| “ | You say it. I am the Elder King: Melkor, first and mightiest of all the Valar, who was before the world and made it. The shadow of my purpose lies upon Arda, and all that is in it bends slowly and surely to my will. But upon all whom you love my thought shall weigh as a cloud of Doom, and it shall bring them down into darkness and despair. Wherever they go, evil shall arise. Whenever they speak, their words shall bring ill counsel. Whatsoever they do shall turn against them. They shall die without hope, cursing both life and death. | „ |
| ~ Morgoth boasting of himself to Húrin, lying about creating Arda, and cursing him, The Words of Húrin and Morgoth. |
| “ | And here of need thou shalt remain now, Lúthien, in joy or pain— or pain, the fitting doom for all, for rebel, thief, and upstart thrall. Why should ye not in our fate share of woe and travail? Or should I spare to slender limb and body frail breaking torment? Of what avail here dost thou deem thy babbling song and foolish laughter? Minstrels strong are at my call. Yet I will give a respite brief, a while to live, a little while, though purchased dear, to Lúthien the fair and clear, a pretty toy for idle hour. In slothful gardens many a flower like thee the amorous gods are used honey-sweet to kiss, and cast then bruised their fragrance loosing, under feet. But here we seldom find such sweet amid our labours long and hard, from godlike idleness debarred. And who would not taste the honey-sweet lying to lips, or crush with feet the soft cool tissue of pale flowers, easing like gods the dragging hours? A! curse the Gods! O hunger dire, O blinding thirst's unending fire! One moment shall ye cease, and slake your sting with morsel I here take! |
„ |
| ~ Morgoth to Lúthien before attempting to rape her. |
| “ | Do as I bid; and if thy hunger still when all is done, then I will give thee whatsoever thy lust may demand. | „ |
| ~ Morgoth falsely promising Ungoliant to hand over the Silmarils. |
Melkor, more commonly known as Morgoth, is the overarching antagonist of the Middle-earth legendarium created by J.R.R. Tolkien.
He is an evil Vala and the first Dark Lord of Middle-earth, as well as the master and predecessor of Sauron, the master and creator of some of the most evil creatures in the whole of Middle-earth (mainly Dragons and Balrogs), and the de facto ultimate evil of the whole universe, known as Eä. He was the mightiest of the Ainur created by Eru Ilúvatar, but he rebelled against his master and sought to control Arda for himself.
What Makes Him Pure Evil?[]
In General[]
- Overall, he is both the ultimate source of evil and the originator and mover of most evil activities. All evil in the universe is ultimately either caused by him or made in imitation of him, and he is responsible for every crime in the universe as all of it can be traced back to him as he is the Original Dark Lord and the Creator of Evil.
- Despite being a Vala amongst the Ainur, created for good by Ilúvatar, he created the concept of discord against his will, purely because he desired the power to create life and hated Ilúvatar for having it over him.
- Though Eru Ilúvatar had somewhat mocked him for trying to create life without the Flame Imperishable, had it not been for Melkor's response of creating discord, he would not have sent the Maiar and Valar to stop him in the War of Wrath and would've also created a world for Melkor to create, but he creates it anyway as he wishes to rule Arda and its peoples for hubristic reasons and lust for great power.
- It's highly possible that he was destined by Eru to be the creator of evil because he is an omniscient being, and every Ainu derives from a single component or facet of Eru's thinking. But he didn’t stop him since free will is essential to him; thus, this doesn’t distract him from his villainy and actions, as it was his decision, and in the Tolkien universe, nothing is born of evil, giving him a very clear moral agency, more than all the characters in the story.
- Created all evil creatures, including Orcs, Trolls, Werewolves, Balrogs, and Dragons. He constructed the Balrogs through corrupting Maiar, and it was also told that Great Spiders were also Maiar formerly, Werewolves by animals that already existed in the First Age, Dragons likely by corrupting ancient creatures to create land-based dragons, and eagles to create winged dragons.
- It was later told that Sauron would create the foul beasts the Ringwraiths would ride on through the corruption of the Eagles too. Which would make Morgoth partially responsible for giving Sauron a way to create those fallen beasts, even though he didn't give that idea directly.
- Furthermore, since he was the reason for the creation of dragons, all of Smaug's actions also fall under Morgoth's shoulders, despite not being present in The Hobbit. This also includes the crimes committed by Azog the Defiler, the Witch-king of Angmar, and many more.
- Attempted to enslave and commit genocide countless times. The primary victims of these genocides and enslavements were none other than Elves.
The Silmarillion[]
- Before the world was finished, he would empty the rivers and destroy numerous landscapes out of spite.
- Ruined every work that the other Valar attempted to create.
