Creation of the World
Long ago, before Men unleashed Lightning from the Earth in both wonder and terror, and prior to the mighty realms borne forth by Aeneas the noble and his heir Brutus the bold, afore the siege and assault had ceased at Troy, and ere the exodus of the Elves and Fathers of Men to lands beyond the Sea, there were the Stars; and these Stars were created by Varda, who in turn was created by Eru long before the World’s Creation. Varda remains forever beloved by the Elves as their Star-Queen, though she is all but forgotten among the tribes of Men in later Ages; but her handiwork still adorns the wind-driven skies of Manwë the Elder King, who was appointed Ruler of the World. Nonetheless, Manwë and Varda his wife dwell upon the White Mountain of Taniquetil, that tallest of mountains in the farthest West where Men cannot go, and where only a few have been granted the grace to glimpse its dread and beauty before they must draw final breath.
But before all, there was Eru the One, who created Varda and Manwë and the other Ainur in the heavens long before Time as Men know it began, and they were the offspring of Eru’s thoughts; as well did Eru create the Maiar, who were spirits of lesser powers and who were devoted to the mightiest among the Ainur. To the Ainur and the Maiar Eru granted not only talents of magnificence but also the choice and freedom to use them, as is true for all who create other beings out of love. In the deeps of Eru’s Timeless Halls before the World was created did the Ainur and Maiar dwell as greater and lesser spirits with Eru; and outside these Halls was the limitless and dark Void, which then was bereft of any World or Light to shine within it.
It is written in the tales of creation, called the Ainulindalë and the Valaquenta by the Eldar who are the High Elves, that the One they name Eru, or Ilúvatar, created Arda; and Arda contains Middle-Earth which is now the province of Men, as well as Valinor which is now the province of the Elves. Both Middle-Earth and Valinor lie within Eä the World That Is, which glows even to this day as a beacon to stand out amidst the immeasurable Void. Men know this as well, despite myriad other titles and stories to which Eru is ascribed; but the immortal Elves to this day adhere to the name Ilúvatar. For it is the Elves who remember that many of the Ainur and Maiar drew immeasurable power from the One, and they descended unto Arda for its creation; and the World of Men and Elves, like the One who created it, has many names, of which but one is Arda. At Ilúvatar’s summons, these spirits sang forth the first vision of Arda and did so in the momentous First Music, to which Eru translated into Arda’s creation.
Those of the Ainur who chose to leave the Timeless Halls to enter the World, and they include Varda, Manwë, and others great and mighty, are named by the Elves as the Valar, and they were appointed by Eru to rule Arda. Thereby the Valar embraced their Doom to remain until Arda’s End, but it should be forgotten not that they did so out of love for the Children of Ilúvatar, who were the Firstborn Elves and the Aftercomers who are Men. These Children were first glimpsed at Eru’s behest in his Vision of the World borne of the First Music of the Ainur that called forth its Creation. As aforementioned it was at Eru’s behest that the First Music was sung by the Ainur, and their choirs were akin to legions of musical instruments created by Elves and Men, and indeed were the Ainur the instruments created by Ilúvatar for this purpose.
But if the Ainur began this Music at the World’s Creation, they know not when and wherefore shall the Final Music of the Ainur commence at the World’s End. For even the Ainur, with all their gifts and wisdom, know only that a Second Music shall be sung throughout the Universe at Arda’s Endmost of Days, and shall remain completed only by the inclusion of Eru’s Children. Thus did the Valar choose to dwell evermore with Elves and Men, despite remaining apart from Men in later Ages; and thus do the Valar ensure that Ilúvatar’s Children shall choose their own Music, as afore Ilúvatar granted them that same choice. For the Valar bear the memories of the First Music, and therefore bear the foreknowledge that the Final Music shall reveal Elves and Men to be their peers, and in melodies both sorrowful and powerful.
