In which Dr. Corey Olsen continues his next Mythgard Academy course on The Lost Road, with Part 2, Chapters 4-5 of the fifth volume of The History of Middle-earth by JRR Tolkien.
After some final comments on the Annals, Professor Olsen went on to consider The Ainulindale, which had lain untouched in The Book of Lost Tales since it was first written. Why return to it now? Its purpose seems to be provide a framework for the Valar and the World in which the history of Arda unfolds, raising questions such as whether it was a good idea for the Valar to have entered the world at all, and allowing the reader to see that the Valar themselves are not perfectly wise, but, like Iluvatar's other Children, are moral agents who make choices that have consequences for themselves and all of Arda.
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