- Such as destroying mountains, defiling trees, poisoning rivers, laying waste on many nature lands besides forests, and having animals brutally slaughter one another.
- He dropped his façade and corrupted Arda out of hatred for his fellow Valar for refusing to obey him.
- Seduced the Maia Mairon to evil, causing the latter's transformation into Sauron. This makes him responsible for every act of evil that Sauron enacts, including the forging of the One Ring and the War of the Ring.
- Destroyed the Lamps of the Valar, plunging the world into darkness and setting up a stronghold in Utumno.
- He made an unsuccessful attempt to corrupt Arien, a fire spirit. Following the fall of the Two Trees of Valinor, the Valar picked Arien to lead the sun's vessel, which sent him into the furthest pit of Angband, while his servants fled.
- After then, he sent up black clouds of smoke to protect his territory from the sun's rays.
- He kidnapped Elves and enacted unspeakable tortures upon them until all that remained were the grotesque perversions that served him, the Orcs. It was also told that goblins, trolls, ogres, and other creatures similar to them were later created like this.
- This was the one act that Ilúvatar himself hated the most at the time, and even the Orcs themselves hated Morgoth for the misery and pain that he caused them. Sauron would also enslave Orcs after Morgoth's downfall and even use men to turn them into Uruk-hai in the Third Age, as well as Olog-hai. Saruman would also breed Uruk-hai and enslave Orcs during the Third Age.
- He manipulated the Ñoldor against one another, seeding discord and mistrust, culminating in Fëanor raising his sword against Fingolfin.
- By doing this, he betrayed the trust of his brother Manwë, the Valar, and the Ñoldor, who had decided to trust him and give him a new opportunity.
- Destroyed the Two Trees, once again plunging the world into darkness with the help of Ungoliant after using Manwë's thought of pardoning him as a way to cause more destruction.
- Murdered the High King of the Ñoldor Elves and stole their treasures with the help of Gothmog, the Lord of Balrogs. Later, Gothmog would murder two more High Kings of the Ñoldor during the Fall of Gondolin.
- Caused the deaths of thousands of Elves, Men, Dwarves, and other creatures.
- He slew Finwë, First High King of the Ñoldor, at the doors of Formenos and stole the Silmarils.
- Betrayed Ungoliant by replying to her demand for the Silmarils with "Nay! Thou hast thy due. For with my power that I put into thee thy work was accomplished. I need thee no more. These things thou shall not have, nor see. I name them unto myself forever." and began fighting her over the Silmarils, even though she helped him plunge the world with him when Morgoth unleashed evil plans on Arda for the second time.
- He later escapes and sets the Silmarils on his Iron Crown.
- Captured Maedhros and hung him by the wrist on Thangorodrim for about thirty years.
- He deceived Men into serving him, wishing to enslave them so that they became Easterlings. He still hated them even though they switched sides, all because Men were a creation of Eru.
- This led many to betray him and be slaughtered. Later, Sauron would use them in his army along with the Haradrim and Corsairs.
- Battled and brutally slaughtered King Fìngolfin when he challenged him to a one-on-one duel. Had it not been for Thorondor, Morgoth would have fed Fingolfin's body to his wolves.
- He tried to rape the Elven princess Lúthien out of nothing more than cruel lust, as he tried to reach out to her with sexual undertones before she pulled away.
- The only reason he never got mad at her about it is that she offered to dance for him, and he continued to lust after her as she danced and only stopped because she was luckily able to lull him to sleep with her singing, and this is considered the evilest thought Morgoth ever had by Tolkien.
- He sent a plague from Angband that struck the people of the northern lands bordering Anfauglith. Many youths and children perished, including Húrin's daughter Lalaith.
- He cursed Húrin for twenty-eight years to a chair, forcing him to watch from Thangorodrim the lives of his children being destroyed little by little. And all of this because Húrin stood up against him, defying him and calling him a liar. And this is considered his pettiest act.
- He's responsible for the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the Downfall of Númenor (though Sauron did this first), as well as Glaurung's deceptions causing both Nienor and Túrin to take their own lives. Which Morgoth doesn't show any bit of sympathy after Glaurung's death, despite being faithful to him.
- Destroyed Gondolin on the day when the people there were supposed to see fireworks by sending a large group of Orcs, Balrogs, goblins, dragons, werewolves, and many other foul creatures.
- Waged the War of Wrath, which sank a huge portion of Middle-earth into the sea and thus massacred countless people. He also unleashed Ancalagon the Black and would have destroyed more than he did in the War of Wrath were it not for Eärendil and his flying ship, which was thanks to the taken Silmaril that granted the ship the power to fly.
- This was one of Morgoth's worst actions at the time, so horrible to the point that the Valar had to interfere or he would have won very quickly.
