Nightmare Fuel / The Silmarillion

"Once a city shining and bright, now only burning Nimloth lights the night."
Downfall of Númenor by Ted Nasmith

• Everything about Melkor/Morgoth. The Satan of Arda, Morgoth engaged in Mind Rape without even having to think about it, and the only sort of pleasure he could experience came from horribly torturing and corrupting Elves and Men. In-universe, lesser Ainur were driven to insanity by his eyes.
  • Also the fact that Melkor captured many of the Elves and corrupted them, turning them into Orcs. What did he do to them?
  • Húrin: the mere thought of drawing Morgoth's undivided attention is alarming, but he keeps going at Húrin for years.
  • Morgoth attempted to rape Lúthien Tinúviel before she was singing her song. Given a bit more time, whose to say he wouldn't have been successful?
• Sauron. Here we can see all he did before LOTR. And how utterly doomed would everyone have been had he regained the ring. Not for nothing he was Morgoth's second in command, and came even closer than his master to actually triumphing, even in his comparatively lower goals.
• Morgoth's two other main servants, Gothmog, lord of the balrogs, and Glaurung, father of Dragons:
  • Gothmog is the High-Captain of Angband and lord of the Balrogs, meaning that even among them he's particularly powerful and evil. Likely close in strength to Sauron himself if not surpassing him. He cut a bloody swathe through Elvish and Human history with his black axe, only dying in combat against Elf Lord Ecthellion who fell during the Siege of Gondolin.
  • Glaurung, father of dragons was the very first Dragon ever bred. He lacks wings but makes up for it with fire breathing, corrosive acid for blood, hypnotic eyes, and extreme physical strength. By his lonesome, he conquered Nargothrond and ruled it as its king for years until his death via Túrin Turambar. Even then, his final words ensured what his corrosive blood didn't, that the kill would be mutual.
• The Balrogs. The strongest and most powerful unit within Morgoth's armies, always surrounded in flame and shadow. Those guys are responsible for the death and/or capture of nearly all important characters, to the point that, by the Third Age, they're pretty much the boogeymen for the elves despite the fact they're nearly extinct at that point. Oh, and everytime we hear about someone killing a Balrog, it's a Mutual Kill with only one exception. There's a higher chance of survival fighting a dragon than fighting those guys.
• Ungoliant. Dear Lord, Ungoliant. As one would expect from the giant spider who brought Shelob into the world. Originally a simple Maia, she drank the sap of the Two Trees and turned into the pure embodiment of darkness and gluttony, and became the Broodmother of all spiders in existence (sorry arachnophobes!). She's never satisfied, and isn't picky about what she eats. She would devour the entire world if given the chance. She almost ate Morgoth himself. And what's worse, the published version of The Silmarillion does not confirm her fate. So… she could still be out there somewhere… always hungry…
  • One of her potential fates is pretty creepy too: it's speculated that, in the end, she might have eaten herself.
  • She utterly triumphed over Morgoth, making him scream with such pain that the mountains echo his scream forever. It took the combined efforts of every Balrog in existence to even drive her away from him, and none of this managed to actually hurt her. The exception mentioned above, that's her.
  • Some earlier versions of The Silmarillion are even more chilling. Instead of being a Maia, Ungoliant was a primeval spirit of darkness from the void (essentially outer space). Perhaps there are others like her dwelling in the darkness.
• Just when you think that the good guys had won the battle, Morgoth unleashed the fires of Thangorodrim unto them and to the nearby lands. In fact, this battle called Dagor Bragollach (Battle of the Sudden Flame) itself is such a nightmare in its own right. People burned left and right, and they were not only burned, but consumed by the lava itself.
• How did Morgoth manage to provoke the Western host of Elves and Men into a rash attack before the eastern host could arrive? By having his Orcs parade a prisoner of previous wars in front of the Elves and Men. Then they cut off his limbs and beheaded him right in front of his brother. And they also mentioned in passing that the same treatment awaited the other prisoners in Angband.
  • At the tail end of Unnumbered Tears, the Men of Dor-Lomin fought to the bitter end. In a final insult to their foes, Morgoth's Orcs made sure to behead the fallen Men and piled their heads in a great heap turned golden by the rays of the setting sun.
  • Mixed with Nausea Fuel, Húrin is captured when the Orcs grapple him and their hands keep clinging even after he hacks them off, until he's buried under a pile of Orcs and severed orc arms.
• Utumno and Angband. Morgoth’s fortresses are hell on Middle-earth. Elves and Men taken prisoner are either killed and horrifically disfigured, or enslaved and tortured for years. It's heavily implied that Utumno particularly was so vile that it's the Elvish concept of Hell. Gandalf uses the term "Udûn" during the battle with the Balrog, and true enough it's the Sindarin word for "Underworld".
• The 1977 Silmarillion has the elvish origin of the orcs. Melkor managed to spread rumors amongst the First Children that Oromú the hunter was hunting them so that they would flee when they heard the approaching hoofbeats of his horse—right into Melkor's arms. The things he did to them were so horrific that not only did they become Orcs, but their descendants did also, multiplying like the other Children into fearful, malicious people who saw hurting others as the only way to relieve their own suffering.
• Remember the Elves in The Lord of the Rings? Remember how wise, kindhearted, and peaceful they were? Well, The Silmarillion shows a much darker side to the Elves, showing that they are just as capable of cruelty as anybody else. Case in point, the Oath of Fëanor and the Kinslayings. Fëanor and his kin killed countless innocent Elves for the crime of daring to have a shiny rock.
