Glaurung (New version) image - Quenta Silmarillion mod for Rome: Total War

You'd be better off asking for the help of a magnificently bearded Dwarf king with a sharp dagger.

Every good and respectable High Elf should pray Varda in its time of need :) Apart, obviously, from the arrogant, superb and fratricidal ones.

Cowards may pray to those who abandoned them, but the strong will gird themselves, and ready swords against the Foe.

The Powers never abandoned the Eldar, and they too have suffered from the evil deeds of the Enemy, since the beginning of the World.

Those who disown the Light are inevitably doomed to see their plans undone and know the sorrow of the exile; especially the ones who swore the infamous and disastrous Oath, and thus were the authors of their own destiny.

Victory can only come from the Kings and the Queens of the holy and protected Realm beyond the Sea :)

Where were those 'Powers' during the Darkening? Hiding up a mountain, silent, after their brother destroyed the land they were supposed to guard. The brother that they themselves released.

You speak of disowning the Light. So, what about that 'Light' you speak of? To look at the world from one frame of thought is like trying to gaze at the sky through a keyhole. If you are to truly understand then you will need the contrast, not adherence to a single ideal.

There are many roads to victory, and many more to defeat.

No one had ever known or imagined that a creature so dark and terrible could have hidden itself in Aman, if not the Enemy himself.

Everyone, however, was fully free to make its own considerations and take a definite path; since then, the truth revealed itself and, in the same way, the facts that follow; the proud and sad leader of the Rebellion found his death after returning to Middle Earth, and so his royal sons.

Victory did come only from the might of the Archangels, because they know things beyond elven and human consideration, for they have created and shaped the Sky and the World with their love, and through their immeasurable Wisdom judge everything and determine the only true and right path, always trying to advise the others, though never dictating; it's up to the single person deciding to follow that path and trust the wise Rulers of the West.

Ah, yes. The very same enemy they freed and then were too careless to catch. Another sign of that immeasurable wisdom, I am certain.

So, only their path is the true and right path? And anything that strays from that authoritarian principle is of course 'evil'. I somehow find that unconvincing.

Who says we aren't already? Well, I'm doing that and baiting at the same time. I'm excellent at that. A master baiter, one could say.

It's true, now that I read again the comments, it really seems that Fëanor and Galadriel are having a conversation (maybe I did it on purpose) :P
We are just spicing up the comment section :)

Anyway, FeánaroTWC, to conclude, the Valar are not despotic or authoritarian, they are the legitimate rulers of their holy land, and those who want to live with them in the eternal joy and bliss have to follow certain rules; the inhabitants of Valinor are not subdued to anyone, they spontaneously recognise and acknowledge the authority of the Ainur, as greater by their nature, immensely powerful and wise beings, and they are happy to live among themselves in harmony under this hierarchy, like a family, or better, a community.

Other paths are not necessarily 'evil', but they turned out to be wrong, useless or, worse, cause of tragedies and sadness. Fëanor in Aman felt himself caged in a 'golden prison' and desired the 'real' freedom of Middle Earth, where he could have ruled realms on his own and really experienced the 'adventure' in his life; but he was brought to choose the exile mainly by his tragic obsession for his creations and the revenge against the Enemy, obsession that led him to his ruin.
I personally admire and respect more the choice of Galadriel (my favourite character XD), that chose the exile to discover and rule the free lands of Middle Earth, always respecting though the power and the authority of the Valar, and recognising her own limits and the ones of her people.
Team Galadriel all my life :) Google.it

They aren't despotic or authoritarian? While I would reply with some of the very disturbing passages from HoME (Like the ones which imply that they mind-wipe those who disagree with their rule in the Halls of Mandos) ModDB is hardly the place to cite complicated quotes.

And I have many more issues with the 'natural greater stature' of the Valar, since it means that any community in which they are involved puts those beneath them at an inherent disadvantage.

Then there is their belief that those who defy their authority are evil.

"Yet the answer is not in truth difficult. Evil is not one thing among Elves and another among Men. Those who give evil counsel, or speak against the Rulers (or if they dare, against the One), are evil, and should be shunned whether bodied or unbodied."

Then there are the Halls themselves, which are horrific. Or the hilarious idea of 'Minor Melkorism'.

So, I've said it before, and I'll say it again. If that Host if the West comes into my lands, and they don't get out, I'll turn that youthful army of theirs into youthful corpses.

The distinction between Good and Evil is very definite and obvious in the Tolkien's Universe, having both the Good (Valar and their people) and the Evil (Melkor and his servants) the form of 'true' and physical bodies; there isn't thus so much space for other paths (third ways) that are meant to detach from these two 'supreme' paths (Good and Evil), unless you want to live in the darkness, ignorance or, worse, in the arrogance of considering yourself superior to the Ainur or the One itself.
Ilúvatar created all the sentient beings in the material Universe and in the Supreme Heaven, and gave them the fundamental ability of Free Thinking; the Valar and their people, then, with the permission of the One, shaped the Universe and created and rule the World for the Elves and Men, being so the closest beings to the eternal and only Good (Eru), though they are not almighty and omniscient. Denying these facts is equivalent to be ignorant or, worse, willing to voluntarily spread lies.

The Halls of Mandos are horrific only for those who can't understand their mistakes and can't find any sort of peace or relief, accepting the reality of their death, often caused by the way by none but themselves; the Elves that manage to understand and 'purify' themselves (like Finrod) are then allowed to regain their bodies and walk again in the Evergreen Fields of Valinor.
The sad spirits of the Halls of Mandos are also often visited by Nienna, who gives them Hope and Endurance.

Furthermore the 'third ways' that I referred to above, 'disguised' as desires of freedom or free speech, were often thoughts originated by the lies of Melkor, that caused disagreements among the Eldar already in Aman, and that, through Sauron, poisoned the minds of the Númenóreans with false hopes of immortality and power.

Now, let's give the poor Glaurung a moment of peace :)

The Halls of Mandos are horrifying no matter what you did. The fea needs a body, and it is considered to be torturous for the two to be separate. The Halls are a solitary place, with those held not having any contact with the outside world, except perhaos for loved ones who are also there. Solitary confinement is also self-destructive and likely to lead to repeated crimes.

The Valar apparently also erase anything they consider unnatural from the memories of those who leave the Halls, including the events that led them there (And there isn't any concrete knowledge amongst the Elves as to what is considered liable to get them there, so there is no coherent law system to follow)

Additionally, this may just be me, but I don't consider redemption that comes from wiping someone's memories to be much redemption at all. Redemption comes from choice, not somebody rewriting you to fit their standards.

And Finrod being released early is actually an argument against the Halls being a place for healing, since dying after spending time in horrific captivity and being mauled by a werewolf ought to be rather traumatizing.

I'd go through more..But poor Glaurung's untextured scales have probably fallen off by now.

Stuff like this comment chain is why I love the internet.