Melkor's Fall

        In the Ainulindalë,* Eru Ilúvatar inspires his first creations, the Ainur, to make music based off of a theme he provides. This music intends to bring the entire universe into being, in Ilúvatar's name. However, one Ainu, Melkor, uses his own theme to create discord (Ainulindalë, The Silmarllion). Some would attribute this moment to be the cause of his Fall into Darkness, because it is a strong first sign of things to come, but the truth is more complicated. Melkor's Fall is not marked by his disruption of the Ainulindalë, nor a singular snap from "good" to "evil," but rather by a slow progression towards evil that, eventually, had some final and decisive moments. In addition to his greed (which initially caused him to disrupt the Music) (Ainulindalë, 4), his growing resentment and his inability to collaborate with others are what ultimately contribute to his Fall.

        Before addressing Melkor's Fall itself, we do need to address the role of Theodicy in this discussion. Eru Ilúvatar initially stops Melkor's disruption by showing that he has ultimate control over the music. For one thing, he could stop all the singing, including Melkor's, just by "[raising] up both his hands and in one chord... the Music ceased." He then lectures Melkor about how no one would be able to alter his music in a malicious way without his permission (Ainulindalë, 5-6). Since Melkor was acting in contempt of Ilúvatar, his statement seems to imply that the music Melkor made was actually under Ilúvatar's control. On an initial level, that is solid evidence that Melkor disrupting the music was not actually a Fall at all. However, Melkor does eventually go on to legitimately Fall into Darkness, so Eru's statement about the amount of control he has seems slightly suspicious. The other option is that Eru's power over the Ainur is finite, and while he may have control over the music of creation, and be able to limit their powers when they enter into Arda (Ainulindalë, 10), he still can't keep Melkor from committing acts of true evil. The problem is that both Eru intending for Melkor to work evil and Eru's powers being finite are both difficult ideas to accept. For the sake of evaluating Melkor's Fall, however, I will be examining his descent more from the perspective that Eru does not have total control over him. More specifically, Melkor exerts many signs of apparent free will, regardless of whether he actually possesses it, so I will mostly be examining his Fall as if he chose it entirely himself. 

        Aside from Eru's intent, however, the fact that Eru exerts some control over Melkor's powers (and, specifically stated, what he can contribute to the music) shows that the first important factor in when Melkor fell comes from the idea that Ilúvatar intended for Melkor's contribution of discord to the song of the Ainur to happen. As he tells Melkor, "no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite. For he that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which he himself hath not imagined" (Ainulindalë, 6). In the case that no theme (including Melkor's) can be played that is not in Eru's plan, it is unlikely that Melkor's introduction of another theme was the moment that marked his Fall, or even that he was doing anything other than his job. Remember that when Ilúvatar initially introduced his first theme, he instructed the Ainur to "show forth your powers in adorning this theme, each with his own thoughts and devices, if he will" (Ainulindalë, 1). Although Melkor's conflicting theme comes from a place of greed, what he is actually doing is contributing to the music. He even, as Ilùvatar points out, creates (seen-as-beautiful) ice in the process (Ainulindalë, 8). The Music of the Ainur is described, at this point in the story, to have multiple themes; Melkor's theme does seem to conflict with Eru's, but eventually, their themes actually merge, and Eru creates a third theme that uses parts of the two merged themes in its own music (Ainulindalë, 5). The result is what ultimately creates the vision of Arda that Ilúvatar shows to the Ainur (Ainulindalë, 7-9). Melkor's theme helps create Arda, he follows Eru's instruction to make choices and add his own details, and his actions are blatantly part of Eru's plan. As such, we cannot say that Melkor's discordant theme is actually something that opposes Ilúvatar, even if he was working from a place of arrogant belief in his own superiority. Melkor's actions during Ainulindalë did not mark his Fall.

        Instead, the actual cause of Melkor's Fall can be tracked through a series of events that progress towards him being ultimately overcome by his envy and greed. Chronologically, a few things happen on Melkor's path to Darkness. First, he creates the opposition to Ilúvatar's first theme; second, he is put in his place by Ilúvatar "defeating" him, and begins to foster resentment against Eru; third, Melkor begins lying to himself that he wishes the best for the nascent universe, while steadily repressing his growing feelings of avarice; then, Melkor and the other Valar go down to Arda, and Melkor begins actively coveting the realm, trying to manipulate the work of the other Valar in ways that benefit his goals. Finally, Melkor's envy gets the better of him when he sees that the Valar have taken physical forms, and he switches from trying to interfere with the development of Arda to actively trying to undo the progress that's been made (Ainulindalë). His behavior at the end of his journey is markedly different than at the beginning, demonstrating that the Fall happened; one can look at the starting and ending positions to see this difference. In the beginning of Ainulindalë, Melkor is focused on "[increasing] the power and glory of the part assigned to himself" (Ainulindalë, 4). This version of Melkor is prideful and selfish, but he desires to create things entirely of his own more than anything else. His way of chasing power is through creation.

