Quote:
Originally Posted by Pervinca Took
Tolkien said that Sauron "was only less evil than his master in that [at first/for many years? - can't remember the exact wording] he served another and not himself." They were equally evil, but Melkor was a much more powerful being - the most powerful of the Ainur - whereas Sauron was of the Maiar, a less powerful angelic being. Gandalf, too, was a Maia.
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Agreed. To put it another way, Sauron was less evil because he was corrupted by an outside influence. Melkor was
self-corrupted: the Prime Evil of Tolkien's Arda, and the visible source of all that blighted it.