(note: all emboldened pieces of text are my doing)
YES, there are SPOILERS!!! Now, moving on...
In "Ainulindalë," (first section of "The Sil"), the first sentence is
There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar; and he made the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him aught anything else was made.
However, in the fifth paragraph, it is said
But as the theme [of Ilúvatar] progressed, it came into the heart of Melkor to interweave matters of his own imagining that were not in accord with the theme of Ilúvatar; for he sought therein to increase the power and glory of the part assigned to himself. To Melkor among the Ainur had been given the greatest gifts of power and knowledge, and he had a share in all the gifts of his brethren. He had gone often alone into the void places seeking the Imperishable Flame; for desire grew hot within him to bring into Being things of his own, and it seemed to him that Ilúvatar took no thought for the Void, and he was impatient of its emptiness. Yet he had not found the Fire, for it is with Ilúvatar. But being alone he had begun to conceive thoughts of his own unlike those of his brethren.
Upon reading "Ainulindalë" last night, I wondered what Tolkien meant to say by writing such things. If Melkor and the other Ainur were "the offspring of [Ilúvatar's] thought," then surely their thought would be exact - but smaller - replicas of Ilúvatar's own thought? Why and how then did Melkor begin to stray aside, and "to interweave matters of his own imagining that were not in accord with the theme of Ilúvatar," and "to conceive thoughts of his own unlike those of his brethren"? If Melkor's thought is identical to Ilúvatar's, how did such thoughts develop, and why? What spurred them on? Surely he would be unable to think such things, having his thought limited to remain in-line with Ilúvatar's... right? 
Also, in the sixth paragraph of "Ainulindalë," it is said
Some of these thoughts [the ones "unlike those of his brethren"] he now wove into his music, and straightway discord arose about him, and many that sang nigh him grew despondent, and their thought was disturbed and their music faltered; but some began to attune their music to his rather than to the thought which they had at first. Then the discord of Melkor spread ever wider, and the melodies which had been heard before foundered in a sea of turbulent sound.
In the twelfth paragraph, it is said
But when [the Ainur] were come into the Void, Ilúvatar said to them: 'Behold your Music!' And he showed them a vision, giving to them sight where before was only hearing; and they saw a new World made visible before them[...] 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.'
What did Tolkien mean by this? It seems that Melkor's disharmony in the three themes has been turned into "a part of the whole and tributary to its glory." Does Tolkien mean to say that all bad things will turn to good? Or that disharmony is initially good - instead of eventually turning good - though we may not realise it?
Tolkien seems to expand on this idea in LotR. For example, Pippin's gazing into the Palantír. Had his cry not awakened the camp, Gandalf would not have seen the Nazgűl flying overhead, and he would have known no reason to rush to Minas Tirith in the morning. Also, Gollum's biting Frodo's finger off, thus acquiring the Ring, results well; for in dancing about in joy, he tumbles into the Crack of Doom and so destroys the Ring. Do these two examples say that bad will turn to good, or that what seems bad is really good?
Thanks for reading my late-night musings; I hope you'll find this reply-worthy! 
 You are a daughter of kings. A shieldmaiden of Rohan.
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mpanc1
(Wed Jul 2 13:13:04)
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Its that Melkor, in his greed, only added to the wonder of Eru's world, making it more interesting and diverse and beautiful in all of its wonder. No one can defy Eru and through Melkor's greed he only added to the glory and beauty of Arda.
What's your first name Mr. Burns--- I don't know.
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But wasn't Melkor defying Eru by thinking his own thoughts, his own thoughts being separate from Eru's? And do you think that Tolkien was saying that all bad leads to ultimate good?
You are a daughter of kings. A shieldmaiden of Rohan.
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 to yet another great post.
I'm sure that Eru would have known about bad as well as good--and if so then the Ainur also knew about things like greed and envy and selfishness, even if Eru himself may not have felt such things. The Complete Guide to ME says that Eru revealed to the Ainur only part of his mind--so without all of his knowledge, the Ainur's knowledge would have been imperfect. This imperfect knowledge obscured the larger picture, and Melkor was trying to hurry things along in his own time and his way, without waiting to see what Eru's way or timetable was. Melkor's intentions to speed the process along very well could have started out good (I don't know about this though), but then as he began creating and felt the power in the act, he might have begun to feel that he rivalled Eru in power and creation. Also all the time he spent by himself away from the Ainur when he was searching for the Flame Imperishable caused him to begin thinking on his own--so Eru must have given the Ainur the ability to come up with independent thought, outside of Eru.
