As A Villain - Morgoth or Sauron?

[Nikkolas]

One reason I read The Silmarillion before LOTR, and still prefer it to LOTR, is because of the character of Melkor. He has so much more presence in the narrative than Sauron has in LOTR and it wouldn't be a stretch to say Melkor is the single most important character in the work. Sauron by the Third Age has very little left of his personality I feel and while his intellect remains intact and he is perhaps smarter than his master, he never received particularly strong characterization. Or perhaps I should say he didn't receive interesting characterization as he was characterized well enough, just not in a way that made you care about him.

The Silmarillion though, at least in the beginning, is all about establishing Melkor's personality and origins. We get so much more insight into him than we did for any other villain except maybe Saruman.

think that if any quote can encapsulate the character of Melkor/Morgoth, it is this:

"In Angband Morgoth forged himself a great crown of iron, and he called himself King of the World. In token of this he set the Silmarils in his crown. His hands were burned black by the touch of those hallowed jewels, and black they remained ever after; nor was he ever free from the pain of the burning, and the anger of the pain. That crown he never took from his head, though its weight became a deadly weariness."

This has always been one of my favorite quotes in the series. Others might ask "what was the point of all this? He chose to live in perpetual agony because of some gems? And he will never eve remove a crown no matter how much it ails him?"

But that, in essence, is Morgoth. Foolish and stupid these things seem to us and hardly any of it is practical. Sauron at the least was much more pragmatic than his master. But Morgoth wanted all and he would have all, even if it destroyed him.

So yeah, that's my piece. What do you all think?

[Belegorn]

A lot of people hate life because of suffering, and look forward to living in an afterlife, an ideal state such as heaven where there is only what is good, rather than enjoying life here on earth. Great pleasure and great pain. In the end, people should not try to avoid the later. Well that's neither here nor there as regards Melkor.

I think Melkor's presence extends through all of the Ages. Felagund felt his works effected the bodies of the Elves, and it certainly effected the hröa of Arda. He was too powerful to control. I think so powerful was Melkor that he never probably considered doing things as Sauron did. I just can't see Melkor making a Ring of Power through which he could control the Children of Eru. He would not even have to place much of his power in it to control the other Rings, if such a scenario played out where techniques that were taught to the Elves and used by them allowed him to create another Ring in like manner to be linked to and control them. Sauron obviously had to put an enormous amount of his own power into the Ring just so that he could control the Rings of the Elves. Dragons, Balrogs, and Trolls, these are creatures of immense power all serving under Melkor.

Basically his lust for the Silmarils "was a gnawing fire in his heart". [Of the Silmarils] I do not think the Silmarils for instance destroyed him like the pouring of his power into other things did by diminishing him and making him that much easier to control, especially when separated from all of his servants. I do know that he was impatient and Sauron would probably continue with projects he might have personally given up on.