Dark Lord

Dark Lord, or Dark Power,The Silmarillion, Index of NamesThe Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 144 was the title held by the two most powerful tyrants of Arda, each of whom worked to subjugate Middle-earth and destroy or 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,Parma Eldalamberon, Words, Phrases and Passages in Various Tongues in The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and later Sauron. Coveting absolute temporal power, he wished to dominate all life on Middle-earth and impose a warped and cruel sense of order as its god-king.The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, "Letter 184"
Both fallen Ainur were very influential in the history of Middle-earth, waging numerous wars against the Valar and the Free Peoples. Their actions had a permanent negative impact on the world, as both Dark Powers 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 duplicitous servant, Saruman, was the only one that could have conceivably claimed the title, and even "cheated [his] new master" in an attempt to do so.The Two Towers, "The Voice of Saruman" 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 vassal. Unwilling to accept his status as a mere sub-creator, Morgoth resolved to mar all creation and destroy the Free Peoples. 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 even Númenor.Unfinished Tales, Part Two: The Second Age, II: "Aldarion and Erendis: The Mariner's Wife"Morgoth's Ring, Part Five: Myths Transformed
"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 ==
*Angband
*Darkness
*Mordor
== 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
== References ==
es:Señor Oscuro
it:Oscuro Signore
pt-br:Senhor do Escuro
ru:Тёмный Властелин
Category:Villains
Category:Ranks and titles