- After being imprisoned in the Timeless Void, Morgoth plots to destroy the Sun and Moon.
- While he didn't appear in the Second and Third Age due to Sauron's decision to dominate Middle-earth, this would also fall under his shoulders. So, if Sauron had murdered Galadriel's brother, not only would this fall on Sauron's shoulders for committing the act, but partially on Morgoth too.
- Since Sauron did perform human sacrifice to Morgoth, this would also fall under his shoulders, as would his influence, which gave Sauron the idea to cause the Downfall of Númenor along with the genocide of the Entwives and the creation of Dol Guldur.
- Upon returning to Arda, he triggers Dagor Dagorath (also known as the Second Prophecy of Mandos or the Last Battle, though this was told to be after Sauron's defeat) so he can wage war on all that is good and annihilate Eä, knowing he cannot have Arda for himself.
- Though he was killed or banished (due to the fact the Valar cannot die but can be banished) in the battle, he deserved it due to his mass heinous actions. Had he destroyed the universe, Morgoth would've turned it into dust and then still been outraged because he couldn't destroy the dust to completely undo Eru's work.
- Even if Morgoth had destroyed all his enemies, he would have likely destroyed his own creatures and servants had he won.
Trivia[]
- Morgoth is an analogy for Satan as an angelic-like creature who rebels against his creator and creates all evil in his world. However, Morgoth is far more evil than the devil and qualifies as Pure Evil, while Satan does not. This is because Satan lacks a Moral Agency, as all his actions are God's plan and he has no clear motive. Morgoth clearly does have a motive, having a great deal of pride, desiring the power of creation that Eru Ilúvatar possessed, and becoming bitter for being the only one with it. He also wished to have power over Arda and began to destroy it when he was refused this. In addition, Morgoth's actions stand out far more than Satan's.
- Tolkien even said in one of his writings that after Morgoth successfully destroys all his enemies, he will even begin to destroy his own servants and monsters. Once that was done, he could then undo everything else that Eru created.
- He is one of four Middle-earth villains from the novels to be Pure Evil, the others being Sauron, Glaurung, and Ar-Pharazôn.
- He is the primary reason for the higher Heinous Standards of the Middle-earth books compared to the film series.
- The primary difference between Morgoth and Sauron—his fellow Pure Evil servant—is that Sauron wanted to rule the world, while Morgoth wanted to destroy the universe, which he would successfully accomplish in Dagor Dagorath.
- He is one of the few Middle-earth villains to attempt rape someone and the only one to attempt omnicide.
- Morgoth is mentioned three times in the Middle-earth film saga by Peter Jackson, including in the Extended Edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. He may have been mentioned a fourth time by Farmer Maggot when he yells, "You'll know the devil when I catch up with you!" as Morgoth is Middle-earth's equivalent of the Devil. However, due to Morgoth's lack of screentime, let alone physical presence, he isn't considered Pure Evil in that version.
- There are some theories that Morgoth may not have triggered Dagor Dagorath, but for the sake of this page, we're going to say he did.
- A shadow of Morgoth is seen in the prologue of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power during the destruction of the Two Trees, but since he never makes an actual appearance, he can't be considered Pure Evil. However, this may change if there are flashbacks shown of Morgoth himself later on that can push him to Pure Evil status. Since the Tolkien Estate wouldn't approve of this, we might actually never know.
- Morgoth embodies All of the Seven Deadly Sins:
- Wrath: He despises the Valar and Elves so greatly that he hides his hate when his initial punishment is over, and he is brought to apologize for his crimes. Not only that, but he also treats his minions like garbage, all because they were creations of Eru before he twisted them.
- Pride: He believes himself to be the master of all, despite the fact that his creator is more powerful than him, and Eru created him too during the creation of Arda and Eä, the universe.
- Sloth: He cowers in his hideout when attacking Tilion with spirits. It was also said that except for his duel with Fingolfin, he would rarely show up in battles and construct his ideas from deep beneath Angband.
- Greed: He believes the entire world belongs to him, saying, "This shall be my own kingdom; and I name it unto myself!" before the world was complete.
- Lust: As it is shown when he rapes Arien and attempts to do the same to Lúthien. All because both didn't want to join Morgoth.
- Envy: He hates how he cannot make life and is jealous of Eru's ability to create life which is why he creates Discord and is the prime motivation of Morgoth. If it isn't mine, then I will destroy it.
- Gluttony: He breaks his promise and betrays Ungoliant, so he can keep the Silmarils for himself.
External Links[]
- Morgoth on the Villains Wiki.
- Morgoth on the Ultimate Evil Wiki.
- Morgoth on the VS Battles Wiki.
- Morgoth on the One Wiki to Rule Them All.
- Morgoth on the Tolkien Gateway.
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 Pure Evils
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