Temple for Morgoth

The Temple for Morgoth,The History of Middle-earth, Vol. V: The Lost Road and Other Writings, III. The Lost Road, (ii): "The Númenórean chapters" or simply the Temple, was a cult site raised at the behest of Sauron for the worship of Morgoth in Armenelos, during Sauron's time in Númenor.The Silmarillion, Akallabêth: The Downfall of Númenor
==History==
Following his coming to Númenor, Sauron cleverly maneuvered his way from the lowly place of prisoner to prime counsellor of Ar-Pharazôn, whom he ensnared and morphed into his willing puppet. As much of the Númenórean folk had turned away from the Valar, the Dark Lord propounded another element as worthy of reverence: the Darkness itself. Unable, for now, to claim personal divine status anew, Sauron the Deceiver preached deliverance from death and promise of power instead through an unseen object of worship: his old master, Melkor.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. X: Morgoth's Ring, "Notes on motives in the Silmarillion" As Ar-Pharazôn and his followers fully embraced the adoration of the Darkness, Sauron commanded for a mighty Temple be built on a hill in the middle of Armenelos.
The Temple was built in Armenelos with a circular foundation, and was constructed mainly of marble, gold, glass, and steel. Its walls were five-hundred feet high and fifty-feet thick; it was five-hundred feet across from the center of the base. There were prisons and chambers of torture beneath it. The Temple was roofed by a mighty silver dome which could be seen at a distance due to how it glittered when it was struck by sunlight. However, the dome was soon blackened from the smoke of rituals, as the structure's innermost sanctum contained an altar of fire in its center. There was a louver at the uttermost top of the dome that let out a great smoke regularly. The first sacrifice made on the altar of fire was the chopped-up wood of Nimloth. For seven days afterwards, the city was covered in a cloud that withered flowers and grass, before it dispersed and passed away toward the west, though the reek of the burning was admired by many Númenóreans.
Soon afterwards, the King's Men began making human sacrifices upon the altar, hoping that Morgoth would grant them immortality. Many of these sacrifice victims were among the Faithful, though they were never sentenced openly based on their rejection of Morgoth alone. Because of the worship of Morgoth, the skies above Númenor became increasingly engulfed by thunderclouds shaped like Eagles, which often brought death. Sauron laughed when he heard these storms. During one such storm, "a fiery bolt smote the dome of the Temple and shore it asunder", causing it to catch fire. The Temple, however, was itself unaffected, since Sauron stood atop the dome, defying the lightning and remaining unharmed. As a result, the King's Men believed him to be a god and obeyed him without question.
As Ar-Pharazôn's Great Armament departed for war, Sauron remained in the innermost circle of the Temple, laughing at the fleet's trumpets of war before demanding more victims for sacrifices. He often surveyed the land from the Temple. Sometime afterwards, some soldiers of Sauron went to Rómenna to drag Elendil himself to the Temple; he avoided them before setting sail for Middle-earth.
In SA 3319,The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B: The Tale of Years (Chronology of the Westlands), "The Second Age" nine-hundred-and-thirteen days after the Great Armament set sail, "fire burst from the Meneltarma" and even while Sauron laughed at finally having gotten rid of the Edain, the black seat he was sitting in and even the Temple itself were cast into the abyss that Eru had made; thus, the Dark Lord's physical form was caught in the ruins, but his spirit survived and escaped, to return to Mordor and take back up the One Ring in Barad-dûr.
==In other versions==
In an earlier version of the legendarium, the Temple for Morgoth was built atop the summit of Meneltarma.
==Inspiration==
In The Notion Club Papers, the Radcliffe Camera is described using similar terms as the Temple for Morgoth.The History of Middle-earth, Vol. IX: Sauron Defeated, Part II: The Notion Club Papers, "The Notion Club Papers Part One"
==In adaptations==
===The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game===
In the Temple of the Deceived adventure pack for Fantasy Flight Games's The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, the heroes are led by Corsairs into the ruins of a grand temple heavily implied to be the Temple for Morgoth. The temple was guarded by the undead Temple Guardian.