But there was also Melkor. Granted talents greater than any other of the Ainur, Melkor chose a Doom separate from those others created by Eru, and he created discord in that First Music to Arise in Might against the One. For it was not Melkor, despite being granted more power than any other of the Ainur, to whom Eru was closest in thought; that distinction was held by Manwë, who had power but slightly less than Melkor. Yet when Manwë chose Pity, Melkor chose Wrath, and where Manwë chose devotion to the One did Melkor seek a mighty rule of his own. So it was that Melkor, who sought to create his `own realm within the endless dark Void, was drawn to Varda who is the fairest of all the One’s creations; and Varda’s brilliance shone forth within the Timeless Halls with a power endowed neither to Melkor nor any of the other Ainur.
It is unknown if Melkor at first loved Varda for her inner radiance so much as he sought her talents to add to his own lordship, but Varda spurned his offers, and instead, unto Manwë who loved her in devotion to Eru her creator did she ally to become his wife. After Varda’s rejection did Melkor ever fear her, and he even grew to hate her in his jealousy and inability to control her. Some among the Wise of the Eldar claim that but too late did he finally grow to love her if only to possess her; and they remember Melkor when he dwelled briefly among the Eldar, and remember his strange and forlorn depictions of how she shone without equal in the Timeless Halls. But within these Halls, and before the First Music, did soon jealousy and resentment grow within Melkor against Manwë, and by extension unto Eru who had created them both. Thus did Melkor become sundered from the Ainur from their earliest beginnings, and is therefore no longer named among the Valar despite dwelling long upon Arda.
Melkor was drawn thereafter to endlessly explore the limitless Void, seeking a grandeur akin to the Flame Imperishable; but this Flame resides within Eru alone, and the authority for Melkor to achieve creations to be claimed as his very own was thus an endeavor doomed from the start. But such restlessness is innate to the Gifts granted by Ilúvatar to Men, and thus in later Ages were Men more easily swayed by Melkor’s plight and arguments than the Elves; for unlike all but few of the Elves, such as the Noldor or Deep-Elves, Men seek to rule realms and create inventions they deem entirely of their own devising. Unlike the Elves, who cherish contentment most of all, it is Men who endlessly reach out for greater visions and aspirations even when they already bear them in their arms and hearts. But if Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, and if Men forever discontented were fated to inherit the World from those Elves who rebelled, yet it remains that they are all Eru’s Children.
After endless forays in the empty Outside did Melkor’s thoughts became more estranged from his brethren, and he lamented without grasping why in the lonely Void of his gloom-ridden heart. Yet despite his manifold attempts to find substance amidst the nothingness, they were without consequence; thus bitter was he, despite being the mightiest and most gifted of the Ainur, to the One who had yet denied him the ability to establish his own rule outside the Timeless Halls. Tormented to know, and unable to reconcile, both the blessing of his gifts and his inability to create as he himself was created, Melkor knew despair. With only the dark nothingness to hearken to his woe, Melkor, at last, let forth his anguish: “Why consign me to nothing? Why birth me with all but grant me naught but the vacuum? Why should I abide forever by the lighted Flame, if my reign is granted only to the darkling cold, and with only the emptiness that rules within me?”
Melkor’s lament reverberated both loud and far, and with resound but no reply, before Melkor at last returned to the Timeless Halls of his creation after sojourns unnumbered; yet Ilúvatar saw and heard all, for his rule is not limited to those Halls, and he called for Melkor and the other Ainur to assemble for the great task that was the First Music. Yet response there was to Melkor’s call, unbeknownst to him; for two eyes did then open within the Void, followed by three other adjoining pairs atop a giant maw, and those searching eyes opened to glare forth at Melkor’s departure. A giant shadow did then take shape from the emptiness, and Ungoliant crept forth with darting legs out of the gloom; and she scurried ever faster, upon vast unseen webs she then spun in the darkness, to follow the one who had awakened her to the belighted Timeless Halls. Darker was she even than the emptiness from which she was birthed, but the brilliance of those Halls overcame her fear of those dwelling within, and a hunger for that light was now aroused within her famished belly.