What if Morgoth gained the One Ring?

Question

There have been many questions about what the Ring would do to various beings of Middle Earth. In general It takes control of whatever it is through tempting them with power. There is some suggestion that the Valar are too powerful for it to affect them (or at least that they are too wise to fall for its tricks).

Morgoth is neither powerful (in most conventional ways, as he is during the events of the story) nor wise. He is, however, Sauron's master and, unlike Sauron, his goal is mostly destruction rather than domination. Would the Ring further corrupt him? Dilute his malevolence? Be corrupted further by him? Could it provide him with some of the strength that he had squandered (after all, wasn't the point of the Ring to stop the same thing from happening to Sauron)?

Is there simply not enough information available to know?

While I am also interested in whether it would even be possible to get the One Ring to Morgoth, that is a different question.

Answer 1

According to the eponymous volume of History of Middle-Earth, all Middle-Earth is Morgoth's Ring.

This is especially true of the element gold, from which the Ring was made, which (and the Mountain of Doom, which served as a direct channel to the fires of Udûn) contained a preponderance of the "Melkor ingredient", i.e. Morgoth's essence spread throughout Middle-Earth and thus actualized (as the essence of the Vala Ulmo is present in all water), deprived of Melkor himself in a form of entropy. Sauron created the Ring as a channel for wielding this (his former master's) power without it having to be actualized in his own physical being or misspent on destruction, as his master had.

It thus stands to reason that Morgoth, with the Ring, would be able to use it to control Sauron and and all that he had made, but would not gain any extra power that was not available to him in the beginning, or that possibly he could have regained from long rest. Morgoth's power could not be used for creative purposes, only to co-opt and destroy, so it would have been of limited utility to Morgoth to regain his own strength, except to co-opt or even possess Sauron himself, as he would have started out almost as powerful as Sauron + Ring.

It would be interesting to know what effect the Ring would have if Sauron had made it during the time of Melkor's dominance over Middle Earth. Given the above it is plausible that Melkor would have full access to the wielder of the Ring as a sort of super-user, regardless who wielded it, even as he had control over the fates of those who invoked him in oath or curse, e.g. Turin's family.

Answer 2

The corrupting power of the One Ring could not corrupt Morgoth further. All sources of evil, even of Sauron's evil, trace back to the revolt of Melkor. So the malignancy of the ring is ultimately due to Morgoth himself.

Moreover, while Morgoth had lost a great deal of power by the time he was cast out, he was still a very powerful force. When he returns for the Dagor Dagorath, the violence he unleashes will destroy much of the world. I doubt that the ring would have made much difference to his power level.

Answer 3

I imagine the ring would have no effect on Morgoth besides giving him access to the power Sauron poured into it, thus increasing his own power (which was greatly diminished over time, and he became weaker than Sauron). So, it would simply grant an increase to his level of power.