        However, the version of Melkor that lives at the end of Ainulindalë is vastly different. When he takes physical form and begins war against the Valar, "naught might have peace or come to lasting growth, for as surely as the Valar began a labour so would Melkor undo it or corrupt it... all things were in hue and shape other than the Valar had first intended" (Ainulindalë, 12). Melkor's Fallen Form (for at the end of Ainulindalë, it is clear that he has Fallen, even if it's not obvious when) is primarily focused not on increasing his personal glory, but on tearing down what others have built. He has switched to chasing power through destruction, rather than through creation, and that contrast makes all the difference. At the point where he chooses destruction over creation, it seems like he no longer cares about what he's ruling as much as the idea of having something to rule. He doesn't even care about making something original anymore, like how with the Music he desired to create his own theme, separate from Eru's. Now, he only corrupts existing material and destroys it. His true moment of Falling was when he decided he would rather destroy what others have made rather than try to make something himself, but he had to go through many steps to deteriorate to that point. At one point, he fights with his brother Manwë and the other Valar over who has the rights to rule Arda, and "for that time Melkor withdrew and departed to other regions and did there what he would; but he did not put the desire of the Kingdom of Arda from his heart" (Ainulindalë, 11). Crucially, this moment shows that even when Melkor had the opportunity to go elsewhere in Creation (i.e. somewhere that was not Arda, that he could shape as he saw fit, just like he had wanted to do when he made his own theme in the Music), he could not stop thinking about Arda, the charge of, at that point, the other Valar. This lingering envy, the desire to break or change what others have instead of make something for himself even when given the opportunity to do as he wishes elsewhere, proves that Melkor's descent continued to occur past his actions at Ainulindalë. 

        Then, a new question arises, concerning what factors were present that caused Melkor's Fall. The biggest factor is that he does not learn the right lessons from Eru's words. After the Music has finished, Ilúvatar tells Melkor that he will eventually "discover all the secret thoughts of thy mind, and wilt perceive that they are but a part of the whole and tributary to its glory" (Ainulindalë, 6). Ilúvatar's words come across as an intent for Melkor to learn a lesson about humility in this event, and his statement predicts that Melkor will, after reflection, move past this event with the knowledge of Eru's power, and a new respect for his role as a part of the whole. That is, of course, not what happens. Melkor certainly grows to know his own mind, but doing so only drives him farther down the Dark path. On a side note, Ilúvatar's intentions for Melkor (returning to the Theodical dilemma for a moment here) actually have very little to do with his Fall in this moment; even if Melkor's fall were to somehow be predestined, Ilúvatar's words themselves provide solid advice about respecting and appreciating the work of others. Aside from the factor of Melkor's already established greed, the fact that he fails to accept Eru's message shows that he is quite self-absorbed, and doesn't grasp the idea of being part of something bigger than himself. For contrast, Ulmo, Vala of the Water, when finding out that Melkor's theme had meddled with his domain to create ice and rain, was thrilled, and immediately sought out Manwë (Vala of the Sky, whose domain related to Melkor's creation of rain as well) in order to collaborate more closely with him (Ainulindalë, 8-9). On the other hand, when Melkor finds out other Valar are working in the same space as him and made something beautiful, he throws a temper tantrum.

        Furthermore, a fascinating comparison can be drawn between Melkor and Aulë, "to whom Ilúvatar had given skill and knowledge scarce less than to Melkor; but the delight and pride of Aulë is in the deed of making, and in the thing made, and neither in possession nor in his own mastery; therefore he gives and hoards not, and is free from care, passing ever on to some new work" (Ainulindalë, 8). Aulë seems to be extremely similar to Melkor in that they both are fixated on creation (or, depending on what stage of his descent Melkor is in, destruction). The fact that Aulë is compared to Melkor in terms of skill and knowledge suggests that there is probably a greater similarity between the two of them in those areas than with other Valar. However, Aulë demonstrates several virtues that Melkor lacks: namely, the ability to work as part of a whole, and appreciate the creation itself (especially as a form of praise for Ilúvatar) rather than the possession of it. It is also worthwhile to note that Aulë created the Dwarves apparently against the will of Ilúvatar, at first glance in a similar manner to how Melkor vainly desired to create things outside of Ilúvatar's influence. However, when Ilúvatar confronts him about his reasons, Aulë responds that he "did not desire such lordship. I desired things other than I am, to love and to teach them, so that they too might perceive the beauty of Eä, which thou hast caused to be... the making of things is in my heart from my own making by thee" (The Silmarillion, 37-38). Even when Aulë "did a Melkor," so to speak, and tried creating things outside of the permission of Ilúvatar, he only did it out of a desire to see Ilúvatar's vision honored. He owned up to his mistake, and as a result Ilúvatar allowed him to continue with his project (The Silmarillion, 38). On another interesting side note, the conversation between Eru Ilúvatar and Aulë also adds to the Theodical discussion, because Aulë's actions are distinctly outside of Ilúvatar's plan (The Silmarillion, 38-39), which would imply that Eru is not all powerful, and therefore would also imply that Eru genuinely did not want Melkor to Fall, and could not prevent him from Falling. This probability and the comparison between the two Valar show that Melkor's Fall is largely his own fault.

        As it turns out, Eru Ilúvatar may have planned for Melkor's contribution of discord to Ainulindalë, but Melkor's Fall was likely out of his control. As such, the blame and the cause for Melkor Falling into Darkness lies with his progressively deteriorating moral standing. Over the course of Ainulindalë, he immerses himself deeper and deeper into greed, envy, and his own ego, and refuses to accept his place as part of a whole-- part of a team. By comparison, the discord that his theme causes in Ainulindalë is quite benign.

--GCE

*"Ainulindalë" refers to the text. "Ainulindalë," without the italics, refers to the event.