Melkor, mostly known as Morgoth, firmly belongs among the darkest characters in Arda. He is clearly associated with darkness, night and he is responsible for making these two notions frightening. However, Melkor’s downfall was a complex matter, and one of its constituents was his desire of Light. As he was becoming more and more corrupt and turning away from the light, he had two options: either to destroy light, or to possess it.
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Over the course of Middle-earth history its villains have always been inventive in hiding the places of their habitation as much as they possibly could so that nothing and nobody could interfere with their evil deeds. Various camouflage devices have been applied, beginning with going deep underground to veiling tall towers in shadows and deceits. Unsurprisingly, the first bad boy to go subterranean was Melkor: he had set the trend for living below ground level way before the counting of time even started.
Manwë and Melkor were brethren in the thought of Ilúvatar.
The mightiest of those Ainur who came into the World
was in his beginning Melkor; but Manwë
is dearest to Ilúvatar and understands most clearly his purposes.
(Silmarillion, p. 16) Read more
for though his might was greatest
of all things in this world,
alone of the Valar he knew fear.
(Silmarillion, p.178)
Quite often throughout The Silmarillion we can read of Morgoth’s being afraid at those especially tense moments when his safety was in peril. While fear is a common reaction in mortals as a means of self-preservation, it does not seem to be a very typical emotion for immortal divine beings, even in their physical forms. Morgoth was the only exception: he could feel fear. But how come the mightiest of the Ainur was frightened of anything at all? Read more
The Valar – the Powers of the World – were the Ainur that descended into Arda upon its coming into being. They were so enamoured of the beauty of the world that wished to abide there and prepare the place for the Children of Ilúvatar. While some of the Valar dwelt alone, most of them were in spousal relationship. Read more
Our Enemy’s devices oft serve us in his despite.
(Return of the King, p.120)
Dark Lords of Middle-earth had a full arsenal of means to wield wars against enemies. Their weapons were not limited to physical objects, like swords, spears or hammers, but also included other, less tangible, means of instilling dread and despair into the hearts of their opponents. One of such means was darkness. Read more
As many major characters in Tolkien’s work, the greatest villain of Middle-earth Morgoth had a lot of different names and titles among Elves and Men that reflected his character and personality. Read more
Tolkien stated in The Silmarillion that Melkor was the mightiest of the Ainur and surpassed his brethren in many ways. He had a share in everything others knew, but how he chose to apply his unique gifts is a matter for another discussion. While very often Melkor comes across as a pure machinery adept and keen on technology, he had a talent which could make even Fëanor twitch with envy: the First Dark Lord was a gifted linguist.
…from high places it is easy to fall low.
J. R. R. Tolkien
Middle-earth Reflections 