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"Dark Lord" was the title held by the two most powerful tyrants of Arda, each of whom worked to destroy or subjugate Middle-earth and enslave the Free Peoples.
Description[]
The first Dark Lord was the rebel Vala first known as Melkor and then as Morgoth. Denied the demiurgic power he desired, he was consumed by a nihilistic purpose: the destruction of Middle-earth. The second Dark Lord was Morgoth's successor, the subversive Maia named Mairon, and later Sauron. Coveting absolute temporal power, he wished to dominate all life on Middle-earth and impose "order" as its sole ruler.
Both fallen Ainur were very influential in the history of Middle-earth, waging numerous wars against the Valar, the Elves and Men. Their actions had a permanent negative impact on the world, as both the Enemies destroyed many beautiful things and places, and caused untold anguish and grief. Eventually both Dark Powers were overthrown and defeated; Morgoth was banished to the Void at the end of the First Age by his brethren, and Sauron was permanently weakened at the end of the Third Age by Frodo Baggins with the aid of Samwise Gamgee and Gollum, when they cast the One Ring into Mount Doom and so robbed Sauron of most of his power.
No one was left to gather and command any remaining forces of Darkness in Sauron's absence: his treacherous servant, Saruman, was the only one that could have conceivably claimed the title, but he was defeated and lost his physical body after the Battle of Bywater, at the end of the War of the Ring.
Background & influence[]
In The Silmarillion, it is revealed that Sauron was the second Dark Lord and that the first was Morgoth with Sauron actually having been his greatest vassal. Morgoth initially sought to mar the World, but eventually sought to bring about its end. When Morgoth fell, Sauron escaped the judgment of the Valar and arose as his successor, or "Morgoth returned", seeking to establish his own dominion over Middle-earth, and at one time Númenor.[citation needed]
"Dark Lords" became a common trope in fantasy and science fiction following the success of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings with the Dark Lord Sauron. For instance, Lord Voldemort, the primary antagonist of the Harry Potter series, is frequently referred to as the "Dark Lord" by both his followers and his enemies.
See also[]
Translations[]
Foreign Language | Translated name |
Afrikaans | Donker Heer |
Albanian | Zoti Errët |
Amharic | ደማቅ ጌታ |
Arabic | سيد الظلام |
Armenian | Խավարի Տիրակալ |
Azerbaijani | Qaranlıq Hökmdar |
Basque | Ilun Jauna |
Belarusian Cyrillic | цёмны Лорд |
Bengali | ডার্ক লর্ড |
Bosnian | Gospodar Tame |
Bulgarian Cyrillic | Тъмен лорд |
Cambodian | ព្រះអម្ចាស់ងងឹត |
Catalan | Senyor Fosc |
Cebuano | Mangitngit nga Ginoo |
Chinese | 黑暗领主 |
Cornish | Arlodh Tewal |
Croatian | Mračni Gospodar |
Czech | Temný pán |
Danish | Mørk Herre |
Dari | استاد تاریک |
Dutch | Donkere Heer |
Esperanto | Malluma Sinjoro |
Estonian | Tume Isand |
Faroese | Myrkt Harra |
Fijian | Turaga ni butobuto |
Filipino | Madilim Panginoon |
Finnish | Musta Ruhtinas |
French | Seigneur des Ténèbres |
Frisian | Tsjustere Hear (Western) |
Galician | Lorde Escuro |
Georgian | ბნელი ბატონი |
German | Dunkler Herrscher |
Greek | Σκοτεινός Άρχοντας |
Gujarati | ડાર્ક ભગવાન |
Haitian Creole | Fènwa Seyè a |
Hebrew | אדון האופל |
Hindi | अंधेरे प्रभु |
Hmong | Tsaus Tswv |
Hungarian | Sötét Nagyúr |
Icelandic | Myrkur Lávarður |
Indonesian | Penguasa kegelapan |
Irish Gaelic | Tiarna Dorcha |
Italian | Signore Oscuro |
Japanese | ダークロード |
Kannada | ಡಾರ್ಕ್ ಲಾರ್ಡ್ |
Kapampangan | Matuling a Ginu |
Kazakh | қараңғы Лорд (Cyrillic) Qarañğı lord (Latin) |
Korean | 다크로드 |
Kurdish | Tarî Xudan (Kurmanji) |
Kyrgyz Cyrillic | Кара Лорд |
Latin | Dominus tenebrarum |
Latvian | Tumsas pavēlnieks |
Lithuanian | Tamsos Valdovas |
Luxembourgish | Donkel Här |
Macedonian Cyrillic | Темен Господар |
Malayalam | ഇരുണ്ട രക്ഷിതാവ് |
Manx | Hiarn Dorraghey |
Marathi | गडद स्वामी |
Mongolian Cyrillic | Харанхуй Эзэн |
Nepalese | गाढा प्रभु |
Northern Sami | Seavdnjat Isit |
Norwegian | Mørk Herre |
Old English | Deorc Hlāford |
Pashto | تياره رب |
Persian | ارباب تاریک |
Polish | Czarny Pan |
Portuguese | Senhor das Trevas |
Punjabi | ਹਨੇਰੇ ਨੂੰ ਪ੍ਰਭੂ |
Romanian | Lordul Întunecat (Seniorul Întunecimii) |
Romansh | Stgir Dumagnar ? |
Russian | Тёмный Властелин |
Samoan | Pogisa Alii |
Sanskrit | डेरिका नाथ ? |
Scottish Gaelic | Dorcha Thighearn |
Serbian | Тамни владар (Cyrillic) Gospodar tame (Latin) |
Sesotho | Morena Lefifi |
Sindhi | اونداهي پالڻھار |
Sinhalese | අඳුරේ අධිපතියා |
Slovak | Temný pán |
Slovenian | Temni gospodar |
Somali | Mugdi ah Rabbiga |
Spanish | Señor Oscuro |
Sundanese | Poék Gusti |
Swahili | Giza Bwana |
Swedish | Mörk Herre |
Tajik Cyrillic | торик Худованд |
Tamil | இருண்ட இறைவன் |
Telugu | డార్క్ లార్డ్ |
Thai | เจ้าแห่งศาสตร์มืด |
Turkish | Karanlık Efendi |
Ukrainian Cyrillic | Темний лорд |
Urdu | اندھیرے کے رب |
Uzbek | Қоронғи ҳазратлари (Cyrillic) Qorong'i hazratlari (Latin) |
Vietnamese | Chúa tể bóng tối |
Welsh | Arglwydd y Tywyllwch |
Xhosa | Ebumnyameni Nkosi |
Yiddish | דאַרק האר |
Yoruba | Dudu Oluwa |
Zulu | Nkosi webumnyama |