The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit featured several memorable villains, ranging from the Dark Lord Sauron and his minions, such as Saruman the White and the Nazgûl, to the great dragon Smaug. But all of them paled in comparison to the first and greatest evil of J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium: Morgoth. While he may not be as well known as his successors, no one was more dangerous than Morgoth and his machinations. Morgoth was the main antagonist of Tolkien's The Silmarillion, which detailed the ancient history of Middle-earth. Long before Sauron forged the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom or Frodo and Bilbo went on their adventures, the races of Middle-earth battled Morgoth. He was the original Dark Lord and the master of Sauron. Tolkien made him a truly diabolical figure who was responsible for all the evils that plagued Middle-earth, even long after his defeat.
Source：https://www.cbr.com/lord-of-the-rings-morgoth-explained/
