But now Iluvatar sat and hearkened, and for a great while it seemed good to him, for in the music there were no flaws. But as the theme progressed, it came into the heart of Melkor to interweave matters of his own imagining that were not in accord with the theme of Iluvatar; for he sought therein to increase the power and glory of the part assigned to himself. To Melkor among the Ainur had been given the greatest gifts of power and knowledge, and he had a share in all the gifts of his brethren. He had gone often alone into the void places seeking the Imperishable Flame; for desire grew hot within him to bring into Being things of his own, and it seemed to him that Iluvatar took no thought for the Void, and he was impatient of its emptiness. Yet he found not the fire, for it is with Iluvatar. But being alone he had begun to conceive thoughts of his own unlike those of his brethren.
Some of these things he now wove into his music, and straightway discord rose about him, and many that sang nigh him grew despondent, and their thought was disturbed and their music faltered; but some began to attune their music to his rather than to the thought which they had at first. Then the discord of Melkor spread ever wider, and the melodies which had been heard before foundered in a sea of turbulent sound. But Iluvatar sat and hearkened until it seemed that about his throne there was a raging storm, as of dark waters that made war one upon another in an endless wrath that would not be assuaged.
Then Iluvatar arose, and the Ainur perceived that he smiled; and he lifted up his left hand, and a new theme began amid the storm, like and yet unlike to the former theme, and it gathered power and had new beauty.
Then Iluvatar spoke, and he said: "Mighty are the Ainur, and mightiest among them is Melkor; but that he may know, and all the Ainur, that I am Iluvatar, those things that ye have sung, I will show them forth, that ye may see what ye have done. And thou, Melkor, shalt see that no theme may be played that hath not its uttermost source in me, nor can any alter the music in my despite.
--from "Ainulindale", by J.R.R. Tolkien
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How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
How you are cut down to the ground, you who made the nations low!
You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High."
--Isaiah 14:12-14
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You've heard of The Lord of the Rings, which tells the events of Middle Earth at the end of the Third Age. This book I'm reading now, The Silmarillion, tells of the creation of the world and the events of the First Age. Ainulindale is a short story of Tolkien's that is included in, but not directly related to, The Silmarillion.
But in the preface to this book, Tolkien himself writes that these things were written to be accepted, "...by a mind that believes in the Blessed Trinity."
I am quite sure that none of you read my blog hoping for a book report, but when I read about Iluvatar (God), Melkor (Lucifer), the Ainur (angels), and the theme or music (worship), I grinned a little to myself. I just thought I'd share it.
How 'bout that. God created the Hobbits and Elves, too.
