Epiloge 1: Akallabéth

[Wayfarer]

Since I can't remember offhand what fainéant means, I'm looking it up.

Fainéant (From the French)
adj - Given to doing nothing; idle. (lazy)
n. - An irresponsible idler; a sluggard.


Okay. It seems that tolkien was accusing the Valar of... well, of shirking their duty. So the answer to Valandil's question is 'Yes, at least in the initial conception'

Now, since their overall behavior changes very little, I think it stands to reason that Tolkien either a. decided their behavior wasn't so bad after all (which I think is unlikely) or b. Decided to make the condemnation more subtle and less implied.

It also might have something to do with the framework of the Silmarillion - the elven 'authors' of that work might not have been informed of any dissent by the valar, or of any debate that might have gone on, and only been told of the end result - the Hiding of Valinor.