In that war, Sauron was counted as the "greatest of [Morgoth's] servants that have names" and was soon feared as a lord of phantoms and dreadful beasts, a shape-shifter and sorcerer. When Morgoth left Angband much later to corrupt the newly awakened Atani (Men), Sauron directed the war against the Elves.
Melkor is the most powerful of the Valar but he turns to darkness and is renamed Morgoth, the primary antagonist of Arda. All evil in the world of Middle-earth ultimately stems from him. One of the Maiar of Aulë betrays his kind and becomes Morgoth's principal lieutenant and successor, Sauron.
Morgoth was the first Dark Lord, and Sauron was his most loyal servant in the First Age. While the two were allies, their goals were different. Morgoth sought to destroy Middle-earth, which Sauron sought to control.
In their prime, there can be no comparison. Morgoth is the more powerful of the two. Morgoth was the mightiest of the Valar, a group whose weakest member would outpace Sauron.
Defeated by the Host of Valinor in the War of Wrath, Morgoth was banished from Middle-earth into the Timeless Void, though it was prophesied that he would one day return.
Sauron hated the way Arda was run. He was the enemy of the Valar, because he thought they did a poor job organizing it. Morgoth was the GREATEST enemy of the Valar, and the most awesome being in the universe, and thus he became Sauron's boss.
It was said that Morgoth hated and feared the House of Fingolfin the most of the three Houses of the sons of Finwe, and he feared most Fingolfin's son Turgon, as it was prophesised that from the House of Turgon would his doom come.
His most direct legacy would be that of his second-in-command, Sauron, who took up the mantle of Dark Lord following his master's fall. Sauron would command many of the same forces that Morgoth had created in his time. Morgoth was the bringer of evil and darkness onto Middle-earth.
Eventually, Morgoth was bound in chains by the Valar and thrown into the Void, leaving the permanent damage his evils had done, and his former lieutenant Sauron, to trouble the world. One day, according to a prophecy, Morgoth will rise again in great wrath, but he will be destroyed in the Dagor Dagorath.
Originally known as Melkor, Morgoth is essentially the Lucifer of Tolkien's story. Like the devil, Morgoth was one of the first children created by the God of Tolkien's world, but succumbed to jealousy and greed, especially over the creation of other races, and was duly disowned by his fellow Valar.
Additionally, while he was in his weakened state, Galadriel could hold him off through the power of will alone. However, if Sauron had his One Ring and faced off in a battle against Galadriel, it's unlikely that there would be much she could do.
What happened to Sauron after Morgoth was defeated?
He then took the form of a vampire and fled to Taur-nu-Fuin, filling the forest with horror. After the War of Wrath, with the downfall of Morgoth and the destruction of Thangorodrim, Sauron adopted a fair form and repented his evil deeds in fear of the wrath of the Valar.
In terms of who accomplished more the answer is Morgoth. He's the prime antagonist in all of Tolkien's work. From warring with his brethren, corrupting Sauron, creating orcs and dragons, corrupting and destroying the Noldor, actually shaping Middle Earth, corrupting the very fabric of reality with his essence…
Finally Sauron came out to fight Elendil and Gil-galad face to face. When Elendil fell, his sword Narsil broke beneath him. Isildur took up the hilt-shard of Narsil and cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand, vanquishing Sauron.
For that matter, the Valar didn't have the authority to remove another Ainur's power. If they had had that authority, they would have stripped Morgoth of his power, rather than going to war with him so many times.
Bloodlines are very important in Tolkien's stories, and it makes a lot of sense that Sauron would fear the great-grandson of the man who cut off his hand. Aragorn carried the blood of Numenor with him. His genetic connection to the heroes of the Second Age established him as a dangerous opponent of Sauron.
Sauron was originally a shape-shifting fallen angel and could take on various forms, including a vampire and a werewolf. Sauron's final form was terrifying and demonic, reflecting his own hate and evil, and he did not wear armor in the books.
Origin. Sauron's original name was Mairon. He was the mightiest Maia of the Vala Aulë the Smith, and learned much from Aulë of smithing and handiwork, becoming a great craftsman and "mighty in the lore of" Aulë's people. He was among the most powerful Maiar.
She had no role in the major wars of the First Age, believing that defeating Morgoth was beyond the power of the Eldar; when Morgoth was defeated by the coming of the Valar out of the West she, having played no part in the earlier Kinslaying, was offered safe return to Valinor.
Gandalf pursued the monster for eight days, until they climbed to the peak of Zirakzigil, where the Balrog was forced to turn and fight, its body erupting into new flame. Here they fought for two days and nights. In the end, the Balrog was defeated and cast down, breaking the mountainside where it fell "in ruin".
Of course, Gandalf had already fallen prey to the Balrog of Morgoth during the events of The Fellowship of the Ring. Yet, this fight was surprisingly an even match, since the Balrog was once an angelic being as well, meaning that their level of power came close to that of a wizard.
