Eru Ilúvatar
Before the creation of Eä and Arda (The Universe and the World), Melkor was the most powerful of the Ainur, the "angelic beings" created by Eru Ilúvatar (analogous to God). Melkor, dissatisfied that Eru had abandoned the Void, had sought to emulate his creator and fill the Void with sentient beings. This, however, required the Flame Imperishable, the Secret Fire, which belonged to Eru alone; though Melkor searched for this, he could not find it. In what he hoped would be an alternative expression of his own originality and creativity, he contended with Eru in the Music of the Ainur, introducing what he perceived to be themes of his own.