The Darkness

Gandalf - A Light in the Dark by Matt Stewart

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And darkness he [Melkor] used most in his evil works upon Arda, and filled it with fear for all living things.

Valaquenta: Of the Enemies

The Darkness, or simply the Dark, was a major weapon that the Dark Lords of Middle-earth, Morgoth and Sauron, used to instill fear in the Free peoples that stood against them. Sometimes they used Darkness as a frightening concept to coax people to rely on them for protection, while at other times the Dark Lords utilized Darkness as an actual force to literally spread over places on Earth. Melkor and Sauron used the concept of darkness with terrible effect in their attempts to seduce populations of Men. They utilized the mysterious nature of Darkness, and the fear that came from it, in coaxing Men to depend upon their teachings.

First Age

It was said that Men were seduced by Melkor in the beginning of their history, and that a residual darkness lay upon the hearts of all their race, even those of the Edain who met the Eldar in the First Age. An ancient tale that the Wise among the Edain kept told of how Melkor had achieved his mastery over their race: he came among them as a fair-seeming teacher and told them many things about the world, but increasingly he spoke about the Dark. He told the first Men that the greatest thing was "the Dark" since there were "no bounds" there and he himself "came out of the Dark". He claimed that he could protect them from being devoured by the Dark since he was allegedly the master of it.

According to the tale, when the Sun's light was blotted out (apparently by a solar eclipse), Men grew fearful and bowed down to the "master" of the Dark and took Melkor as their God so that he would protect them. This act brought the punishment of Eru upon them: their lives were shortened and they would possess little Light during their time in Arda. For this reason their mortality became associated with the Darkness and fear. Even so, most Men lived in great terror of the Dark and sought to appease it and serve Melkor however they could.

In Valinor

Morgoth, aided by the power of Ungoliant the Spider, also used Darkness to devastating effect in his attack on the Two Trees of Valinor. After Ungoliant drank up their light, a debilitating darkness settled around the Blessed Realm that confounded the might of even most of the Valar. Aided by this force, which was more than merely a lack of light but also "had power to pierce the eye, and to enter heart and mind, and strangle the very will", Morgoth escaped from Valinor and revenged himself upon the Valar and Elves. Only the sharp eyes of Manwë could penetrate this shroud, but it was to no avail: Morgoth used the cover of Darkness to slay Finwë and capture the Silmarils of Fëanor.

In Númenor

In the Second Age, the island of Númenor was populated by the descendants of those Men who had rejected the service of the Dark and fled to Beleriand, where they met the High Elves and were rehabilitated. However, about 2,000 years after the founding of their realm, most of the Númenóreans began to turn away from the friendship of the Elves and the Valar, for they became proud and discontent with their mortal lives. The Númenóreans possessed large holdings in Middle-earth, which Sauron's forces attacked, since the Maia hated their influence. Eventually, the last King of Númenor, Ar-Pharazôn, brought a great army against Sauron in retaliation. Sauron was forced to surrender because his servants feared the Númenóreans too much to fight them, and Ar-Pharazôn took him back to Númenor as a prisoner.

Sauron did not remain a prisoner for long; by using his skill and knowledge he soon had the ears of the King and became his chief advisor. Sauron then seduced Ar-Pharazôn and most of his people by bringing them back to the worship of the Darkness. Sauron told the Númenóreans that they could gain great power, and even mastery of other worlds beyond Arda, by devoting themselves to the Ancient Darkness that lay outside the world and its Lord, Melkor. The Númenóreans built a mighty Temple for this practice, wherein they sacrificed many of the Faithful who remained in the land to Melkor the Lord of Darkness, in the hope that he would give them immortality. Yet in the end, the Númenóreans' worship of the Darkness gave them neither the power nor immortality they desired; it only brought them madness and terror.

As a result of the Númenóreans' deeds, their land was destroyed near the end of the Second Age, but those of Númenórean race who survived in Middle-earth (save for the descendants of the Faithful) remained "enamoured of the Darkness and the black arts", and served Sauron after his return to Mordor.

During the Third Age

"Darkness" was a term usually used symbolically for the dark power of Sauron and the regions under his sway. During the War of the Ring, though, Sauron's Darkness became a dreadful reality, as it spread out of Mordor on 10 March T.A. 3019 and covered the lands of the West for many days. It caused despair among the soldiers of Gondor who were fighting Sauron's forces. Eventually, however, a wind from the South broke it apart.

Great Darkness

The Great Darkness was an uncertain term used by Treebeard the Ent, apparently referring to the time of the First Age and before when Middle-earth was under the dominion of Melkor.

When the Great Darkness came, the Elves passed over the Great Sea and fled or hid. It was in the Great Darkness before the Sun and Moon that Melkor first created the Orcs and the Trolls, so that these creatures feared sunlight and shunned it. The Darkness was not dispelled by the coming of the Sun: Morgoth held his fortress of Angband for centuries afterwards, and kept it shrouded in darkness with vapors belched forth from Thangorodrim, the mountains around Angband.

According to Treebeard, the Darkness had never been lifted in some hollow dales of his land, and there was still some shadow left by in the north (perhaps referring to Mirkwood).

Night and Darkness

Ideally, Night was supposed to be a peaceful time, no more threatening than Day. The Valar had intended it as period of rest and repose, in which one could view the stars of Varda. But the association of Night with Darkness and Morgoth's power caused it to become "a time of peril unseen, of fear without form, an uneasy vigil; or a haunted dream, leading through despair to the shadow of Death". These connotations were especially strong in Middle-earth; in safer lands such as Aman the Children of Ilúvatar could still enjoy Night as originally intended.

Other Uses of the Term

Since Arda, the world, was Marred by the evil of Melkor, all things living upon it have an element of corruption. This element was generally referred to as the Shadow by the Free peoples, but the term "darkness" was also used. Generally, this word more specifically referred to the shroud of ignorance and misunderstanding made by the Marring of Arda that keeps the Children of Ilúvatar from perceiving truth; just as literal darkness prevents one from seeing clearly. When used this way, darkness usually stands in opposition to the Light of Valinor. For example, when Túrin spoke against the Valar during a council in Nargothrond, the Elf Gwindor chastised him and said that "a darkness was on" him because he harbored such incorrect thoughts about the Powers.