Sauron
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Sauron (IPA: /'sɑurɔn/, Quenya: "Abhorred") is the eponymous title character and main antagonist of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. He also appears as the Dark Lord Morgoth's chief lieutenant in The Silmarillion, and is mentioned as the Necromancer in The Hobbit.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] First Age
In the earliest of days, before the godlike Valar entered the realm of Arda, Sauron originated as a spirit called a Maia. He was at first one of the most powerful servants of Aulë the Smith, one of the Valar or ruling powers of the world. He is described as being concerned with ordering the universe, and through this Melkor corrupted him.
Sauron was soon subverted by the Dark Lord Melkor (later known as Morgoth), the evil Vala, and thereafter served Morgoth. After Morgoth was defeated and cast outside the confines of the world, Sauron encouraged and coerced Men to worship Morgoth and himself as gods. While Morgoth wanted to either control or destroy the very matter of Arda itself, Sauron's desire within the limits of his power was to dominate the will of its creatures.
During the First Age, the Noldorin Elves left the Blessed Realm of Valinor in the Uttermost West against the counsel of the Valar to wage war on Morgoth, who had stolen the Silmarils. In that war Sauron served as Morgoth's chief lieutenant, surpassing all others in rank. Only Gothmog, the Lord of Balrogs, equalled him. Known as Gorthaur the Cruel, Sauron was at that time a master of illusions and changes of form; werewolves and vampires were his servants, chief among them Draugluin, Father of Werewolves, and his vampire herald Thuringwethil. 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, and there he was known as their lord.
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 seemingly played little part in the events of the First Age.
After his master was defeated and cast out by the Valar, Sauron repented (truly at first, if only out of fear) and pleaded for mercy. But he was unwilling to go to the Uttermost West for judgment, and so fled and hid in Middle-earth.
[edit] Second Age
In the Second Age, after lying hidden and dormant for about 1000 years, Sauron reappeared. Having assumed a beautiful appearance and calling himself Annatar, "the Lord of Gifts", Sauron befriended the Elven-smiths of Eregion, and counselled them in arts and magic. Some of the Elves distrusted him, especially the Lady Galadriel in Lórien and Gil-galad, the High King of the Noldor; the elves in Eregion did not heed their warnings, however.
With Sauron's assistance, the Elven-smiths forged the Rings of Power, which conferred great power to their bearers. Unbeknownst to them, Sauron had secretly forged a master-Ring, the One Ring, in the fires of the volcanic Mount Doom in Mordor. This "One Ring to rule them all" had the power to dominate the other Rings and enslave their wearers to Sauron's will. But the Rings of Power were extremely potent, and to accomplish his goal Sauron was forced to place the greater part of his native power into it. Anyone of sufficiently strong will who possessed the One Ring had available to him much of Sauron's own power to dominate, and should the One Ring ever be destroyed Sauron would be reduced and forever unable to take any physical form.
When Sauron put on the One Ring and tried to dominate the Elves, they became aware of his intent and removed their Rings. Sauron responded with military force, initiating the War of the Elves and Sauron and conquering much of the land west of Anduin. This was the beginning of the Dark Years. He laid waste to Eregion, killed Celebrimbor, leader of the Elven-smiths, and seized sixteen Great Rings, previously forged with his assistance. However, Celebrimbor had forged three Rings himself without Sauron's help, and these were saved and remained in the hands of the Elves Specifically: (according to The Lord of the Rings) Gil-galad (who entrusted Vilya to his lieutenant Elrond), Galadriel, and Círdan (who later entrusted Narya to Gandalf). Note that Unfinished Tales and The Lord of the Rings differ on this point (see article Three Rings).
With the Elves near incapacitated, Sauron proceeded to besiege Imladris, battle with Moria and Lórien, and push further into Gil-galad's realm. The Elves fought back, however, and with the aid of a powerful army from Númenor under their king Tar-Minastir, destroyed Sauron's army and drove it back to Mordor. The Númenóreans held the most powerful kingdom of men at this time; they were descended from the Three Houses of the Edain who had helped the Elves in their war against Morgoth, and they lived on the island of Númenor in the seas between Middle-earth and Valinor.
From this time on, Sauron became known as the Dark Lord of Mordor. He erected Barad-dûr, the Dark Tower, not far from Mount Doom. He distributed his 16 Rings to lords of Men and Dwarves, giving them nine and seven respectively. Dwarves proved too resilient to bend to his will (instead being overwhelmed with greed), but the Men became enslaved to Sauron as the Nazgûl, his most feared servants. Sauron regained control over all of the creatures that had served Morgoth in the First Age and still existed in the Second Age (such as Orcs and Trolls), both on the earth and under it. Sauron also gained power over most of the Men who lived in the east and the south, becoming a god-king unto them. Towards the end of the Second Age Sauron assumed the titles of Lord of the Earth and King of Men.
