The Ainur and their physical forms

[Neithan]

My apologies if this has been discussed before, but I searched and didn't find it.
In the Sil it says,

and from the hill of Tuna the Elves had seen [Melkor] pass in wrath as a thundercloud.

If Melkor could take the form of a cloud then why not do so to escape his capture in in the first war? The Ainur it seems could fight with one another no matter what form they took. This, however, brings up another question how did Tulkas, appearantly the lowest ranking Vala, defeat Melkor, the most powerful. It is said that Tulkas had the greatest physical strength. This suggests that no matter what form they took, or indeed if they took no form at all, they would always have the same physical strength, and that this strength was independent of their power.

O.K., but how did the chain hold him? It could have had some "magical" property that kept Melkor from changing form, and I might say that that was the case if it were not for another example:

Then Sauron shifted shape, from wolf to serpent, and from monster to his own accustomed form; but he could not elude the grip of Huan without forsaking his body utterly...and said that he should be stripped of his raiment of flesh, and his ghost be sent quaking back to Morgoth; and she said: "There everlastingly thy naked self shall endure the torment of his scorn, pierced by his eyes, unless thou yield to me the mastery of thy tower."

The Ainur, appearently, could not leave their physical forms while something was restraining them without their "body" being destroyed.

Lastly, we now that the Balrogs had become incarnate in their forms and so coud not change their forms to escape from falling, but what about Sauron? In the Sil it says that he changed into a vampire and flew away after his match with Huan. So why didn't he change into a flying creature during the destruction of Numenore and escape? It specifically says that he lost the ability to change into whatever he wanted after his body was destroyed in the destruction of Numenore. This one is a little harder to figure out. I seem to remember reading somewhere in one of the other books that, in one version of Tolkiens stories, only Manwe and Varda could fly, and that Melkor was jealous of them for this. So maybe the problem comes from the Sil being taken from so many different sources.

I am interested to see what everyone thinks of my theories.

[Lalwendë]

Most odd. I was reading some Blake and the quote used by Neithan reminded me strongly of the images from his work

Then Sauron shifted shape, from wolf to serpent, and from monster to his own accustomed form; but he could not elude the grip of Huan without forsaking his body utterly...and said that he should be stripped of his raiment of flesh, and his ghost be sent quaking back to Morgoth; and she said: "There everlastingly thy naked self shall endure the torment of his scorn, pierced by his eyes, unless thou yield to me the mastery of thy tower."

This last sentence in particular is very biblical, symbolic and vivid. And as to the question of the chains used to bind Melkor - could these be metaphysical chains? Indeed, could they be "mind-forg'd manacles"? Blake used the image of metaphysical, moral and political chains throughout his work; The Marriage of Heaven and Hell includes this line which struck me in particular:

The Giants who formed this world into its sensual existence and now seem to live in it in chains, are in truth the causes of its life & the sources of all activity, but the chains are the cunning of weak and tame minds which have power to resist energy, according to the proverb, the weak in courage is strong in cunning

Chains do not have to be purely physical, they can take many forms, and the chaining of Melkor's spirit would have needed something very different to the metal chain we would normally think of; it is a very striking and effective image however.

[Boromir88]

A wonderful answer Lal, there's one part of the quote that also catches my attention...

the chains are the cunning of weak and tame minds which have power to resist energy

When we think of actual, physical chains, somebody literally "chained" up to the wall, yes chains do resist energy. The chained person can, rip, tear, thrash, wiggle, all they want, if the chains are strong enough it will "resist" that energy and hold that person.

Chains do not have to be purely physical, they can take many forms, and the chaining of Melkor's spirit would have needed something very different to the metal chain we would normally think of

So then whatever form of a chain that held Melkor, it was able to resist his power.

[Morsul the Dark]

Lastly, we now that the Balrogs had become incarnate in their forms and so coud not change their forms to escape from falling, but what about Sauron? In the Sil it says that he changed into a vampire and flew away after his match with Huan. So why didn't he change into a flying creature during the destruction of Numenore and escape?

I believe this has more to do with the fact, and I have no quotes ready so bear with me. Although Middle-Earth is a fantasy world Tolkien kept it very realistic. The Mariner(name escapes me) who listened to these tales at the cottage of lost play was a man and the elves were in my opinion reprenting classical cultures Romans and Greeks and such who made these myths to explain nature and even those stories based on real people were blown out of proportion I believe this was part of Tolkien's layering, if you will, of history into these books the story passed on orally grows each time until eventually its is hard to explain why something happens one way in a story and another way in actuality

[Neithan]

So then whatever form of a chain that held Melkor, it was able to resist his power.

Point taken, but what about about Sauron, if the Ainur's physical forms were no more important than clothing than why would he not be able to build a new body after forsaking that one? He was not, at that time, bound to his body.

[Neithan]

I was thinking, the chain Angainor was made by Aule and I don't think he would be able to make something that could contain Melkor's power. However, since Tulkas could overcome Melkor with physical strength, it is very easy to imagine that Tulkas could make a physical chain that could bind Melkor physically.

This is probably the most interesting and important point that I was trying to get at here. The difference between the physical strength and the power of the Ainur. As I see it, they are completely independent of one another, and of what form the Ainu chooses to take. Presumably then a Vala, say Tulkas for example, could take the form an ordinary hobbit and still have all of his legendary strength.


Edit: I meant that it would be easy to imagine that Aule could make such a chain, Tulkas obviously has no skill in that area