Who Was The Dark Lord Before Sauron?
Fans of the Lord of the Rings books and films and the upcoming Rings of Power series may consider Sauron to be the main evil of Middle-earth. However, there was another great evil before him during the time known as the First Age. The original dark lord of Middle-earth was so powerful that he was considered to be the very bringer of evil and darkness upon the world. Originally, he went by the name of Melkor. However, many of his enemies and even some of his allies would call him Morgoth, the first Dark Lord.
The First Fallen
Morgoth or Melkor was a Valar spirit, which is basically Middle-earth’s equivalent of a god or an angel. Melkor was a proud spirit and did not wish to follow the ways of his brethren. When the creation of the world began, he tried to manipulate things to fit into what he considered to be the correct path. When this did not work, he began to corrupt the creatures of Middle-earth, making his own twisted version of various species. Tolkien had many theories about how Melkor did this. One prevailing one is that Melkor turned Elves into Orcs, Ents into trolls, and even used his dark sorcery to breed dragons. Another theory that Tolkien had was that Melkor took beings who were already going towards evil and turned them to his designs. Thus, he was responsible for making many of the evil forces that we see in the Middle-earth stories.
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His fellow Valar tried to stop him throughout this early period of Middle-earth’s creation but to no avail. It was during this time that he was given the name Morgoth, which means “Black Foe of the World” in Sindarin (the Elven tongue). It was a name truly worthy of his evil nature.
Morgoth would have his revenge against the Valar when he waged war against them for trying to stand in his way. In his anger, Morgoth teamed up with the evil giant spider Ungoliant and used her to destroy the most precious object the Valar of Middle-earth possessed, the mythical trees of life. This action would have repercussions for years, making him the ultimate enemy of Middle-earth. His greatest enemies would be the Elves of Middle-earth, who had their own score to settle with the Dark Lord for taking their mythical Silmaril gems, which were the most precious jewels to their people.
With the destruction of the trees and theft of the Silmarils, Morgoth had completely cemented himself as the enemy of the world. His next step on the path to world conquest was to set himself up in the mountain fortress of Angband and wage countless wars against the free people of Middle-earth for most of the First Age.
The Many Wars For The Jewels
Morgoth would hold dominance over the lands of Middle-earth throughout most of the First Age. He would wage countless wars against the Elves and their allies as they tried to recover the Silmarils from his fortress in Angband. Massive battles would be fought in large battlefields, where Elves, who were desperately trying to hold back the forces of evil, fought millions of Orcs. Morgoth would succeed in taking out their kingdoms and killing their greatest kings, such as the epic fight with Fingolfin
It was not until the War of Wrath did the Valar sent all their forces to finally crush Morgoth once and for all. This epic battle was considered one of the greatest battles of all of Middle-earth. At the end of it all, a large chunk of land sunk beneath the ocean, never to rise again. Morgoth was defeated, chained, and locked away in the void, never to return. However, his legacy of evil lingered.
Legacy
Morgoth left a scar upon the land of Middle-earth. Many of his dark creatures and servants still lingered all over the land even after his final defeat in the War of Wrath. His most direct legacy would be that of his second-in-command, Sauron, who took up the mantle of Dark Lord following his master’s fall. Sauron would command many of the same forces that Morgoth had created in his time.
Morgoth was the bringer of evil and darkness onto Middle-earth. Its various dark creatures from him in one way or another, either through torture, twisting of the natural world, or other forms of dark magic. His tale was that of corruption, vanity, and a yearning to dominate all lives. He left deep scars upon the land that have not fully healed. He left a dark shadow upon people’s hearts, which lingers perhaps even to this day.
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Source(s): The Silmarillion