O Ainulindalë , que descreve o mito da criação de Arda, não faz distinção entre quais Ainur foram criados primeiro, afirmando:
There was Eru, the One, who in Arda is called Ilúvatar; and he made first the Ainur, the Holy Ones, that were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made.
Ou, sem a linguagem florida, eu li que é tudo que Ainur - Valar e Maiar - foram criados antes de qualquer outra coisa, incluindo a Grande Música e a Chama Imperecível. Não é até bem depois que Arda foi criada que quem conta como Valar é descrito (ênfase minha):
Then it came to pass that of the Ainur some abode still with Ilúvatar beyond the confines of the World; but others, and among them many of the greatest and most fair, took the leave of Ilúvatar and descended into it. But this condition Ilúvatar made, or it is the necessity of their love, that their power should thenceforward be contained and bounded in the World, to be within it for ever, until it is complete, so that they are its life and it is theirs. And therefore they are named the Valar, the Powers of the World.
Ou melhor, os mais poderosos dos Ainur que desceram em Arda se tornaram os Valar. O "menor" Ainur veio com eles, agindo como seu entourage, por assim dizer, como descrito no Valaquenta :
Esta passagem também confirma que os Maiar foram criados antes de tudo, o que incluiria os Balrogs e outros Maiar que classificamos como "mal": não foi até depois da descida que Melkor se rebelou e forçou todos a escolher lados, ou como descrito no capítulo Silmarillion , "Da vinda dos elfos e do cativeiro de Melkor":With the Valar came other spirits whose being also began before the World, of the same order as the Valar but of less degree. These are the Maiar, the people of the Valar, and their servants and helpers.
And in Utumno [Melkor] gathered his demons about him, those spirits who first adhered to him in the days of his splendour, and became most like him in his corruption: their hearts were of fire, but they were cloaked in darkness, and terror went before them; they had whips of flame. Balrogs they were named in Middle-earth in later days.