Chapter summary: Personalities, traits and thoughts of Morgoth the Enemy, and the evil Maiar who served him.

Of Valar and Valier, Maiar and Enemies

Of Enemies

Melkor Morgoth

I was once "He who arises in Might," the greatest of all living beings, save Eru, the Creator. I owned in part the powers of all the Valar. But I just wanted to create my own kingdom to live beside it, and Eru forbade me that, because only He said that only He could possess the Flame Imperishable that made original creation possible. And I could not (and cannot) stand that. That's all I wanted, my own kingdom beside that of my Creator, but he and the other Valar called that arrogance and that it would lead me to my own downfall. And it has, for now. I swear I will find a way out of my prison in the Void one day, and I will make them pay. But I did come so close to succeeding. I could taste victory! Arda should have been mine, and it will be mine!

My chief realm, Darkness and Cold, can overwhelm the Light if properly channeled through the correct means. Subtlety is one of the keys to doing that, and deceit mixed with manipulation and fear could provide me with many allies and slaves. And since I cannot possess Light, Darkness got me what I wanted. It also taught me that all life is not special, and that since I cannot create life out of nothing, I can easily use torture, machinery and emotional corruption to breed my own dark warriors and slaves. My Orcs and Trolls are a very effective mockery of the accursed Elves and those ghastly Ents. Unfortunately, I also have my own personal weaknesses; alone of the Valar, I know fear, I have assumed the form of the Dark Lord permanently, meaning I can never again deceive others with a fair form, and my body is in such agonizing pain all the time, with these ten wounds given by claw and steel and the silmarils burning my hands black, and they never heal even partly. Still, it felt very good to appear as a terrible warrior king with black armor, a blank black shield, my Iron Crown with the silmarils in it, and Grond, the Hammer of the Underworld, in my hand. Yet, now, in the War of Wrath, my power was destroyed, and although much of my influence and some of my servants remain, including my right-hand Sauron who is attempting to continue my work where I left off, I am trapped until the unknown end of Time and the Last Battle. I was Melkor, Mightiest of the Valar; now, I am Morgoth, the first Dark Lord.

Gothmog

We are the demons of Middle-earth. The enlightened Morgoth told us about how the other Ainur and Eru were plotting against us, and also promised us rewards of glory and majesty, which has opened our spirits and bodies to hatred and wrath, something I think all life blessed by them deserves to taste. And that will be easy, for no living thing less than an Ainu can stand up to our many-thonged whips of flame. I, personally, am the greatest of all the Valaraukar, or Balrogs. My black axe and whip have destroyed Fëanor, the arrogant Elf-king who believed he could easily defeat our Lord Morgoth but was so wrong, as well as Fingon, another High-elven king. And I am anticipating the battle at Gondolin with my Balrog host, Troll-guard, Orc legions and Dragon brood. I am Gothmog, Lord of the Balrogs.

Durin's Bane

I am proof that even the Valar themselves cannot always destroy all forces of evil. I was entombed for millennia in Moria until the greedy Dwarves dug deeply enough that they released me. I killed two of their kings, none other than Durin VI and his son Náin, and drove the Dwarves from Moria forever. I remained uncontested for over two centuries, ruling over the Orcs and Cave-trolls that came to replace the Dwarves with a fist of flame. Now, however, I am faced with a foe I never expected to find here, a Maia from the Undying Lands, and none other than Olórin himself, though his companions were calling him "Gandalf." And now, he and I are fighting deep beneath Moria, determined to destroy each other. Olórin is the fiercest, most implacable foe I have ever faced, but even if he does destroy me, I am determined to bring him down with me. I am Durin's Bane, the Balrog of Moria.

Ungoliant

No one can destroy me. I am death and destruction. Anything I devour, I annihilate, and I devour light above all else. It is my ultimate hunger, my ultimate thirst, and my ultimate enemy. I am also darkness, for I vomit darkness whenever I devour light and spin a black web of Unlight that no eye can pierce. None can tame me, not even my former master, Melkor, despite that I was once his Maia before we both betrayed the Valar. Melkor! I will never forget his treachery! I helped him kill the Trees of the Valar, and even drank the Wells of Varda dry. I also devoured all the Noldorian gems Melkor stole, but then he would not let me destroy the silmarils, and when I rose up against him, he screamed for help like the coward he is and his Balrogs came to his rescue. I had to run, for even my strong, swollen body is vulnerable to their flame. Now, I have found myself only able to eke out a living eating any living thing that comes my way, though I have also hatched many Great Spiders for children, including one much like me which I have named Shelob, whom I see a deliciously dark future for. I fear that I may have to eat any living thing to survive, even things a Great Spider normally would not eat. I may even have to devour myself. I am Ungoliant, the first Great Spider.

Thuringwethil and Draugluin

We shelter ourselves in secrecy. Few know much about us. One of us is a vampire, a female bloodsucking beast with wings. The other is a werewolf, a male wolf-like beast with high intelligence and a spirit. We are the servants of Sauron in his realm of Tol-in-Gaurhoth. We are Thuringwethil the Vampire and Draugluin the Werewolf.

Sauron

I am the only servant of Morgoth loyal enough and faithful enough to him, not to mention powerful and skilled enough, to be worthy of being called the next Dark Lord. I stood beside him through every battle and war he started or was put through, and I have survived longer than any other Maia ally of his. Now that he is defeated, I have had the opportunity to succeed where he had failed. My plan for domination of Middle-earth is even more ingenious than my master's plan was. My Ruling Ring, though I have temporarily lost it, will enslave the world to me in the end when I regain it. I also used Morgoth's signature talent in deception to destroy not only Númenor, but its inhabitants' relationship with the Valar and Maiar, too. And although I lost much power when my Ring was taken from me, the Elves, Dwarves and Men have lost most of their former strength as well, while I have reclaimed much of my lost power, even without the One Ring. If and when I get my Ring back in my possession, there is no chance that the Free Peoples will be able to defeat the Dark Powers again, even when all united together. And now, I see a chance to get it away from those fools who think they can use it against me, with the help of my highest captains, the Nazgûl. Yes, I will have the last laugh, Manwë! I will make Morgoth proud! I am Sauron the Great, the second Dark Lord.