Mouth of Sauron

In J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional universe of Middle-earth, the Mouth of Sauron was the name given to the Dark Lord Sauron's servant and emissary. He appears in The Lord of the Rings - specifically in the third volume, The Return of the King.

He was one of the Black Númenóreans, and briefly appeared in person when he haggled with the Army of the West in front of the Black Gate (Morannon in Elvish), trying to convince Aragorn and Gandalf to give up and let Sauron win the war for Middle-earth. When Gandalf turned his proposal down, the Mouth of Sauron set all the armies of Mordor on to them.

Also known as the Lieutenant of Barad-dûr, he had served Sauron for much of his life, and had forgotten his own name. A man of great stature and also skilled in great sorcery, he was potentially the equal of other Dúnedain, but had fallen into darkness.

At its head there rode a tall and evil shape, mounted upon a black horse… The rider was robed all in black, and black was his lofty helm; yet this was no Ringwraith but a living man. The Lieutenant of the Tower of Barad-dur he was, and his name is remembered in no tale; for he himself had forgotten it, and he said: 'I am the Mouth of Sauron.' ^[1]

As The Mouth of Sauron. "...he entered the service of the Dark Tower when it first rose again" — which would mean that by the time of his encounter with Aragorn and Gandalf the Mouth of Sauron had been in the service of his master for 68 years.

The Mouth's fate is nowhere recorded, and it is probable he died in the assault before the Morannon, as Gandalf warned him he would in the moments prior to the battle.

One inconsistency about the Mouth of Sauron's title is that Aragorn states earlier in the second volume, The Two Towers, that Sauron does not "use his right name, nor permit it to be spelt or spoken".^[2] If Aragorn is not mistaken, then it would be strange for one of Sauron's officers to have a title violating this rule. It has been conjectured by Christopher Tolkien that this can be understood in terms of Aragorn's information being out of date, relating to Sauron's previously hidden identity.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] In adaptations

The Mouth of Sauron is featured in the 1980 animated version of The Return of the King produced by Rankin/Bass. In the novel, The Mouth of Sauron rides out of the Morannon with a small group of other Black Numenorian soldiers from the Dark Tower. In other adaptions, he rides out alone.

Bruce Spence as the Mouth of Sauron in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

In the 2001-2003 The Lord of the Rings film trilogy by Peter Jackson, the Mouth of Sauron does not appear in the theatrical cut of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, but he does appear in the extended version, played by a virtually unrecognisable Bruce Spence, with the words "LAMMEN GORTHAUR" (Sindarin for "Voice of The Abhorred Dread"; Gorthaur is the Sindarin equivalent of Quenya Sauron, "abhorred") in Cirth runes written on his helmet. His helmet covers his entire face except for his mouth, which is horribly diseased and disfigured by all the evil he has spoken. His mouth is also disproportionately large, creating an unsettling effect. Jackson conceived of this idea long after the footage had been shot, and asked his special effects team to create the effect digitally. After having their idea of digitally turning his mouth so it appeared vertical on his face rejected by Jackson, the designers came up with the idea of rendering it twice as large as the original.

The Mouth of Sauron is blind, but is able to "see" by a combination of sorcery and telepathy, enabling him to see very far and wide and possibly even through the environments around him (like 'seeing' through the Black Gate before they opened). This would explain why his entire face, except for his mouth, is covered.

The extended DVD cast commentary mentions that Jackson considered different depictions of the character, such as having Kate Winslet (who starred in Heavenly Creatures, another Jackson film) play the role, partially to emphasise the temptations Aragorn was facing.

Another departure from the text consists of Aragorn decapitating the Mouth of Sauron with Andúril after the Mouth taunts him and Gandalf by implying that Frodo failed in their mission and was tortured to death. In contrast, the literary Mouth of Sauron says, "I am a herald and ambassador and may not be assailed!"^[1]

Jackson said that he had cut the encounter from the theatrical version due to its lack of effect; he commented that in the book it was dramatic since the reader does not know Frodo's fate, but in the film the audience knows that Frodo and Sam are alive. Once the Mouth is beheaded, his horse and body are not visible in the following shot as the Orcs march through the Black Gate, however Aragorn's sword is visibly stained with his blood.

He is also featured in EA Games' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, as a boss the player must defeat in order to beat the level "The Black Gate". He is also a playable evil "Hero" in The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II.

[edit] References