Sauron: Difference between revisions

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[[Image:Ted Nasmith - The Forging of the One.jpg|thumb|''The Forging of the One'', by [[Ted Nasmith]]]]
[[Image:Ted Nasmith - The Forging of the One.jpg|thumb|''The Forging of the One'', by [[Ted Nasmith]]]]
This offended the Númenóreans, the powerful Men descended from the line of Beren and Lúthien, who lived on the island of Númenor in the sea between Middle-earth and Valinor. The proud Númenóreans came to Middle-earth with great force of arms, and Sauron's forces fled. Realizing he could not defeat the Numenoreans with military strength, Sauron allowed himself to be taken as a hostage to Númenor by King [[Ar-Pharazôn]]. There, he quickly grew from captive to advisor and was known as '''Tar-Mairon'''; he converted many Númenóreans to the worship of Morgoth, and raised a great temple in which he performed human sacrifices. Finally, he convinced the king to rebel against the Valar and attack Valinor itself. [[Eru]], the Supreme Being of Arda, then directly intervened: Númenor was drowned under the sea, and the great navy of Númenor was destroyed. Sauron was diminished in the flood of Númenor, and fled back to Mordor, where he slowly rebuilt his strength during the time known as the [[Dark Years]].
This offended the Númenóreans, the powerful Men descended from the line of Beren and Lúthien, who lived on the island of Númenor in the sea between Middle-earth and Valinor. The proud Númenóreans came to Middle-earth with great force of arms, and Sauron's forces fled. Realizing he could not defeat the Numenoreans with military strength, Sauron allowed himself to be taken as a hostage to Númenor by King [[Ar-Pharazôn]]. There, he quickly grew from captive to advisor and was known as '''Tar-Mairon'''; he converted many Númenóreans to the worship of Morgoth, and raised a great temple in which he performed human sacrifices. Finally, he convinced the king to rebel against the Valar and attack Valinor itself. [[Eru]], the supreme god, then directly intervened: Númenor was drowned under the sea, and the great navy of Númenor was destroyed. Sauron was diminished in the flood of Númenor, and fled back to Mordor, where he slowly rebuilt his strength during the time known as the [[Dark Years]].


From this point on he was unable to assume a fair shape, and ruled now through terror and force. A few faithful Númenóreans were saved from the flood, and they founded [[Gondor]] and [[Arnor]] in Middle-earth. These faithful Men, led by [[Elendil]] and his sons, allied with the Elven-king, Gil-galad, and together fought Sauron and, after a long war, defeated him, although both Elendil and Gil-galad were killed. [[Isildur]], son of Elendil, cut the One Ring from Sauron's finger and claimed it. Later, the Ring betrayed him and was lost for more than two thousand years.
From this point on he was unable to assume a fair shape, and ruled now through terror and force. A few faithful Númenóreans were saved from the flood, and they founded [[Gondor]] and [[Arnor]] in Middle-earth. These faithful Men, led by [[Elendil]] and his sons, allied with the Elven-king, Gil-galad, and together fought Sauron and, after a long war, defeated him, although both Elendil and Gil-galad were killed. [[Isildur]], son of Elendil, cut the One Ring from Sauron's finger and claimed it. Later, the Ring betrayed him and was lost for more than two thousand years.

Revision as of 16:39, 28 March 2010

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Sauron
Maiar
J.R.R. Tolkien - Sauron.jpg
Biographical Information
Other namesMairon, Annatar, Necromancer
Physical Description
RaceMaiar
GenderMale
GalleryImages of Sauron

Sauron was the Chief Lieutenant of Morgoth, who after his fall became another Dark Lord, and ultimately walked down the same ruinous path to oblivion. Sauron was the chief enemy in the Second and Third Age.

History

First Age

Huan Subdues Sauron, by Ted Nasmith

In origin, Sauron was a Maia named Mairon. In the earliest of days he was among people of Aulë, the Smith the ruling powers of the world. However, Mairon was soon ensnared by Melkor (Morgoth), who wished to rule and order all Arda. Mairon was renamed Sauron served Morgoth faithfully, and even in later days, after Morgoth was defeated and locked outside the confines of the world, Sauron encouraged and coerced Men to worship Morgoth as a God. However, while Morgoth wanted to either control or destroy the very matter of Arda itself, Sauron's desire was to dominate the minds and wills of its creatures. It was in this that Sauron was perhaps more practical than his master Morgoth.

During the First Age, the Noldorin Elves left the Blessed Realm of Valinor in the Utter West (against the counsel of the Valar) in order to wage war on Morgoth, who had stolen the precious Silmarils. In that war, Sauron served as Morgoth's chief lieutenant, surpassing all others in rank. Known as Gorthaur the Cruel, Sauron at that time was a master of illusions and changes of form, and Werewolves were his servants, chief among them Draugluin, Sire of Werewolves, and Thuringwethil, his vampire herald. When Morgoth left Angband to corrupt the newly awakened Men, Sauron directed the War against the Elves. He conquered the Elvish isle of Tol Sirion, so that it became known as Tol-in-Gaurhoth, the Isle of Werewolves.

