#btw I suspect Tolkien would write “red big dog” if it fit some poetic idea...

[eri-pl]

Another of the "I apologize to a fictional character for calling them or their actions 'stupid'" posts.

So, what I said the Valar (esp Manwë) were very wrong about not telling the Elves that Men will be a thing… I still think ot would be way better if the Elves knew earlier and not from Melkor (this seems obvious), but I don't think the Valar really made a choice here.

It's hard to explain, because obviously I can't imagine how the Valar think and I have more of a direction than a detailed concept here… but you know how it is when a child asks you things like "Why is it a 'big, red dog' and not a 'red big dog'?" and you're like "?!?…it just is?".

Often we know things without knowing that we know them.

I think this might have been the case with Men—it never occured to the Valar that it's something that needs mentioning, and the Elves never asked enough questions, because idk, it happens. Until they started talking with Melkor and he realized thay don't know and weaponized this.

Melkor is more verbal, more analytical, more "breaking things down to understand them" (or just to break them down tbh but that's a tangent). He would, paradoxically, be better at explaining them to Elves. Or maybe not paradoxically. This may have been a part of his intended job, if he didn't, you know, decide to be evil :f

I imagine that much of how the Valar understand the world and all is like a 6yo understands the grammar of their native language. It's not verbal, not fully conscious in a way. They do not have this innate understanding for things like "how Eruhini work", because this is a new thing. But for the fact that there are Men and Elves and the way they're different… I think that (for the part they do understand) it's this kind of knowledge.

So my apologies to Manwë and everyone involved (no, not you Melkor).

I failed to tell my child that you generally only say "good morning/good evening" once to a person on a given day (ok it's more complicated but, like, you don't say it everytime you see them? At least in Poland?) until said child was, like 10. (Plus a lot of similar stuff) I think not telling the Elves about Men is not something I should criticize.

*sigh* I am better with explaining the Silm than with explaining manners, and I am quite bad at explaining the Silm.