but not the primeval discord he put on Arda.

Originally Posted by Raynor

In the Atrabeth, it is presumed by Finrod that Eru himself will enter and heal Ea - without destroying it.

Eru is the exception as he is omnipotent. He is free to end or heal the world at any time. Besides, Finrod is a character, and although he is wise, he is merely speculating.