Quote:
Originally Posted by Galadriel55
But, he comes so close to "black" that it's really undistinguishable.
|
Actually, having looked through
Letters, it looks to me as if Morgoth was
not thought by Tolkien to be completely evil.
Quote:
|
In my story I do not deal in absolute evil. I do not think there is such a thing, since that is Zero. I do not think that at any rate any 'rational being' is wholly evil.
|
Letter #183
And regarding the Orcs, he says:
Quote:
|
....the Orcs-- who are fundamentally a race of 'rational incarnate' creatures, though horribly corrupted, if no more so than many Men to be met today.
|
Letter #153
If the Orcs are 'rational' creatures, it follows they must be capable of free will. And if Morgoth himself was not totally evil, the Orcs as a race could not be so either.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Galadriel55
Even Eru cannot be said to be truly white - just look at the number of times this topic has been debated lately in various threads!
|
Ah, but it's Ilúvatar's world, isn't it? He made it. Good and evil are his to define.