Ten years later, Finrod Felagund, the king of Nargothrond and former lord of Tol Sirion, died protecting Beren in captivity there; soon afterwards, Lúthien and Huan the Wolfhound defeated Sauron in that place and rescued Beren from the dungeons. After his resounding defeat by Lúthien, Sauron played little part in the events of the First Age (possibly hiding from Morgoth), and after his master was defeated and cast out by the Valar, Sauron repented and pled for mercy. But he was unwilling to return to the Utter West for judgment, and so he fled and hid.

Second Age

After lying hidden and dormant for about one thousand years, Sauron put on a fair visage in the Second Age. Calling himself Annatar, the Lord of Gifts, he befriended the Elvish smiths of Eregion, and counseled them in arts and magic. Not all the Elves trusted him, particularly Lady Galadriel and Gil-galad, High King of the Ñoldor, but few listened to them. The Elves forged Rings of Power, but in secret Sauron forged the One Ring in Mount Doom to rule the other rings, investing most of his own power into the Ring as he forged it.

In this time Sauron became known as the Dark Lord of Mordor. He raised Barad-dûr, the Dark Tower, near Mount Doom; constructed the Black Gate of Mordor to prevent invasion; corrupted nine mortal Men with Rings of Power and turned them into the Nazgûl (Ringwraiths), his chief servants; and raised massive armies of Orcs, Trolls, and Men, chiefly Easterlings and Southrons.

Sauron's power reached its zenith 700 years after Mordor's creation, in the 17th century of the Second Age. Immediately after Sauron created the One Ring, Celebrimbor and the other Ring-bearers realized his treachery went to war with him. The War of the Elves and Sauron was a bloody conflict which destroyed Eregion and devastated much of Eriador. Celebrimbor was slain and his body impaled on a spike paraded at the head of Sauron's legions. The Elves were pushed back almost to the Blue Mountains, while their Dwarf allies (who had also rejected Sauron) retreated behind the walls of Moria where Sauron could not assail them. Sauron was master of almost all of Middle-earth beyond the coasts, but the Numenoreans responded to the Elves' call for aid and sent a relief force. The combined armies rallied and were able to defeat Sauron's armies in Eriador after heavy fighting, and the Dark Lord fled back to Mordor with little more than his own bodyguard.

Nonetheless, while Sauron's subsequent power never quiet matched the height it had during the War with the elves, many of his most powerful enemies' homelands had been devastated. Relative to his enemies, Sauron's empire was actually in a stronger position than it used to be. His empire continued to expand to dominate barbarian Men to the far south and east. Throughout this, Sauron remained faithful in his old allegiance, building temples to the worship of Morgoth, where human sacrifice was practiced. Because of this, towards the end of the Second Age, Sauron assumed the titles of Lord of the Earth and King of Men.

The Forging of the One, by Ted Nasmith

This offended the Númenóreans, the powerful Men descended from the line of Beren and Lúthien, who lived on the island of Númenor in the sea between Middle-earth and Valinor. The proud Númenóreans came to Middle-earth with great force of arms, and Sauron's forces fled. Realizing he could not defeat the Numenoreans with military strength, Sauron allowed himself to be taken as a hostage to Númenor by King Ar-Pharazôn. There, he quickly grew from captive to advisor and was known as Tar-Mairon; he converted many Númenóreans to the worship of Morgoth, and raised a great temple in which he performed human sacrifices. Finally, he convinced the king to rebel against the Valar and attack Valinor itself. Eru, the supreme god, then directly intervened: Númenor was drowned under the sea, and the great navy of Númenor was destroyed. Sauron was diminished in the flood of Númenor, and fled back to Mordor, where he slowly rebuilt his strength during the time known as the Dark Years.

From this point on he was unable to assume a fair shape, and ruled now through terror and force. A few faithful Númenóreans were saved from the flood, and they founded Gondor and Arnor in Middle-earth. These faithful Men, led by Elendil and his sons, allied with the Elven-king, Gil-galad, and together fought Sauron and, after a long war, defeated him, although both Elendil and Gil-galad were killed. Isildur, son of Elendil, cut the One Ring from Sauron's finger and claimed it. Later, the Ring betrayed him and was lost for more than two thousand years.

Third Age

In the Third Age, Sauron rose yet again, at first in a stronghold called Dol Guldur, the Hill of Sorcery, in southern Mirkwood. There he was known as the Necromancer, and the Elves did not recognize him at first. Gandalf the Wizard stole into Dol Guldur and discovered the truth; eventually the White Council of Wizards and Elves put forth their might and drove Sauron out. But the White Council was led by Saruman, who wanted the Ring for himself, and for this reason, he did not want to attack Dol Guldur. When Gandalf insisted on an attack again, the White Council did attack. Unfortunately, this time Sauron was already prepared for an attack and escaped to Mordor, rebuilding and fortifying his fortress Barad-Dûr. He now fortified Mordor and prepared for war against Gondor and the Elves, using his new ally Saruman to defeat Rohan.

