Why did the Valar take so Long to attack Morgoth? | Lord of the Rings Lore | Middle-Earth

Middle-Earth would have to suffer under Morgoth's reign and tyranny for over 500 years before the Valar finally came to the aid of the Free-People, at their brink of their annihilation. What stopped Manwe and the rest of the Valar from attacking Morgoth earlier? Was it somehow for the sake of the Elves and Men or did they have some other motive in mind?

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Quotes from Morgoth's Ring (HoME volume 10):

"Manwe was the spirit of greatest wisdom and prudence in Arda. He is represented as having had the greatest knowledge of the Music, as a whole, possessed by any one finite mind; and he alone of all persons or minds in that time is represented as having the power of direct recourse to and communication with Eru. He must have grasped with great clarity what even we may perceive dimly: that it was the essential mode of the process of 'history' in Arda that evil should constantly arise, and that out of it new good should constantly come. One especial aspect of this is the strange way in which the evils of the Marrer, or his inheritors, are turned into weapons against evil. If we consider the situation after the escape of Morgoth and the reestablishment of his abode in Middle-earth, we shall see that the heroic Noldor were the best possible weapon with which to keep Morgoth at bay, virtually besieged, and at any rate fully occupied, on the northern fringe of Middle-earth, without provoking him to a frenzy of nihilistic destruction. And in the meanwhile, Men, or the best elements in Mankind, shaking off his shadow, came into contact with a people who had actually seen and experienced the Blessed Realm."

"In their association with the warring Eldar Men were raised to their fullest achievable stature, and by the two marriages the transference to them, or infusion into Mankind, of the noblest Elf-strain was accomplished, in readiness for the still distant, but inevitably approaching, days when the Elves would 'fade'. The last intervention with physical force by the Valar, ending in the breaking of Thangorodrim, may then be viewed as not in fact reluctant or even unduly delayed, but timed with precision. The intervention came before the annihilation of the Eldar and the Edain. Morgoth though locally triumphant had neglected most of Middle-earth during the war; and by it he had in fact been weakened: in power and prestige (he had lost and failed to recover one of the Silmarils), and above all in mind."

"Eru 'accepted and ratified the position' - though making it plain to Manwe that the Valar should have contested Melkor's domination of Middle-earth far earlier, and that they had lacked estel: they should have trusted that in a legitimate war Eru would not have permitted Melkor so greatly to damage Arda that the Children could not come, or could not inhabit it"

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[BioHunter]

Valar: “We’re gonna wait to avoid disrupting the Music.”
Eru: “your hesitation disrupted the Music.”
Valar: “…”

[petert]

"It Tulkas a long time but we got there" - Valar

[Crafty_Spirit]

Fascinating! I didn't know Tolkien wrote that Eru was critical of the Valar's hesistance.

[acereporter]

The Valar were waiting for Tulkas to Leroy Jenkins his way after Morgoth...

[pesctifer]

This is a super good video, and one not covered by other Tolkien tubers. Super original + super interesting = 10/10 video

[gargoyles]

Valar: Hey Mandos, did you know that Melkor was lying about being reformed and would go back to enslaving the world?
Mandos: yes
Valar: Bruh

[mateuszslawinski]

What I recall from the Silmarillion is that the Valar didn't attack until all Elven dominions in Beleriand fell. I don't know if this was punishment, reminding that "without us, you're doomed" or simple waiting until conditions about certain prophecy could be fulfilled (and "Beleriandians" to be truly desperate?).

[pleappleappleap]

"Lord God, what is a million years to you?"
"A second."
"And what is a million dollars to you?"
"A penny."
"May I have a penny?"
"In a second."

[lolloblue]

Ah, Manwe.
The guy who is king of Arda but essentially acted like king of Aman letting Melkor run amok in Endor.

[greendragn]

The Valar really wanted to punish the Noldor for disobeying them and leaving Valinor. They placed the Doom on them and used Morgoth to play it out. Mandos basically tells them if you don't come back the Valar will use Morgoth to destroy you and will fence in Valinor so that even the echo of your lamentations shall not reach our ears. The Valar were responsible, they released Morgoth out of prison, he was one of them, Manwe's brother even. They were supposed to protect the children of Illuvatar.

[jkranites]

They didn't attack because each time they fought they destroyed a portion of Arda. So they didn't want to help in the 1st age less they risk more damage. Until they had no choice. I mean you said it best in the video

[DisIzDaName]

Eru:
You should've attacked earlier, and had faith that I wouldn't let your battle destroy the world.
Valar:
We had faith you wouldn't let HIM wreck the world on his own. Nice job. All part of the plan though, right Boss?

[mrmacura]

There was also the fact that the Noldor left Valinor against the will of the Valar. Because of that, they also hesitated to come to their aid, although Ulmo frequently asked them to do so.
That is why Earendil had to come to them pleading pardon before they started their attack

[SamSpade]

One of the quotes you mentioned stated that Eru told Manwe they should have dealt with Melkor sooner. And while everything is in Eru’s plan, the fact that Eru himself told the Valar they should have ended melkor sooner implies Eru doesn’t know when something will happen, just that it will happen. All this to say that the Valar were late in helping and the perfect time to deal with melkor had already passed.

[Imperialistic]

I've always wondered about the first assault on Morgoth's first fortress Utumno: Since the elves just arrived to the world, he could not had many converted orcs as his disposal. So what other forces did Morgoth had? Armies of evil maiar spirits disguised as proto dragons, vampires, werewolves, balrogs, phantoms and Boldog orcs?

[aljnddlgdl]

The way you pronounce "Valar" troubles me BUT at the same time...I love the pronunciation. I am in an internal conflict just like the "Vala-ar"

[LordPadriac]

I think it's wrong to say they were unable to fight and defeat him sooner. At every other stage the united Valar were able to oppose and undo the damage Melkor caused, even before Tulkas came to Arda. The thing that always seems to get lost is that the Valar, and the Maiar that came with them, were the same as Elves and Men saving only in stature and power. People asking questions like this always seem to forget that the Valar were not all seeing and all knowing and all wise. They could be prideful and wrathful and petty. The Noldor hurt them. They refused the counsel of the Valar and sought to live outside of their shelter and guidance. They refused to hand over the Silmarils, which contained essence that the Valar themselves had created and viewed as theirs, and which could have been used to undo the damage caused by Melkor and Ungoliant. Then the Noldor created horrific crimes against other clans of elves and then against some of their own clan when it became expedient to do so. I think the Valar didn't attack and end Melkor sooner because they were petulantly holding on to their gripe against the Noldor and the proclamations they had made in anger against them in the immediate aftermath of Melkor's attack on the Two Trees. I think they were acting just like Elves and Men when they suffered a severe disappointment and a perceived slight and they were holding onto that grudge until things reached such a tipping point that it shocked them out of their anger and indolence.

[richiemorningstar]

Why didnt Iluvatar interfere? Also If Iluvatar Knew everything, why did he create Melkor?

[gdn]

Class: It's a group project

Morgoth: It's a group effort

[GeekZoneMT]

Do you guys think that the Valar were right in waiting so long to attack Morgoth? Or should they have attacked earlier, and in that case what do you think would have happened? As always subtitles are available and feedback is welcome!