  • The Ñoldor weren't the only Elves capable of cruelty. The Sindar arrived in lands occupied by Petty-Dwarves. Mistaking the dwarves for animals, they hunted and killed the Petty-Dwarves until they were nearly extinct. You heard that right, the Sindar carried out a genocide.
  • The Sindar and Ñoldor came very close to a race war a few times due to anger over the kinslaying, eventually the Feanorians did go to war and sack Doriath for the Silmaril in what's implied to have been a very bloody and racially motivated conflict.
• What the imperialistic Númenóreans did while under Sauron's instruction to the peoples of Middle-earth like the Haradrim, the Variags, and the Easterlings. We never get the details, but whatever it was, it so fouled their hearts with hate and pain that centuries later they worshiped and served Sauron just so they could kill Númenor's descendants.
  • The short story is that they were enslaved and sacrificed to Morgoth, as it is mentioned that Númenóreans did that to Men of Middle-earth (and to their own people who were suspected of being of the Faithful faction & Valar sympathizers). Terrifying.
  • The mighty, noble men of Númenor became so twisted by evil and a desire for immortality that they effectively became the tyrannical, pirate rulers of all of Middle-earth. Their grip only being broken through the violent destruction of their island.
• Ancalagon the Black. Imagine every terrifying element of Smaug cranked up to eleven. Though his exact size isn’t known, he is massive enough to block out the sun where he flies. He is so huge that he broke 3 Everest-size volcanoes when he fell at his death. He has enough power to melt many of the Rings of Power. He is basically a flying natural disaster. If there is a single dragon that's stronger than the Balrogs, it was him.
• Every time Morgoth's armies are described, they consist of Orcs, Balrogs, Werewolves, and miscellaneous dark things that apparently don't fit neatly into any other category.
• Imprisonment on the Isle of Werewolves. Trapped in a dungeon, with werewolves gradually picking the prisoners off. The Lay of Leithian even describes chains that eat their flesh.
• Maedhros' torment on Thangorodrim. Morgoth catches him, tortures him, and then hangs him by the wrist from a sheer cliff face. It's not clear how long he was up there, but judging by other events in the timeline his imprisonment lasted for somewhere around twenty to thirty years. It's so terrible that he can only beg for death when his best friend Fingon finds him. Then, of course, the shackle won’t break so Fingon has to chop off his hand in order to get him down.
• The fact that, as if Orcs, trolls, Balrogs, giant spiders, dragons, and werewolves weren't enough, Middle-earth also has vampires.
• Not as tremendous a horror as many of the other listed here, but a very chilling moment in the first Council of Men: Amlach of the house of Hador speaks suspiciously of whether Morgoth even exists, and accuses the Eldar (Elves) of lying to Men in a bid to rule Middle-Earth for themselves. He winds up leaving the Council early and departing south with Men who believed him. When Amlach is spotted days later others confront him about his words, and Amlach denies ever having attended the Council. Someone (likely Sauron) attended the Council disguised as Amlach, deceived everyone, and led a company of Men south who were never heard from again.
• Túrin Turambar’s curse. Every person Túrin loved would die, and every place where Túrin settled would end up destroyed. The Gaurwaith? They are all killed after Túrin takes over. Nargothrond? The kingdom was destroyed by Túrin’s decision to open up to outsiders. Dor-lómin, Túrin’s own home? It’s people are further persecuted as a result of Túrin’s actions. No matter where Túrin went, he found no way to escape his curse until he was finally Driven to Suicide.
• Another understated one. At the tail end of the War of the Jewels, Morgoth ruled the entire world unopposed for about 73 years. Tolkien, thankfully, doesn't go into great detail about the horrors that await the Elves, Men and Dwarves who fall under his thrall but from what we do know, they were set upon by Orcs, Easterlings and made his slaves. Things only become more horrific after the last few Elven strongholds are overthrown (Nargothrond, Gondolin, and Doriath) because now whatever free peoples are left are scattered and literally running for the hills trying to escape evil.
• The Third and final Kinslaying is the most terrible of them all. Maedhros and Maglor along with the twins, the last surviving sons of Fëanor gathered what was probably the last functional army in Beleriand and marched on the refuge at the Havens of Sirion. While the first two kinslayings were at least fairly equal battles between Elven tribes, the attack on Tol Sirion is explicitly stated to be the most cruel and evil of all because the vast majority of fighters are dead at this point. The "battle" was a massacre, plain and simple. Due to racial hatreds, the Sindar from Doriath were utterly wiped out and the only known survivors at all were Elwing, Elros and Elrond. This the true power of the Oath of Fëanor. A vow so strong that it led Elven men and women who should be working together to wipe out the very last piece of resistance to the true evil that was coming for them all.
• The War of Wrath may have put an end to Morgoth's reign of terror, but it lasted for over 50 years and was apparently so destructive that the entirety of Beleriand was obliterated and fell into the sea. Either that, or the land was so tainted by the horror that the Valar had no choice but to drown it beneath the great ocean. But either way, everything that the Men and Elves were fighting for throughout the entire story is destroyed by the very forces that came to save it.

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