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Then Ilúvatar 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. But the discord of Melkor rose in uproar and contended with it, and again
there was a war of sound more violent than before, until many of the Ainur were dismayed and sang
no longer, and Melkor had the mastery. Then again Ilúvatar arose, and the Ainur perceived that his
countenance was stern; and he lifted up his right hand, and behold! a third theme grew amid the
confusion, and it was unlike the others. For it seemed at first soft and sweet, a mere rippling of
gentle sounds in delicate melodies; but it could not be quenched, and it took to itself power and
profundity. And it seemed at last that there were two musics progressing at one time before the seat
of Ilúvatar, and they were utterly at variance. The one was deep and wide and beautiful, but slow
and blended with an immeasurable sorrow, from which its beauty chiefly came. The other had now
achieved a unity of its own; but it was loud, and vain, and endlessly repeated; and it had little
harmony, but rather a clamorous unison as of many trumpets braying upon a few notes. And it
essayed to drown the other music by the violence of its voice, but it seemed that its most triumphant
notes were taken by the other and woven into its own solemn pattern.
In the midst of this strife, whereat the halls of Ilúvatar shook and a tremor ran out into the
silences yet unmoved, Ilúvatar arose a third time, and his face was terrible to behold. Then he raised
up both his hands, and in one chord, deeper than the Abyss, higher than the Firmament, piercing as
the light of the eye of Ilúvatar, the Music ceased.
Then Ilúvatar 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 Ilúvatar, 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. For he
that attempteth this shall prove but mine instrument in the devising of things more wonderful, which
he himself hath not imagined.'
Then the Ainur were afraid, and they did not yet comprehend the words that were said to
them; and Melkor was filled with shame, of which came secret anger. But Ilúvatar arose in
splendour, and he went forth from the fair regions that he had made for the Ainur; and the Ainur
followed him.
But when they were come into the Void, Ilúvatar said to them: 'Behold your Music!' And he
showed to them a vision, giving to them sight where before was only hearing; arid they saw a new
World made visible before them, and it was globed amid the Void, and it was sustained therein, but
was not of it. And as they looked and wondered this World began to unfold its history, and it seemed
to them that it lived and grew. And when the Ainur had gazed for a while and were silent, Ilúvatar
said again: 'Behold your Music! This is your minstrelsy; and each of you shall find contained
herein, amid the design that I set before you, all those things which it may seem that he himself
devised or added. And thou, Melkor, wilt discover all the secret thoughts of thy mind, and wilt
perceive that they are but a part of the whole and tributary to its glory.'
And many other things Ilúvatar spoke to the Ainur at that time, and because of their memory
of his words, and the knowledge that each has of the music that he himself made, the Ainur know
much of what was, and is, and is to come, and few things are unseen by them. Yet some things there
are that they cannot see, neither alone nor taking counsel together; for to none but himself has
Ilúvatar revealed all that he has in store, and in every age there come forth things that are new and
have no foretelling, for they do not proceed from the past. And so it was that as this vision of the
World was played before them, the Ainur saw that it contained things which they had not thought.
And they saw with amazement the coming of the Children of Ilúvatar, and the habitation that was
prepared for them; and they perceived that they themselves in the labour of their music had been
busy with the preparation of this dwelling, and yet knew not that it had any purpose beyond its own
beauty. For the Children of Ilúvatar were conceived by him alone; and they came with the third