As for the second question, I don't think Tolkien was saying that disharmony is initially good, but rather that good can come from bad. In your examples, the action that started it all wasn't necessarily good or unselfish, but the result was good. An example: a family member is murdered. It is a brutal awful horrible thing to happen, but perhaps going through it you learn your own strength, and perhaps it brings your family closer to together when they weren't before. Those are good things stemming from a bad event--but that doesn't make the initial event good.
I'm a study of a man in chaos in search of frenzy.
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Thanks for replying, UB!
So, you're basically saying that Melkor's spending time away from the influences of the Ainur and Eru caused him to think on his own? But what do you think motivated Melkor to be "trying to hurry things along in his own time and his way, without waiting to see what Eru's way or timetable was"? How did he know that he had imperfect knowledge, and that he could not see the big picture?
About your last paragraph... you know how some people say that the journey is worth more than the destination? How would you fit that into what you said? Okay, I'll be more specific. If the starting point is bad, but what it initiates is good, where does that good come from? Is it from an outside source/influence? In other words, how does somethig bad start something good?
You are a daughter of kings. A shieldmaiden of Rohan.
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I'm not sure what caused Melkor to hurry things along. He was "especially gifted in substances and crafts," so perhaps he felt like Eru should have given the task to him as he was qualified. Or perhaps he was impatient that Eru hadn't given him the knowledge of the Flame Imperishable so that he could help Eru hurry things along so that the world would be completed and peopled faster. I don't know how Melkor knew that he had an imperfect knowledge--I doubt Eru was constantly telling the Ainur they weren't as knowledgable as himself! I'm sure that Melkor realized at some point that Eru hadn't given him knowledge in everything when he realized that Eru was the only one who could impart the Flame Imperishable.
I don't know exactly how something good comes from bad. I think it can be both any external or internal influence that changes it from bad to good. When Gollum starts to "repent" of the bad he has done and is ready to serve Frodo and Sam and to be good, that was an internal decision to forgo the bad he had done in the past and to do good (unfortunately he doesn't stay contrite)--but the bad he had become could have become good. Boromir betrays the fellowship by trying to take the ring, so that was bad. But that resulted in the external (another person's actions) of Frodo choosing to go it alone (with Sam) and also it was a natural progression of events--Aragorn and co are chasing the Uruk hai who have Merry/Pippin, which brings them to Rohan where they are needed, which also brings Merry/Pippin to the Ents where they are needed to convince them to take part. I'm not sure if that all makes sense they way I'm trying to say it.
I'm a study of a man in chaos in search of frenzy.
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 I don't think Eru was telling the Ainur that they had imperfect knowledge, either! My guess would be that Melkor saw the differences between the Ainur and Eru; but that makes no sense, considering Eru intentionally gave them imperfect knowledge and thus Melkor should have been blinded to all differences. Do you think maybe Eru made Melkor different from the Ainur on purpose? 
Good point about Gollum. What I pick up from what you've said there is, that in all bad things there is a seed of good. I personally do not believe that Gollum was wholly wicked; I instead think that if he had the will to, he could've completely changed for the better. Am I correct in interpreting that you said that there is some good in everything?
You are a daughter of kings. A shieldmaiden of Rohan.
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Yes, I believe there is some good in everything or everyone. I don't believe that a person is completely and insidiously evil and bad, there's some spark of decency somewhere.
I think Eru did make Melkor different. From what I understand he gave Melkor more knowledge than the others--which could be why Melkor was the one who discovered the differences in the Ainur's knowledge versus Eru's first.
I'm a study of a man in chaos in search of frenzy.
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Thanks for not killing me for interrogating you!  Thanks also for explaining yourself so well.
You are a daughter of kings. A shieldmaiden of Rohan.
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I think Tolkien's point is that ALL thoughts, actions, occurrences ~ whether good or bad ~ are part of something fundamental: Illuvatar himself. To me, it seems that it's not about bad becoming good or bad starting out as good... ultimately, on a spiritual level, there is no "good" and "evil", because EVERYTHING in the world is ONE. (This concept is echoed in many, many theologies, including Hinduism, and even Jedi!)
The points you've made about "bad" actions or occurrences achieving a greater, more positive end are examples of this concept. Also, think of Gandalf's lines in FotR about "a greater power than the will of evil", and things that were "meant" to happen.
