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Beware That Baker in the Kitchen! - Page 4

© Michael Martinez

The quest for evil in Middle-earth is almost as long as the quest for redemption, it seems. Melkor was disruptive during the Ainulindale and he apparently angered Iluvatar, but was he really evil? When Melkor entered Ea with the other Valar, he seems to have worked long to help them give shape and substance to the universe. There was no real strife until they were making that region which came to be known as Arda. And then he claimed it for his own, which he had no right to do. How long were the countless ages of the stars in which Melkor (and Sauron, and all the other nameless Maiar who eventually followed Melkor into evil) had not yet become evil? On a smaller scale, how long was it before the Noldor fell into evil? They weren't evil when they reached Aman. They hadn't yet succumbed to the sins of pride that Melkor capitalized upon after his release from captivity. Weren't they still essentially a good people on the day Melkor was released from Mandos? What would that day have been like? And if only Feanor, who had set himself aside from his father's household, were already succumbing to the pride which would be his downfall, did Melkor sense the taint of another evil in Valinor? It was a long time before Melkor really achieved much of anything in the way of corrupting the Noldor. And though Feanor rejected Melkor, the Valar believed that Melkor was somehow responsible for Feanor's eventual dark mood. Had Melkor not slain the Two Trees, and Finwe besides, Feanor might have been a bit rude, but he may not have gone over the edge. But it's clear that, when he ascended the hill of Tuna in defiance of the Valar and spoke to his people, Feanor had finally crossed the line, and the Noldor would soon follow him. It's hard to imagine how the Noldor slowly fell to the sin of pride. They became arrogant and openly distrustful of one another. There must have been arguments and disputes, but apparently nothing came to blows or crossing of swords. Did the bakers occasionally spike each others' cakes? What was the mindset of a people who could so easily (it seems) turn upon their neighbors (the Teleri of Alqualonde)? How did it come to pass that, when Feanor ordered his people to steal the Telerin ships, no one stood forth and asked why God should need a starship (or, more appropriately, why Feanor thought he had the right to take the ships)?

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