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  • Updated 10 September 2018
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Lord of the Darkness

A title used by Sauron for Melkor

"For Darkness alone is worshipful, and the Lord thereof may yet make other worlds to be gifts to those that serve him..."
Words of Sauron to Ar-Pharazôn
The Silmarillion
Akallabéth

A title given to Melkor by Sauron during the time that Sauron was nominally a hostage in Númenor, used to seduce King Ar-Pharazôn and claim ascendancy for himself among the Númenóreans. Sauron told the King that only this Lord, the dweller in the Ancient Darkness from which the world was made, could grant the King the power and immortality he sought. Sauron claimed that Eru Ilúvatar was no more than an invention of the Valar, and that Melkor the Lord of the Darkness was the one truly owed Ar-Pharazôn's allegiance.

Ar-Pharazôn accepted Sauron's lies, and caused an immense temple to be constructed in Armenelos, dedicated to the Lord of the Darkness. Sacrifices were made to Melkor in that temple, and the White Tree that had stood in the courts of the Kings of Númenor from ancient times was burned on the altar. Now Sauron had made himself the true power in Númenor, and he persuaded Ar-Pharazôn to lead a force against the Valar in the West. From these actions came about the utter destruction of Númenor itself in the cataclysmic event known as the Downfall.


See also...

Lord of the Dark

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About this entry:

  • Updated 10 September 2018
  • Updates planned: 1

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