and featured several memorable villains, ranging from the Dark Lord Sauron and his minions, such as Saruman the White and the Nazgûl, to the great dragon Smaug. But all of them paled in comparison to the first and greatest evil of J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium: Morgoth. While he may not be as well known as his successors, no one was more dangerous than Morgoth and his machinations. Morgoth was the main antagonist of Tolkien's , which detailed the ancient history of Middle-earth. Long before Sauron forged the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom or , the races of Middle-earth battled Morgoth.
He was the original Dark Lord and the master of Sauron. Tolkien made him a truly diabolical figure who was responsible for all the evils that plagued Middle-earth, even long after his defeat.
Fans who did not read still knew Morgoth's name, as Tolkien mentioned him a few times throughout . However, these occasional references understated just how crucial he was to the entirety of Tolkien's legendarium. Prime Video's introduced Morgoth to a wider audience. In the first episode, "destroyed the very light of [the Elves'] home," leading to a ruinous war. In the aftermath, the Elves departed for Middle-earth, setting into motion the main plot of the series.
While took several liberties with its source material, this event came directly from Tolkien's writings, and it was but one of many vile deeds that Morgoth performed. Morgoth was not the main antagonist of that role instead belonged to his successor, Sauron. However, Morgoth's evil presence pervaded the series: the monsters he created, both literally and figuratively, as well as the scars he left on Middle-earth caused endless strife for the story's heroes.
The origin of Morgoth — or Melkor, as he was originally known — was inextricably linked to that of Eä, the universe in which took place. Melkor was the most powerful and intelligent of the Ainur, which made him egotistical. He longed to be worshiped and sought to usurp Ilúvatar's power. When Ilúvatar led the Ainur in , Melkor sang his discordant melody, thus tainting it with evil. Afterward, Ilúvatar revealed that this was part of his grand design, as good could arise from evil. For example, Melkor created a bitter cold, which mixed with the water that Ulmo created to form beautiful snow and ice.
Melkor pretended to have learned his lesson, but in truth, he resented Ilúvatar and his fellow Ainur even more than he had previously.
Melkor was one of the Valar who entered the planet Arda to prepare it for the Elves and Men who would soon inhabit it according to Ilúvatar's plan. Melkor hoped to rule over the newly-formed world, so he sabotaged the creations of his fellow Valar. As Tolkien wrote in the section "Ainulindalë" from , "They built lands and Melkor destroyed them; valleys they delved and Melkor raised them; mountains they carved and Melkor threw them down; seas they hollowed and Melkor spilled them.
" This struggle for dominance over Arda was known as the First War. The strongest fighter among the Valar, Tulkas, eventually forced Melkor to stop interfering, but this was far from the end of the conflict. Having learned that he could not defeat the other Valar alone, Melkor constructed an underground fortress called Utumno and secretly began recruiting Maiar to his cause. from , who acted as his spy.
Free from Melkor's interference, the Valar created the Two Lamps, giant towers that gave light to the continent of Middle-earth.
After the completion of the towers, they celebrated with a feast. Sauron informed Melkor of this, and he saw it as the perfect opportunity to strike. While the Valar were distracted, Melkor destroyed the towers. This not only cast Middle-earth into darkness but also reshaped the continent and scorched the land with fire from the Two Lamps. The Valar retreated to the western continent of Aman and established , where they created the Two Trees to serve the same function as the Two Lamps. Melkor's triumph left him alone in Middle-earth, where he continued to raise his army. He created many of the evil creatures that appeared in
and , including Orcs, trolls, dragons, and Balrogs, the last of which were corrupted Maiar.
Eventually, the race of Elves awoke in Middle-earth. Fearing that Melkor would kill or corrupt them, the Valar returned, initiating the Battle of the Powers. They defeated Melkor, but Sauron escaped. Since Middle-earth was still unsafe, the Valar brought the Elves to Valinor. They brought Melkor there as well, and they imprisoned him for almost 3000 years. He came to hate Elves since they were the reason the Valar had attacked him. After his sentence was complete, Melkor feigned regret for his actions, and the Valar set him free.
He struck a deal with to destroy the Two Trees, and he stole the Elves' most precious jewels, the Silmarils. From that point onward, the Elves referred to him as the Dark Lord Morgoth, meaning "Black Foe of the World," and stopped counting him as one of the Valar.
The destruction of the Two Trees and the theft of the Silmarils led to the long and bloody Wars of Beleriand, in which the Elves fought the forces of Morgoth in Middle-earth.
Once the race of Men awoke, they too participated in the conflict, some aiding the Dark Lord and others opposing him. The Wars of Beleriand ended with the War of Wrath. The combined forces of the Elves and the Maiar assaulted Morgoth, and the battle was so devastating that a large portion of Middle-earth sank into the ocean. In the end, they defeated Morgoth, . The Valar banished Morgoth to the Timeless Void, where he could never again harm Eä. But even without his physical presence, Middle-earth felt the influence of Morgoth for millennia. Sauron and his Rings is a direct consequence of Morgoth and his influence.
Sauron, who had become Morgoth's lieutenant, feared the Valar's judgment, so he fled eastward. About five hundred years later, he began to work in the shadows to become the second Dark Lord, which eventually led to the events of . also made vague mentions of a "Last Battle," which according to would have seen the return of Morgoth, but Tolkien wrote little about this. Though have rarely given much attention to Morgoth, he was the most important figure in Middle-earth's history. Every evil thing, including Sauron and Smaug, stemmed from the egotistical desires of a fallen Vala. Without Morgoth, the events of
and many other terrible and dark things would have never happened.
