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Only Eru, had the power to create life, so how did Morgoth create:

  • Orcs
  • Dragons
  • Trolls
  • Wargs
  • Werewolves
  • Giants
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  • 7
    Very carefully, and with great panache.
    – Valorum
    May 23 '16 at 20:02
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    I won't have a chance to write an answer, but he corrupted existing creatures.
    – Adamant
    May 23 '16 at 20:03
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    Jonah's got it. For instance, orcs are corrupted elves. Also remember that Morgoth did sing in the song for a while before they figured out he was being discordant, so he was able to influence creation a bit.
    – Todd Wilcox
    May 23 '16 at 20:22
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    Tolkien Gateway describes all of them as being "bred" by Morgoth/Melkor, except giants, who were not all evil, and were probably part of the "normal" order of creates and were possibly like men in the sense that some served Morgoth and Sauron and some didn't. In addition to the orc-elf connection, there is support for wargs and werewolves from wolves and trolls from ents. That only leaves dragons with hardly any hints to their origins.
    – Todd Wilcox
    May 23 '16 at 20:31
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    If Orcs existed before the Elves are awake, how are they corrupted elves? The Outer Lands [Middle-earth] are in darkness. [...] in the North Morgoth and his demonic broods (Balrogs) and the Orcs (Goblins, also called Glamhoth or people of hate) hold sway. Varda looks on the darkness and is moved, and taking all the hoarded light of Silpion, the White Tree, she makes and strews the stars. At the making of the stars the children of Earth awake – the Eldar (or Elves). -- Tolkien, J.R.R.. The Fall of Gondolin (Kindle Locations 234-238). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Kindle Edition.
    – J. J. Schultz II
    Aug 30 '18 at 11:48
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Yup, as far as the books go, Morgoth could never really create anything. He could only mock creatures created by Eru. Same as Sauron. He could only copy and corrupt others creatures. Some examples are orcs, which were once elves, but corrupted and twisted to dark purposes; wargs, which are probably evil-ler versions of normal wolves; and trolls, which were copies from ents.

However, the other examples you listed, namely dragons and giants, most likely were already part of the world from the beginning, along with other animals.

I have no idea about werewolves. I don't think I remember hearing of one in the series?

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    Werewolves: lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Werewolves, for example Drauglin and Carcharoth
    – Melkor
    Jun 7 '16 at 20:30
  • @Marchhill And Sauron himself, IIRC, in the story of Beren and Luthien.
    – Marakai
    Jun 20 '16 at 5:13
  • @ASH-Aisyan What about Balrogs? Surely, Melkor had to create balrogs... why would Illuvatar create THOSE and put them in the world?
    – john_science
    Oct 30 '16 at 18:53
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    @theJollySin I can't find the exact quote, but unless I remember wrongly, Balrogs were among the original minions of Melkor, and they were actually Maia, made by Illuvatar. When they decided/were corrupted and seduced to join Melkor, they became evil, and got stuck with that shape. Just like Melkor got stuck with a horrible evil form as he continued to be evil, eventhough he was originally just like the other Ainur.
    – ASH-Aisyah
    Oct 31 '16 at 10:37
  • were once elves And also Men. Because he never truly decided if it was Elves or Men and maybe even stated it was both. He certainly mocked the elves - and other creatures, though.
    – Pryftan
    Jul 28 '18 at 20:22
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Tolkien is never very specific about the details, but Morgoth created orcs by breeding captured elves and men, and thereby creating corrupted copies. Trolls presumably have some ent in their ancestry, and so on. How he got dragons one can only speculate.

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    Yes, they were all presumably bred and corrupted from existing life or Maiar that he recruited which then took on bodily form.
    – Molag Bal
    May 23 '16 at 20:55
  • Dragons are corrupted drakes, I think
    – Valorum
    Jun 7 '16 at 12:19
  • On Ent/Troll: Not quite the way it is. Originally Ents didn't exist (it derives from OE eoten = ent = giant) and then they did. He then had to change some names around. He then suggested that a troll is a stone inhabited by a goblin spirit. Originally too he had envisioned that Frodo would have an encounter with Treebeard - and there is a short excerpt in HoMe and that includes the scan of the story - when he was in league with the Enemy (he also at one point was the captor of Gandalf rather than Saruman). Of course this all changed quite a bit, in the end.
    – Pryftan
    Jul 28 '18 at 20:24

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