Sauron

2006-11-29T03:03:16Z

Mirkwoodworker: /* First Age */

{{royalty infobox
| image=[[Image:Dominic Norris - Sauron.jpg|250px]]
| name= Sauron
| othernames= [[Thû]], [[Annatar]], Lord of the Earth, King of Men, [[Lord of the Ring]], [[Necromancer]], Sauron the Deceiver, Nameless Enemy
| birth=
| rule=
| death= III 3019
| realms= [[Mordor]]
| gender= Male
| race= [[Maiar]]
| height=
| hair=
| eyes=
|}}

'''Sauron''' was the Lieutenant of [[Morgoth]], who after his fall became his own Dark Lord, his most famous role and the time of his passing recounted in ''[[Lord of the Rings]]''.

His name is pronounced "sour-on" (''sour'' as in not sweet), or in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPA IPA] as: {{IPA|/'sɑʊɻɒn/}}.

== First Age ==
In the earliest of days, before the [[Valar]] entered [[Arda]], Sauron was in origin an "angelic" spirit called a [[Maiar|Maia]] in Tolkien's invented mythology. He was at first the chief servant of [[Aulë]], the Smith, one of the Valar, or ruling powers of the world. However, Sauron was soon perverted by the Dark Lord Melkor (later known as [[Morgoth]], an evil Vala), and Sauron himself turned to evil. Ever after, 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 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 wiser than Morgoth.

[[Image:Ted Nasmith - Huan Subdues Sauron.jpg|thumb|left|''Huan Subdues Sauron'', by [[Ted Nasmith]]]]
During the [[First Age]], the [[Noldor]]in [[Elves]] left the [[Blessed Realm]] of [[Valinor]] in the [[West|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 Erchamion|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 (apparently) and pled for mercy. But he was unwilling to return to the Utter West for judgement, and so he fled and hid.

== Second Age ==
[[Image:Annatar.jpg|thumb|left|''Annatar'' as envisioned by [[Weta]] from [[Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings]]]]
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 a 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]]. Because of this, towards the end of the Second Age, Sauron assumed the titles of '''Lord of the Earth''' and '''King of Men'''.

[[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; 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 [[Wizards|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 Sauron simply moved back to Mordor and raised Barad-dûr again. He fortified Mordor and prepared for war against Gondor and the Elves, with Saruman now his servant.

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]], a former Ringbearer, he learned that the One Ring had been found by [[Bilbo Baggins]] [[The Hobbit]]. He sent his agents to the [[Shire]], Bilbo's home, only to find that both Bilbo and his nephew, [[Frodo Baggins|Frodo]], had gone. Unbeknownst to Sauron, Frodo had, at the behest of Gandalf, joined the [[Fellowship of the Ring]] on a quest to destroy the Ring forever by casting it into the fires of Mount Doom, in the heart of Mordor. 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 II|Aragorn]], Isildur's heir, had also joined the Fellowship, and was rallying armies to defeat his.

[[Image:Ted Nasmith - The Shadow of Sauron.jpg|thumb|220px|left|''The Shadow of Sauron'', by [[Ted Nasmith]]]]
When Saruman's army is defeated at [[Isengard]], Aragorn uses the Palantir of Orthanc to reveal himself to Sauron. Sauron jumps to the conclusion that Aragorn has the ring and sends an army commanded by his strongest servant, The Witch-King of Angmar, to overthrow [[Minas Tirith in Gondor|Minas Tirith]] in what would become known as the [[Battle of the Pelennor Fields]].

Although Sauron loses the Battle of Pelennor Fields, the free forces of the west are greatly weakened, and Sauron still has sufficent armies in reserve to ensure military victory. He is outwitted, however, by the strategy of Gandalf, who urges 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 is nearing the end of his quest to destroy the One Ring.

Frodo, however, fails at the last moment, unable to resist the power of the Ring at the place of its birth. But Gollum inadvertently saves him by recovering the Ring in a desperate attempt to possess it and then falling with it into the fire. Thus Sauron's power is unmade, and his corporeal power in Middle-earth comes to an end. His spirit towers above Mordor like a black cloud, but is blown away by a powerful wind from the [[Aman|West]], and Sauron is now permanently crippled, never to rise again. ([[Saruman]] soon suffers a lesser version of this fate.)

== Names and Titles ==
''Sauron'' (originally '''''Thauron''''') is [[Quenya]], and can be translated as ''the Abhorred'' or ''the Abomination''; in [[Sindarin]] he is called ''Gorthaur'' the [[Necromancer]], ''the Abhorred Dread''. He is also called 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 ''[[The Complete Guide to Middle-earth|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 Erchamion|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''.

== See Also ==
* '''[[:Category:Images of Sauron|Images of Sauron]]'''
* [[Akallabêth]]
* [[Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age]]
* [[The Dark Lord Sauron polystone statue]]

[[Category:Maiar]]

Grey Mountains

2006-11-29T02:56:06Z

Mirkwoodworker:

The '''Grey Mountains''' (or '''Ered Mithrin''' in [[Sindarin]]) was a large mountain range to the north of [[Rhovanion]]. They were the last remnants of the wall of the [[Iron Mountains]], which once stretched all over the north of [[Middle-earth]], but were broken at the end of the [[First Age]].

North of the Grey Mountains lay [[Forodwaith (lands)|Forodwaith]], or the Northern Waste. This land was known as [[Dor Daidelos]] during the First Age, but most of it was destroyed in the breaking of [[Arda]].

Where the Grey Mountains met with the [[Misty Mountains]] lay [[Mount Gundabad]], an ancient [[Dwarves|Dwarven]] holy site and later a haven for [[Orcs]]. During the [[Third Age]], the branch of the Grey Mountains west of the Misty Mountains were also known as the '''[[Mountains of Angmar]]''', as they were within the [[Angmar|Kingdom of Angmar]].

The eastern end of the Grey Mountains was split in two branches, and in between lay the [[Withered Heath]], where [[Dragons]] still bred. After that was a long gap, until the [[Iron Hills]] continued the old line of the Iron Mountains again. [[Erebor]], the Lonely Mountain, was not part of either range.

From east to west the mountains stretched some 350 Númenórean Miles, and the sources of the Great River [[Anduin]], the river [[Greylin]], and the [[Forest River]] of [[Mirkwood]] arose in this range.

Of old the Grey Mountains had been mined by Dwarves of [[Durin's folk]], but by the Third Age all Dwarven strongholds had been abandoned or raided by [[dragons]]. Its sole purpose now seemed to be to divide Forodwaith from [[Wilderland]].

Dwarves may have retunred there in the [[Fourth Age]], but it wasn't stated by Tolkien.

== Other Versions of the Legendarium ==
Another line of "Grey Mountains" in Middle-earth are seen on the [[Ambarkanta]] map: these are a series of mountains which continue the line of the [[Blue Mountains]] as the western edge of [[Endor]], but on the southern half of the continent. Since no maps of the entire world exist after the [[First Age]], it is unknown if this mountain line still existed in the Third Age. In any case they do not appear in any narrative.

[[Category:Mountains]]
[[Category:Rhovanion]]
[[Category:Orc-Dwellings]]

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Sauron

Grey Mountains