Sauron bred immense armies of Orcs and allies with which enslaved Men from the east and south. He adopted the symbol of a lidless eye, and he was able at that time to send out his will over Middle-earth, so that the Eye of Sauron was a symbol of power and fear.

After torturing Gollum, he learned that the One Ring had been found by Bilbo Baggins. He sent his deadliest servants, the Nazgûl, to the Shire, only to find that both Bilbo and his nephew, Frodo, had departed. Unbeknownst to Sauron, Frodo had, at the behest of Gandalf, joined the Fellowship of the Ring on a quest to destroy the Ring. He rallied his vast armies to conquer the resistance's strongholds, and sent the Ringwraiths to find and kill Frodo. At about this time, he also learned that Aragorn, Isildur's heir, had also joined the Fellowship, and was rallying armies to defeat his.

The Shadow of Sauron, by Ted Nasmith

When Saruman's army was defeated at Isengard, Aragorn used the Palantir of Orthanc to reveal himself to Sauron. Sauron made the premature conclusion that Aragorn had the Ring, and sent an army commanded by his strongest servant, the Witch-King of Angmar, to overthrow Minas Tirith. This battle would become known as the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.

Although Sauron lost the Battle of Pelennor Fields, the free forces of the West were greatly weakened, and Sauron still had sufficent armies in reserve to ensure military victory. He was outwitted, however, by the strategy of Gandalf, who urged the captains of the Free peoples to march against Sauron, thus diverting the Dark Lord's eye from the real threat of Frodo, the Ring Bearer, who was nearing the end of his quest to destroy the One Ring.

Frodo, however, failed at the last moment, unable to resist the power of the Ring at the place of its birth. But Gollum inadvertently saved him by recovering the Ring in a desperate attempt to possess it, and then falling with it into the fire. Thus Sauron's power was unmade, and his corporeal power in Middle-earth came to an end. His spirit towered above Mordor like a black cloud, but was blown away by a powerful wind from the West. Sauron was now permanently crippled, never to rise again. Saruman would suffer a similar fate.

Etymology

In some of Tolkien's notes from the 1950's, it is said that Sauron's original name was Mairon, "the admirable" (Q, pron. [ˈmaɪron]), "but this was altered after he was suborned by Melkor. But he continued to call himself Mairon the Admirable, or Tar-mairon 'King Excellent', until after Númenor's downfall." (Parma Eldalamberon 17, 183)

Sauron (pron. [ˈsaʊron]; originally Þauron, [ˈθaʊron]) is Quenya, and can be translated as the Abhorred or the Abomination. It is pronounced "sour-on" (sour as in not sweet). In Sindarin he is called Gorthaur ([ˈɡorθaʊr]) and also he was known as the Necromancer, the Abhorred Dread and the Nameless Enemy, which is hardly accurate (but perhaps an effort to lessen his psychological impact), whereas Morgoth is the Dark Enemy. The Dúnedain call him Sauron the Deceiver due to his role in the downfall of Númenor and the Forging of the Rings of Power. His two most common titles, the Dark Lord of Mordor and the Lord of the Rings, appear only a few times in the books. His other titles were similar to Morgoth's.

Other Versions of the Legendarium

Prior to the publication of The Silmarillion Sauron's origins and true identity were unclear to those without full access to Tolkien's notes. In early editions of the Guide to Middle Earth, Sauron is described as "probably of the Eldar elves."

Since the earliest versions of the Silmarillion legendarium as detailed in the History of Middle-earth series, Sauron has undergone many changes. The prototype of this character was Tevildo, lord of the cats, who played the role later taken by Sauron in the earliest version of the story of Beren and Lúthien in The Book of Lost Tales, the Tale of Tinúviel. Tevildo later (but still in the Book of Lost Tales period) was transformed into Thû, the Necromancer. The name was then changed to Gorthû, Sûr, and finally to Sauron. Gorthû, in the form Gorthaur remained in The Silmarillion.

Portrayal in Adaptations

See also

References

Preceded by:
none
Ring-bearer
c. S.A. 16003441
Followed by:
Isildur
Ainur
Valar Lords Manwë · Ulmo · Aulë · Oromë · Mandos · Irmo · Tulkas · Melkor
Valier Varda · Yavanna · Nienna · Estë · Vairë · Vána · Nessa
Maiar Arien · Blue Wizards · Eönwë · Gandalf · Ilmarë · Melian · Ossë · Radagast · Salmar · Saruman · Tilion · Uinen
Úmaiar Sauron · Balrogs (Gothmog · Durin's Bane) · Boldogs
Concepts and locations Almaren · Aratar (indicated in italics) · Creation of the Ainur · Fana · Máhanaxar · Ainulindalë · Order of Wizards (indicated in bold) · Second Music of the Ainur · Timeless Halls · Valarin · Valinor · Valimar