Melkor and Sauron's goal - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

***Mithadan*** · 10-18-2016, 01:53 PM

I have been exploring the archives recently, and came upon this gem from12 years ago. There were only 11 responses to the initial post, but it seems worthy of further exploration and fresh opinions.

The central question is what are "the 'goals and intentions' of Evil" in Middle Earth. Most of the thread focused upon Morgoth and Sauron, but there are lesser evils in Middle Earth; the Balrogs and dragons are referenced by the original poster, but also Orcs, Trolls, evil Men, Dwarves and Elves. Midway through the thread, there is a link to another thread discussing whether in Tolkien's view some persons/powers are "inherently evil." In Letters, Tolkien appears to have generally rejected this view, stating that no one, with the possible exception of Morgoth, is "irredeemable."

So in Middle Earth, there is a choice, or in some cases a compulsion, to evil. What fuels such choices or compulsions?

10-18-2016, 01:53 PM	#8
*Mithadan* Spirit of Mist Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: Tol Eressea Posts: 3,397	I have been exploring the archives recently, and came upon this gem from12 years ago. There were only 11 responses to the initial post, but it seems worthy of further exploration and fresh opinions. The central question is what are "the 'goals and intentions' of Evil" in Middle Earth. Most of the thread focused upon Morgoth and Sauron, but there are lesser evils in Middle Earth; the Balrogs and dragons are referenced by the original poster, but also Orcs, Trolls, evil Men, Dwarves and Elves. Midway through the thread, there is a link to another thread discussing whether in Tolkien's view some persons/powers are "inherently evil." In Letters, Tolkien appears to have generally rejected this view, stating that no one, with the possible exception of Morgoth, is "irredeemable." So in Middle Earth, there is a choice, or in some cases a compulsion, to evil. What fuels such choices or compulsions? __________________ Beleriand, Beleriand, the borders of the Elven-land.