Melkor | |
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Tolkien's legendarium character | |
Aliases | Melkor/Belegur (the Sindarian equivalent, never used) / Arun (in the old tales of the Númenóreans) / Melko, Moringotto / Morgoth (Black Enemy), Bauglir / Belegurth, The Enemy/ The Marrer / The Corrupter / The Prime Dark Lord |
Race | Ainur |
Book(s) |
The Silmarillion, The Children of Húrin, Morgoth's Ring |
Morgoth Bauglir ([ˈmorɡoθ ˈbau̯ɡlir]; originally Melkor [ˈmelkor]) is a character from Tolkien's legendarium. He is the main antagonist of The Silmarillion and The Children of Húrin, and is mentioned briefly in The Lord of the Rings.
Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, but turned to darkness and became Morgoth, the definitive antagonist of Arda from whom all evil in the world of Middle-earth ultimately stems. Sauron, one of the Maiar of Aulë, betrayed his kind and became Morgoth's principal lieutenant.
Morgoth was the principal agent of evil in The Silmarillion, and his influence lingered in the world even after he was cast from the world into the outer void.
Melkor was not called "Morgoth" until he destroyed the Two Trees of Valinor, murdered Finwë, the High King of the Noldor Elves, and stole the Silmarils in the First Age. The darker name was then bestowed by Fëanor, son of Finwë; and the Elves called him thereafter by that name alone. The name Morgoth is Sindarin (one of Tolkien's invented languages) and means "Dark Enemy", "Black Foe", or "Black Foe of the World".Bauglir is also Sindarin, meaning "Tyrant" or "Oppressor". Fëanor actually named him in Quenya (another of Tolkien's languages), Moriñgotto or Moriñgotho, and this was later translated into Sindarin as Morgoth.