Morgoth's corrupting of Middle Earth

[Captain Stern]

Morgoth dispersed his essence into the earth. This weakened his physical form severely leading to him being stated by Tolikien to be 'weaker' than Sauron in the 3rd age, and unable to destroy Arien because he no longer had the power.

What I want to discuss is why he did this. Did he have a long term goal in mind? What was the gain when, before this act, he could contend with all of the Valar (save when Tulkas joined them)? Did he relinquish all control over the dissipated power when he did this; an act of malice, the result of some madness that took hold of him; an act of final defiance against the Valar who he had given up hope of defeating (yet would still have left him with enough power to contend with the Noldor)?

Tolkien's Middle Earth was Morgoth's 'ring' according to Tolkien, but it didn't allow him to 'come back' like Sauron's ring did for him. I have always used as an argument in discussions of this vein that the dispersion of his power didn't lessen his over-all power, only the strength of his physical form. This, depending on your interpretation, still applies to Tolkien's quote. The Silmarillion doesn't make it clear, but perhaps this dispersion of his power into Middle Earth strengthened his power in other areas, his reasoning being that reserving the majority of hi power in his incarnate form woud be a waste seeing as he didn't like to venture forth into battle himself any more. The Silmarillion tells of 'beasts of Morgoth', lands generally being dangerous e.t.c.

Personally I don't see much gain in his approach, at least not in the short term. On the other hand there's the Dagor Dagorath, the end of the world, when, according to the earlier texts, Morgoth is a very real threat to the Valar once again, and this time Tulkas needs help to battle him, in the form of Fionwe and Turin, suggesting that his power was not squandered after all, but dispersed with a purpose in mind.

Any thoughts?

[Artanis]

Originally posted by Captain Stern
Morgoth dispersed his essence into the earth. This weakened his physical form severely leading to him being stated by Tolikien to be 'weaker' than Sauron in the 3rd age, and unable to destroy Arien because he no longer had the power.

What I want to discuss is why he did this. Did he have a long term goal in mind? What was the gain when, before this act, he could contend with all of the Valar (save when Tulkas joined them)? Did he relinquish all control over the dissipated power when he did this; an act of malice, the result of some madness that took hold of him; an act of final defiance against the Valar who he had given up hope of defeating (yet would still have left him with enough power to contend with the Noldor)?

It is stated explicitly in Myths Transformed, that he "had no 'plan', unless destruction and reduction to nil of a world in which he had only a share could be called a 'plan'." I think Morgoth acted according to his nature, his desire to be able to create something of his own. He was jealous of the Valar and always sought to destroy what they made, so he tainted Arda with his malice. I'm not sure if he had a long time goal, maybe to begin with, but as time went I think he was overmastered by his own hate and lust for revenge.

Tolkien's Middle Earth was Morgoth's 'ring' according to Tolkien, but it didn't allow him to 'come back' like Sauron's ring did for him. I have always used as an argument in discussions of this vein that the dispersion of his power didn't lessen his over-all power, only the strength of his physical form. This, depending on your interpretation, still applies to Tolkien's quote. The Silmarillion doesn't make it clear, but perhaps this dispersion of his power into Middle Earth strengthened his power in other areas, his reasoning being that reserving the majority of hi power in his incarnate form woud be a waste seeing as he didn't like to venture forth into battle himself any more. The Silmarillion tells of 'beasts of Morgoth', lands generally being dangerous e.t.c.

The weakness of his strategy was this: as soon as he had dispersed his power into Middle Earth he also had lost control over this power. As you said he couldn't regain his physical strenght as Sauron could. But because of the Melkor ingredient in all matters of Middle Earth it was also impossible to destroy him utterly, even though his body were broken and his spirit cast into the void at the end of the first age.

Personally I don't see much gain in his approach, at least not in the short term. On the other hand there's the Dagor Dagorath, the end of the world, when, according to the earlier texts, Morgoth is a very real threat to the Valar once again, and this time Tulkas needs help to battle him, in the form of Fionwe and Turin, suggesting that his power was not squandered after all, but dispersed with a purpose in mind.

Weren't the Last Battle to be fought after the world were broken? It would make sense then to see Morgoth with his strength regained. But as I've said, Morgoth himself assumingly didn't plan this.

[Sister Golden Hair]

Moving to te Middle-earth forum.