Philosophic thought ignited by The Silmarillion (of Aulë & Yavanna)

Witnessing once again the troubled mind of Yavanna Kemetári and the answers she got from Eru through the voice of Manwë Súlimo, I felt I could understand in some way one of many uncertainties that have grown, at any given time, inside of me. Not a definitive answer to all the possible questions (which I am not interested in discovering the answers to them, by the way) but a glimpse of why some things are the way they are. In this case I am not referring strictly to the battle of Good and Evil, as it usually happens. I am talking about the opposite ideals of beings who have a fixed vision of what it is and what should never be (according to them) within their time in the world.

Most of the time, with no bad intentions at all, conflicts are generated because of misunderstandings which regrettably lead to fights and arguments that may break relationships or friendships, sometimes forever in the worst case scenario. When people are totally convinced of their own selves, of what makes them who they are...of their own theme, they feel plain personal satisfaction, and without being really aware, they pretend to be completely understood by everybody else in the same way they understand themselves. But as Manwë says, each and every theme is not detached from the Music, and not all see the world with the same eyes.

Yavanna is worried about what will happen to her works in Middle-earth once the Firstborn make their appearance given that Aulë describes her a scene which includes Elves, her own creations and how they interact. At the same time, and distressed his own way, Aulë conceives something out of the range of his divine possibilities, therefore, the unstable character of his achievement: the Dwarves. The product of his impatience is the one which first disturbs his spouse's thoughts as she recriminates him what will happen in the future between his race and her own achievements. This, compared to the general concept readers have of the Children of Ilúvatar, bearers of a great wisdom because of being witnesses of the Light of Valinor (only the Calaquendi, even though the race of the Quendi in general is regarded as wiser than the Dwarves), makes us think of the original plan that Ilúvatar had for Eä, the World that Is. But it is pointless really, because no matter how pure that vision might be, it is not about the will of one individual only, whether it is the most divine and revered; each being is influential to the story and contributes to its progress in one way or another. 

This influence can have different origins, therefore, different impact as well. It is known that Melkor, the first sign of Evil, sowed diffidence and jealousy between the free peoples of Arda. That is the case of the Noldor in Valinor; the way in which Melkor turns Fëanor against the Powers and all the future tragedies which take place later because of the Doom of Mandos. Fëanor has never been an evil being essentially, just an indomitable spirit of fire. But he saw himself caught in a net of lies and treacheries of somebody more powerful than himself, which led him to arrogance first through rebellion in Tirion, slaughter next through the attack of his people against their kin, the Teleri, in Alqualondë, and betrayal at last through the burning of the stolen ships at Losgar, leaving the host of Fingolfin stranded, with no better choice than crossing the grinding ice of the Helcaraxë.

Sometimes the lack of wisdom may turn the designs of the Music upside-down.

Truth be told, it is inevitable to touch the subject regarding the Good and the Bad when talking about such matters. As I was writing this, I could not help but becoming aware of the fact that the wills that give form to the world have always one of these two roots, at least that is what Tolkien shows us in his work. In the world the way we know it, regardless of our awareness of these two wills moving the strings of destiny (of course, inside each of us who give it being), the analogy of Aulë and Yavanna proves clearer as it focuses on the troubled minds of two beings from whom their quality of good or evil is not the case, even though we know they do not posess any signs of the latter, but in the battle between their two opposite ideals. Besides, it is a better example than the one written on the previous paragraph because of its hopefully earthy feel to it, and mainly because of having sparked the initial thought. =)

That is how, as the chapters of the Quenta Silmarillion go by, one is witness of the development of the events in Arda during the first Ages. What was sung in the Ainulindalë becomes true in Eä. And eventhough the main plot talks about the wars of Beleriand because of the stolen Silmarils and the Noldor's thirst for vengeance for Finwë their Lord, an underlying theme keeps up through the whole story: the character of each race and its members and how they learned (or not) to live together. 

To conclude, the world is just the themes we conceive in our minds, ideas that ignite from our imagination, which gradually develop in time and space and eventually become real even though this phenomenon can't be explained; parts of a whole which one must learn to live wisely with; themes of a greater Music.