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Tempel vir Morgoth
Albanian 	Tempulli në emër të Morgoth
Amharic 	መቅደስ ለ ሞርጎት
Arabic 	معبد لمورجوت
Armenian 	Տաճար Մորգոթի համար
Azerbaijani 	Morgothın Məbəd
Basque 	Morgothentzako tenplua
Belarusian Cyrillic	Храм для Моргота
Bosnian 	Hram za Morgoth
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Храм за Моргот
Catalan 	Temple per Morgoth
Chinese 	魔苟斯神庙
Czech 	Chrám pro Morgotha
Dutch 	Tempel voor Morgoth
Esperanto 	Templo por Morgoth
Estonian 	Morgothi tempel
Filipino 	Templo para sa Morgoth
Finnish 	Morgothin temppeli
French 	Temple pour Morgoth
Galician 	Templo para Morgoth
Georgian 	ტაძარი მორგოთისთვის
German 	Melkors Tempel
Hebrew 	המקדש למורגוט
Danish 	Morgoths Tempel
Icelandic 	Musteri handa Morgoth
Indonesian 	Kuil untuk Morgoth
Irish Gaelic 	Teampall ar son Morgoth
Japanese 	モルゴスの神殿
Kannada 	ಮೊರ್ಗೋತ್ ದೇವಾಲಯ
Kazakh 	Морготқа арналған ғибадатхана (Cyrillic) Morgotqa arnalğan ğïbadatxana (Latin)
Korean 	모르고스의 사원
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Моргот үчүн ийбадаткана
Latvian 	Morgothas templis
Lithuanian 	Morgotho šventykla
Luxembourgish 	Tempel fir Morgoth
Macedonian Cyrillic	Храм за Моргот
Malayalam 	മോർഗോത്തിനായുള്ള ക്ഷേത്രം
Malaysian 	Kuil untuk Morgoth
Maltese 	Tempju għall Morgoth
Marathi 	मॉर्गोथसाठी मंदिर
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Морготод зориулсан ариун сүм
Nepalese 	मोर्गोथको लागि मन्दिर
Norwegian 	Morgoths Tempel
Occitan 	Temple per Morgoth
Persian 	نیایشگاه مورگوت
Polish 	Świątynia Melkora
Portuguese 	Templo para Morgoth
Punjabi 	ਮੋਰਗੋਥ ਲਈ ਮੰਦਰ
Romanian 	Templu căci Morgoth
Sardinian 	Tèmpiu pro Morgoth
Serbian 	Храм за Моргота (Cyrillic) Hram za Morgota (Latin)
Sicilian 	Tempiu pi Morgoth
Sinhalese 	මෝර්ගොත් සඳහා පන්සල
Slovak 	Chrám pre Morgotha
Slovenian 	Tempelj za Morgoth
Spanish 	Templo para que Morgoth
Swahili 	Hekalu kwa ajili ya Morgoth
Swedish 	Morgoths Tempel
Tajik Cyrillic 	Маъбад барои Моргот
Tamil 	மோர்கோத் கோயில்
Tatar 	Моргот өчен гыйбадәтханә
Telugu 	మోర్గోత్ కోసం ఆలయం
Thai 	วิหารสําหรับมอร์กอธ
Turkish 	Morgoth'un Tapınak
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Храм для Морґота
Urdu 	مورگوت کے لئے مندر
Uzbek 	Морготҳ Учун маъбад (Cyrillic) Morgoth Uchun maʼbad (Latin)
Venetian 	Tempio par Morgoth
Vietnamese 	Đền thờ cho Morgoth
Welsh 	Templ ar gyfer Morgoth
Yiddish 	המקדש פֿאַר מאָרגאָטה
==References==
de:Melkors Tempel
it:Tempio di Melkor
pl:Świątynia Melkora
Category:Buildings and structures
Category:Númenor