Thus it was that when Nahar neighed and
Oromë indeed came among them, some of the Quendi hid themselves, and some fled and were lost. But those that had courage, and stayed, perceived swiftly that
the Great Rider was no shape out of darkness; for the light of
Aman was in his face, and all the noblest of the
Elves were drawn towards it.
But of those unhappy ones who were ensnared by
Melkor little is known of a certainty. For who of the living has descended into the pits of
Utumno, or has explored the darkness of the counsels of Melkor? Yet this is held true by
the wise of Eressëa, that all those of the Quendi who came into the hands of Melkor, ere Utumno was broken, were put there in prison, and by slow arts of cruelty were corrupted and enslaved; and thus did Melkor breed the hideous
race of the
Orcs in envy and mockery of the Elves, of whom they were afterwards the bitterest foes.
For the Orcs had life and multiplied after the manner of the Children of Ilúvatar; and naught that had life of its own, not the semblance of life, could ever Melkor make after his rebellion in the
Ainulindalë before the Beginning: so say the wise. And deep in their dark hearts the Orcs loathed
the Master whom they served in fear, the maker only of their misery. This it may be was the vilest deed of Melkor, and the most hateful to Ilúvatar. From
the Silmarillion, Of the Coming of Elves