Introduction

Many people are now discovering the story of The Lord Of The Rings. Some of which wonder, who is the necromancer in the Hobbit? And what the devil is a Balrog? What does Shelob have to do with anything? This information is all found in J.R.R. Tolkien's book, The Silmarillion. For those who do not have the time or the patience, this article was written.

The Villains Before...

Before "The Lord Of The Rings" and even before "The Hobbit", there were several evils that impacted Tolkien's world, setting up the complex interweaving of story that we know today.

Morgoth

Morgoth¹, also called Melko or Melkor² was the original evil of Tolkien's world, a proverbial Lucifer. Originally one of the Ainur³, Morgoth was great and knowledgeable in many things, and in all the gifts and skills the other Ainur possessed, he had skill in also. Morgoth sought to become more powerful than the Illuvatar⁴, and started a holy war of sorts for control of Middle Earth. Whereas the children of the Illuvatar were fair, elves and men, the children of Morgoth were foul and wicked, orcs and fire demons called Balrogs⁵, among other things. He cared nothing for anything or anyone that wasn't himself. He, in time, became a shameless liar, and used elegant words to fight as much as his evil armies.

Don't take the impression that he was some sort of evil looking monster; he could take any form he chose, and was often seen in a noble and beautiful form, to easily sway the weak-minded. Yet he did not always win. He was beaten several times, chained, and in the end, after one final battle, cast out of the world into the Void for all eternity. He left someone behind, though, the lieutenant we know as Sauron.

Ungoliant

Shelob is actually, despite what it may seem, a complicated bit character. Shelob was the descendant of a foul spirit called Ungoliant, who took the shape of a great spider. Ungoliant fed off light, or is better to say, hated it. Her great webs caught it and sucked it in, and the more light she fed upon, the greater she grew. Morgoth made a pact with her to help with the downfall of the Valar and the Eldar⁶. The Valar had two great trees, the Trees of Valinor⁷, and they shone with a holy light. They were a blessing to all, and a sign of hope. Of course, Morgoth didn't much like them in the hands of any but himself, if he even liked them at all, and he helped Ungoliant kill them, and steal their light. Later, Morgoth refused his end of a bargain he had made with her, and she attacked him. She was strong enough after taking the light of the Trees that she would have killed him, if not for his cries for help, which were heard and heeded by the balrogs. It was said that the cries were so hideous ever afterwards, they could still be heard. Ungoliant fled, and had offspring close to herself in nature. The last of these was Shelob, who took up residence in the mountainous borders of Mordor.

The Evils In The Hobbit

The Necromancer

-See Sauron

Gollum

The full explanation of Gollum is found in "The Fellowship Of The Ring", but a brief overview will be provided here. Gollum started out as a small Hobbit-like creature, named Smeagol. He and a friend named Deagol were fishing along the banks of the Anduin river⁸, when his friend saw a glint of gold. He dove in, and came up with a gold ring in his hand. Smeagol wanted the ring, and it was his birthday, so by Smeagol's reasoning, it should be his. It was mostly due to the fact that the ring in question was the One Ring, which is told about in better detail later on in this article. Suffice to say the Ring had immense draw on living beings, and Smeagol killed his friend to take it. He went home, discovered that it could render him invisible. He took up thievery, and was shunned by his people. He wandered to the Misty Mountains, and hid under them in a dreary underground lake, and all the while the ring corrupted him, making him the wan creature he is in the books.

Where There Be Dragons?

Dragons were not a common thing in "The Hobbit", as one might be able to tell. Smaug seemed one of a few, and that would be slightly true. Dragons in Middle Earth were the creation of Morgoth, and their father was Glaurung, a fire-drake of the north (hence, Smaug came from the north). They were bred in Angband⁹, and became very numerous and powerful. They were long lived and because of that, often very wise, but they had a few flaws. The first of which was that when young, they were easy to kill. As in shooting the proverbial fish in the barrel. The armour was weak, and so was the mind. Second, was the enormous greed they exhibited. This made them rather hard to control. The last weakness came with the second, as when a dragon found itself large amounts of wealth they guard it, rarely leaving, and tend to take century-long naps. The last dragons simply vanished from all records; their whereabouts are unknown.

The Lord Of The Rings: The Evil Therein

Bum Bum Buuummm... Sauron

Sauron was originally a Lieutenant under Morgoth, and it was said that he would have been just as evil as Morgoth if he was not serving him. Sauron's personality and ethics could be described by a long string of expletives, but barring that, the most downright cruel thing that ever existed in Middle Earth should do. Also known as Gorthaur the Cruel, Sauron started out as a Maiar, one of the spirits of Middle Earth. He was the commander of Angband, and was a sadistic as they come. He was also, for some reason, incredibly clever, and just as good of a public speaker as his master. In the tale of Beren and Luthien¹⁰, he is described as capturing a man's wife, letting him see her being dragged away in torment, capturing the man, bargaining for information with the man's wife and the promise that they would leave together, getting the information, and revealing that what the man was an illusion, surprise surprise, she was dead, and yes, he would still be joining her.

After the fall of Morgoth, Sauron became well versed in wizardry, and took a bit from his master's book. He took on a fair appearance and got on everyone's side. Then, he backstabbed his way to the top. What happens after that is all revealed in "The Lord Of The Rings", and for more information on all his cruel exploits, one simply needs to look there.

Saruman

Very little is known about Saruman, or his brethren, the wizards. All that is known is that they were five, they came across the sea, and were originally a spirit called and Istari. There was one white wizard, Saruman, one grey, Gandalf, one brown, Radagast, and two blue, whose names are never mentioned and apparently never did anything of value. Saruman was their leader, and was wise, though it was suspected by many that Gandalf was wiser, and was simply pretending otherwise. The wizards came to fight Sauron, and were fit for the job. Unfortunatly, Saruman fell into greedy thoughts, and soon allied with Sauron, fearing complete destruction, and hoping, maybe, to destroy Sauron first and rule in his place.