All this relates to the underlying concept of ONEness ~ meaning that inexplicable force (which Tolkien names Illuvatar/Eru) ~ that binds everything together, good or evil.
This brings up some very interesting problems in terms of fate vs free-will. For example... if EVERYONE and EVERYTHING and EVERY EVENT of Arda is all part of the "song" that Illuvatar has planned from before the beginning of time, then what possible free will can exist? How can one take credit, or responsibility for one's own actions, if it's all part of Eru himself? ...but that's a whole other discussion!
Great post, m'Lady.
 mindlessmunkey
you don't know how lucky you are being a munkey ~ because consciousness is a terrible curse
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Very interesting, Munkey!
So, you're basically saying that Ilúvatar/Eru is a concept, not a deity or spiritual entity, right? And if "ultimately, on a spiritual level, there is no "good" and "evil", because EVERYTHING in the world is ONE," then why and how do we, as humans, label people and actions as "good" or "evil"? What differentiates what we call "good" and "evil" in this concept of "Oneness"?
Thanks for replying, Munkey! And I don't mind if you begin a discussion of fate vs. free will, either!
You are a daughter of kings. A shieldmaiden of Rohan.
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I'm not so much saying Illuvatar/Eru isn't a deity or spiritual entity. He definitely is! It's just that, to my atheist brain, "deity" and "spiritual entity" are concepts, rather than things I can feel for myself. Others (i.e. those with "faith") are different, and understand these ideas on a deeper level than me, I think.
So, Eru definitely is a Deity, but not so much (in my interpretation) in the Christian sense of the word. I don't think a Deity is a tangible, definable "being", but rather a binding force or energy.
Your ideas about the impossibility of defining behaviour (or people) as "good" and "bad" are very interesting. This taps into one of the main problems I've always had with many religions...
It seems to me that many religions choose to make the distinction between acceptable actions and unacceptable actions in "the eyes of God", and I just don't buy it. Personally, I can't bring myself to believe in God at all... but if He(/She/It) does exist, then it must have created EVERYTHING! God must exist within everything, and everything must exist within God. If certain actions are EVIL, then God makes them that way. If certain people are EVIL, then God makes them that way.
That is why (I'm drifting off Tolkien completely now, and into my own personal philosophy, but what the heck...) I don't believe in "judgement" ~ either human judgement or a higher judgement. I believe if a God created us, and God is us, and we are God, then the only way to honour or please God is TO BE TRUE TO OURSELVES. If you are true to yourself, then you are true to the God who made you that way. Let us all be our own judges.
Aaaanyway... enough ranting from me, for now.
Thanks for giving me a forum for these thoughts, L-E!
mm
you don't know how lucky you are being a munkey ~ because consciousness is a terrible curse
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I think we understand each other, Mindless Munkey. (I think I screwed that quote up, but oh well!  ) In other words, I see what you mean and it makes sense to my brain, which happens to be on Summer-level Power. Thanks for the explanation, Munkey; I'm through with my interrogation!
You are a daughter of kings. A shieldmaiden of Rohan.
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A big hearty bump for a very interesting thread.
mm
you don't know how lucky you are being a munkey ~ because consciousness is a terrible curse
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Thanks, Munkey.
You are a daughter of kings. A shieldmaiden of Rohan.
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CTS-1
(Wed Jul 2 21:58:24)
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Melkor actually helped to realize the fullness of Eru's design by injecting chaos into an otherwise too orderly system. By doing so, his ideas interacted with those of the other Ainur in ways which were not forseeable to Melkor or the other Ainur. An example of this would be the creation of snow, which was conceived of by Eru, but was actually beyond the conception of Ulmo (who provided the raw material), Manwe (who provided the method of delivery) or Melkor (who provided the cold). Likewise, these three Ainur needed to interact to form clouds.
Look- he's trying to think!
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Wow. That's an interesting perspective, CTS.
Do you think that Eru made him that way? That Eru had a set design for things, and that Melkor turned out the way Eru wanted?
You are a daughter of kings. A shieldmaiden of Rohan.
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CTS-1
(Thu Jul 3 14:56:16)
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All we have to rely on is the statement that Melkor is part of the plan....
Look- he's trying to think!
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This message has been deleted by the poster
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"I sang of leaves, of leaves of gold, and leaves of gold there grew..."
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sinaes
(Tue Aug 5 01:48:18)
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I'm like a good haines t-shirt: tagless 
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Not idly do the leaves of Lorien fall
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company.
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UPDATED Wed Jul 2 21:40:18
