The Lord Of The Rings: Melkor's Fall

J.R.R Tolkien represents the motif of the fall in a variety of ways in his writing. He does the fall as an allegory, as he is opposed to making moral or political arguments. The fall is a tool used in his writing used in a theological sense to understand the Primary World through his sub-creations. In this essay, I shall discuss how the fall is portrayed in Tolkien’s work by surveying the falls of Melkor, Saruman, Boromir and Gollum.
The first character that falls in the history and chronology of Middle Earth is Melkor. Melkor is described in The Silmarillion as an Ainur, one of the great beings created by Illuvatar to play the Great Music. Melkor was given a special gift over the other Ainur, the gift of power and knowledge, which Illuvatar had given to him to share amongst the Ainur . The beginning of Melkor’s fall starts with him journeying to the places of void in search for the Imperishable Flame . He became obsessed with this and his thoughts began to turn away …show more content…
His goal was to become a tyrant and use the Rings power to become the new dark lord. The effects of his fall directly impact the journey of Frodo and the Fellowship in the Lord of the Rings, he creates the White Hand and leads the armies of Mordor to create chaos and destruction in the name of Sauron . He is not the ultimate evil as he serves Sauron, but he does embrace the darkness and he actively lust for greater power. In the chapter “Scouring the Shire” in The Return of the King, redemption is not possible for Saruman as his quest for power perverted the last simple and pure place in Middle Earth, The Shire . His death at the hands of Wormtongue in the Shire signifies the futility of evil as well as lasting impact the shadow evil casts on the hearts of good people like the