We have very little detail about how the servants of Melkor saw the Valar, but the Orcs were clearly aware of the existence of the Powers in the West, and that they could influence events in Middle-earth to some extent. While bringing the captive Túrin to Angband, a group of Orcs encountered a terrible storm in the highlands of Taur-nu-Fuin. They were filled with terror, believing that it had been sent by their Enemies beyond the Sea, as they named the Valar. The Orcs may have been right,1 because the storm did indeed allow Túrin to escape their clutches, but it also led to Túrin's accidental slaying of the Elf Beleg Strongbow.
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Equally, the Orcs may have been wrong about the storm, because Túrin's escape had some dire consequences for the enemies of Melkor. Apart from the death of Beleg, Túrin's later actions in Nargothrond would lead directly to its Fall, and in Brethil he would drive his sister Niënor to take her own life. All of these consequences were unintended by Túrin and apparently driven by Melkor's own malign curse, but if the Orcs had succeeded in bringing Túrin to Angband they would never have occurred. It could be said, therefore, that the storm did as much to aid Melkor's plans as undermine them, which raises doubts about its being sent by the 'Enemies beyond the Sea'. Indeed, given its ultimate effects, it might even conceivably have been the work of Melkor himself.
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- Updated 6 October 2018
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