I have to agree in many aspects. In earlier years I wrote several Melkor stories dealing with his having stolen the Silmarils for the sake of possessing the light that they gave off. His deepest chambers in his fortresses were rooms of refracted light that would catch the light from the Iron Crown and reflect it, magnifying it throughout his chambers.

The Valar, over time, diminish - they grow insular, they remain in their outward hroa appearance, and remain on their small continent. These are beings that had created worlds, and now they wander familiar and dusty roads, rarely even gazing to the East. They could be, and should be, so much more!

I love the essays you've been writing this year. Interesting, coherent, and well choreographed.

- Erulisse (one L)