Later today (at 6pm EDT New York time) Hall of Fire will be chatting about the first and most powerful of Ilúvatar’s Ainur — the angelic spirit that would become most well-known as Morgoth.

“I am the Elder King: Melkor, first and mightiest of the Valar, who was before the world, and made it. The shadow of my purpose lies upon Arda, and all that is in it bends slowly and surely to my will.

But upon all whom you love my thought shall weigh as a cloud of Doom, and it shall bring them down into darkness and despair. Wherever they go, evil shall arise. Whenever they speak, their words shall bring ill counsel.

Whatsoever they do shall turn against them. They shall die without hope, cursing both life and death.”
Narn I Hin Hurin: The Words of Hurin and Morgoth.

Morgoth: master of lies, deceit, chaos and destruction

From the outset, Morgoth is a source of strife and discord. Discontent with his place under Ilúvatar, he searches fruitlessly for the Flame Imperishable, and gleefully disrupts the music of the Ainur.

He then transfers his destructive impulses onto Ilúvatar’s creation, Arda. He destroys the original paradise of his fellow Valar, then corrupts the second and kills the Two Trees. Stealing the Silmarils, he drives a wedge of distrust between the elves and Valinor’s rulers, and wages a long war that destroys all elven kingdoms of Beleriand.

And along the way he sows the seeds of distrust between elves and men, “creates” Orcs, Dragons and Trolls, and lures numerous Maia to his service.

But what motivates him? Why does he do what he does? Why do others even choose to follow him? What do his confrontations with Feanor, Fingolfin and Hurin tell us about his character?

Join us later as we discuss Tolkien’s primary antagonist in Middle-earth.

Upcoming discussions

Saturday August 1: Morgoth
Saturday August 8: The Hobbit: Chapter 14: Fire and Water
Saturday August 15: Orcs and goblins
Saturday August 22: The Hobbit: Chapter 15: The Gathering of the Clouds

fingolfin and morgoth
Morgoth and Fingolfin by John Howe.

Time zone conversions

Not sure what time the chat will be where you are? Check this little conversion table out for some help. Alternatively, check our handy Event Announcer over on Time and Date for the correct time in your area.

America:
6.00pm EDT (New York)
5.00pm CDT (Chicago)
4.00pm MDT (Denver)
3.00pm PDT (Los Angeles)

Europe:
11.00pm BST (London)
Midnight CST (Paris)
1am EEST (Helsinki)

Asia-Pacific
8.00am AEST (Sunday) Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne
10.00am NZST (Sunday) Wellington

How long do your topic chats go for?

Our chats usually last about an hour, and are very newbie friendly. Simply drop in and join the conversation! However, our main room, #theonering.net is open 24 hours a day. We don’t always talk Tolkien there, but if you have a burning question, you’ll usually find one or two of “the regulars” up for a chat!

Where — connection details

Chat happens on #thehalloffire on irc.theonering.net — the TORn IRC server. It is based on internet relay chat technology (that means it’s hella old skool). It’s a text-only, moderated chat room full of eccentric Tolkien fans. We’re open 24/7 (although some times are busier and more active than others).

There are many ways to connect to the chat server. However, the easiest is generally to use a browser-based client. We usually direct folks to Mibbit:

* TORn Mibbit Widget
* Mibbit direct (as opposed to the widget above, this allows you to see others joining and leaving)

If you’re more oldschool or technically adept, you can install one of the scores of standalone chat clients that available for desktop and mobile devices. Just plug in our server details (see bottom) into the client and connect.

* Xchat: http://xchat.org/ (Windoze PC and Linux. Free)
* mIRC: http://www.mirc.com/ (Windoze PC. 30-day trial)
* AndChat: http://www.andchat.net/ (Android app for mobile. Free)
* Colloquy: http://colloquy.info/ (Mac OS and Apple mobile devices. Free)

Our server details:
IRC server name: irc.theonering.net
Channel/room name: #theonering.net
Port: 6667 (6697 for SSL connections)