Eledwhen, good answer.
Gothmog said:
Úlairi, I thank you for your well presented answer. I have only one small point of disagreement.While I agree with your point that
Melkor had marred the light of the Sun and the Moon, he had not corrupted them to
evil. It is true the light of the Sun is not the "Pure" light of Laurelin because of Melkor yet it is still the most pure form of that light with the exeption of
the Silmarils.
To claim from this marring of the Sun that
Gandalf was also a wielder of the 'Dark Fire' would be to say that All
Arda was Evil. This we know to be untrue as all Arda is only Tainted By Melkor. There is still far more good in Arda than Evil.
All Arda is fundamentally 'tainted' and therefore has 'evil aspects'. The very idea of the Three (i.e. their preservational powers) was against the will of the
Valar, the
Elves were attempting to stop the days of their 'waning', which is against
Eru's plan and therefore (in a way) sinful. I was proving a point through contradiction. I said that Gandalf could not be wielding
Narya in reference to what he said, but it must be the light of the Sun. Now, that too is essentially 'marred', but it still is essentially 'good' also. You see, (even though I disagree in some ways), Free Will (in a sense) is still fundamentally operable within 'Arda Marred', and therefore someone can use something that is 'marred' and make it into something beautiful.
Númenor, the island of bliss for
Men was still fundamentally 'Arda Marred', but was beautiful nevertheless.
Galadriel, fairest and wisest of all Elves, her
hröa was essentially 'marred', but was still considered beautiful. The only problem is, being 'marred', it can be turned to the purposes of evil, so, in a sense, Free Will is even more operable within these circumstances.
However, if this were true, then Narya also could be referred to as the
Flame of Anor. So, I propose that CT was wrong in his choice of the creation of the Sun and the Moon. If you read the version of the making of the Sun and the Moon and the Two
Trees, I daresay 'The Flame of Anor' could indeed be considered pure. But perhaps the 'Flame of Anor' could indeed be a reference to Gandalf's own power. He is a pure Angelic being (although his
hröa too, is essentially 'marred'), the light that he could be wielding is light that he possessed from the very beginning i.e. 'intrinsic power'. He was revealing himself in a form of majesty, as the
Ainur were not 'marred' unless they were incarnate, and even then they could choose to leave that form. The Valar all had raiments, the 'Clothes of
Ilúvatar', and therefore were never 'marred', by the substance of the earth that Melkor had disseminated his power into. Hope that helps Gothmog and Anc.