Vision of Ilúvatar

The Music of the Ainur or Ainulindalë was a Great Song made in the Void at the beginning of time, sung by the Ainur at the bidding of the Ilúvatar. Each of the Ainur added their own thoughts and themes to the Music, some greater and some lesser, and Melkor in particular disturbed the Song with his own discordant themes. When the Great Music was done, Ilúvatar used its myriad strands of music to create a Vision - a fleeting glimpse of a growing world and its peoples devised out of the notes of the Great Song.

The Ainur had not known beforehand that this was Ilúvatar's purpose in creating their Music, and they watched in astonishment as the Vision of the new world unfolded before them. Then Ilúvatar went further, and with the word Eä! he made the Vision a reality. Thus was the world of Arda created within the Void, but this was a newly-made world, and the long history revealed by the Vision had yet to begin.

Many of the Ainur chose to descend into the world they had seen in the Vision, with the greatest of these becoming the Valar or Powers, of whom Manwë was the chief. Melkor also went down into the world, but he had his own plans for the future, and much of the early history of the world revolved around the conflict between these forces. There were as yet no Elves or Men in Arda, but their coming had been foretold in the Vision, and the purpose of the Valar was to prepare the world for their awakening.

Because they had seen the Vision before the beginning of the world, each of the Valar knew something of Ilúvatar's plan for Arda, and thus of times that, for them, lay far in the future. However, their glimpse of the Vision had been brief, and had not shown them the entire future history of the world. So, while the Valar knew somewhat of the future of the world, their knowledge was not all-encompassing. We know of at least one occasion where a Vala within Arda was given a further view of the Vision, when Ilúvatar granted this to Manwë so that he could see details that he had not formerly understood.¹ This chance for a Vala to return into the Vision, was, as far as we know, a singular and unique occurrence.