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Originally Posted by Mithadan
Some earlier writings had Morgoth being executed following his capture after the fall of Angband. Tolkien rejected this idea for a few reasons. First, he felt that it was not in the nature of the Valar to execute him. Second, Morgoth's death was inconsistent with his later conception of the Valar as perpetual and not able to be "slain." They can be weakened to the point where they cannot construct a physical body, but their spirit would remain. The final iteration was that Morgoth was physically bound with Angainor and expelled into the void. So he had a body for what it's worth.
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In "Myths Transformed" the "execution of Morgoth" is still present:
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He was judged, and eventually taken out of the Blessed Realm and executed: that is killed like one of the Incarnates.
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That's a fairly late account, isn't it? Late Fifties?
But I might be mistaking your meaning; in the early conceptions of the execution you're talking about, is the idea that Morgoth simply "died" and that was all that needed to be done? By contrast, in this later account it seems more like the "killing" meant the destruction (or rendering inoperable) of his manifested physical body, after which his
fėa was expelled to the void (somehow still bound with the chain?)