New Republic Article

[The Mirrorball Man]

Originally posted by Carannillion:
Morgoth coveted and hated the creation of Ilúvatar, and if you read the Silmarillion - and read 'between the lines' - you will indeed learn the secrets and motivations of his heart. They are primal and basic, yet Melkor - being a divine life form - is also very complex.

As my old professor of literature used to say, if what is between the lines were so important, books would just be twice as long. [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Seriously, I was talking purely on a literary level. Of course Morgoth is a very complex being within the context of Middle-Earth. But as a character, he is quite simple, a very powerful force of nature similar to The Great White Melvillian Whale That Shall Not Be Named. We can invent the complex workings of his ego, but Tolkien did not write about them.

It's true, as a character, Morgoth is probably more developed and three-dimensional than Sauron. He displays some emotions, like jealousy and hatred. But he's not more complex a villain than, say, Doctor Doom. He's certainly not as interesting as Iago or Javert (or Duryodana, if we want to talk about mythology.)