[Nikkolas]

One reason I read The Silmarillion before LOTR, and still prefer it to LOTR, is because of the character of Melkor. He has so much more presence in the narrative than Sauron has in LOTR and it wouldn't be a stretch to say Melkor is the single most important character in the work. Sauron by the Third Age has very little left of his personality I feel and while his intellect remains intact and he is perhaps smarter than his master, he never received particularly strong characterization. Or perhaps I should say he didn't receive interesting characterization as he was characterized well enough, just not in a way that made you care about him.

The Silmarillion though, at least in the beginning, is all about establishing Melkor's personality and origins. We get so much more insight into him than we did for any other villain except maybe Saruman.

think that if any quote can encapsulate the character of Melkor/Morgoth, it is this:

"In Angband Morgoth forged himself a great crown of iron, and he called himself King of the World. In token of this he set the Silmarils in his crown. His hands were burned black by the touch of those hallowed jewels, and black they remained ever after; nor was he ever free from the pain of the burning, and the anger of the pain. That crown he never took from his head, though its weight became a deadly weariness."

This has always been one of my favorite quotes in the series. Others might ask "what was the point of all this? He chose to live in perpetual agony because of some gems? And he will never eve remove a crown no matter how much it ails him?"

But that, in essence, is Morgoth. Foolish and stupid these things seem to us and hardly any of it is practical. Sauron at the least was much more pragmatic than his master. But Morgoth wanted all and he would have all, even if it destroyed him.

So yeah, that's my piece. What do you all think?