In 3261 S.A., Ar-Pharazôn, the last and most powerful of the Númenórean kings, came to Middle-earth with great force of arms, and Sauron's forces deserted him rather than fight. Realizing he could not defeat the Númenóreans with military strength, Sauron allowed himself to be taken as a prisoner to Númenor. Tolkien later wrote (in a letter, #211) that Ar-Pharazôn did not know about the Rings of Power and did not take the One Ring from Sauron. Using the same fair form and powers of persuasion that he had used previously on the Elves, Sauron quickly grew from captive to adviser of the king. By then, Sauron had become the High Priest of Melkor, "Lord of the Dark", and a great temple was built where human sacrifice was carried out. A decade later he convinced Ar-Pharazôn to attack Valinor itself, convincing him that whoever possessed the Undying Lands would live forever. In 3319 S.A., the greatest armament the world has ever seen landed on the shores of Valinor. At this point Eru ("The One"; God in Tolkien’s legendarium) directly intervened: Númenor was drowned under the sea, and the great navy of Númenor was destroyed. Sauron's body was destroyed. His spirit returned to Mordor and took up the One Ring. Over time Sauron was able to assume a new physical form and began to re-amass his forces. He was unable ever again to take on the fair shapes under which he had deceived the Elves and seduced the Númenóreans, and from then on he could only rule through terror and force. It is conjectured that he could not maintain a physical shape of any kind without the Ring.
The few faithful Númenóreans were saved from the flood, and they founded the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor amongst the numerous Númenórean colonists and the natives of north-western Middle-earth. Led by Elendil and his sons, these then forged the Last Alliance of Elves and Men with Gil-galad, to fight Sauron. The Alliance won a great victory on the plain of Dagorlad and invaded Mordor, laying siege to Barad-dûr for seven years. During the siege, Elendil's younger son Anárion was killed by a stone cast from the tower. Finally, Sauron was forced to emerge from his tower and fight himself. He was overcome and physically killed by Gil-galad and Elendil, although they both died in the act, and Elendil's sword Narsil broke beneath him when he fell. (Other sources refer to Sauron picking up Gil-galad and setting him on fire with his burning internal rage before himself being himself thrown down)[citation needed]. Elendil's surviving son, Isildur, cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand with the hilt-shard of Narsil. With the loss of his Ring Sauron was vanquished, and his spirit fled into hiding. Thus ended the Second Age.
Elrond and Círdan, Gil-galad's lieutenants, urged Isildur to destroy the Ring by casting it into the fires where it was forged, but he refused and kept it for his own. A few years later, Isildur's party was ambushed by a band of Orcs on the way to Rivendell and overwhelmed. He put on the Ring and attempted to escape by swimming across Anduin, but the Ring — which had a will of its own and a desire to return to Sauron — slipped from his finger and he was spotted and killed by Orc-archers. The Ring remained lost beneath the water for more than 2000 years.
[edit] Third Age
In the Third Age, in the period of The Hobbit, Sauron rose yet again, at first in a stronghold called Dol Guldur, the Hill of Sorcery, in southern Mirkwood. In Mirkwood he was known as the Necromancer, but 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 combined to put forth their might, and Sauron was driven out of Mirkwood.
Now only able to function as a dark, ethereal presence, Sauron's power had recovered to the point that he was able to extend his will over Middle-earth. The Eye of Sauron, as his attention and force of will was perceived, and which became his main heraldic device, became a symbol of oppression and fear. Following his expulsion from Dol Guldur, from which he only pretended to be forced, Sauron returned to Mordor, which had already been fortified by the Nazgûl, publicly declared himself, and raised Barad-dûr anew. In preparation for a final war against Men and Elves, he bred immense armies of Orcs, augmenting them with Men from the east and south who (through their leaders) were in his service.
At the beginning of the period covered by The Lord of the Rings, the wizard Gandalf discovered that the Ring had been found. He went for advice to Saruman the White, leader of the wizards' council, but discovered that Saruman secretly planned to either gain the Ring for himself or to make his own ring of power. Gandalf was held captive for some time, but eventually managed to escape with the help of the giant eagle Gwaihir.
Meanwhile, following the capture and torture of Gollum, Sauron learned that the One Ring had been found by a Hobbit named "Baggins". Sauron sent the Ringwraiths to the Shire, Bilbo's home, only to find that both Bilbo and his nephew, Frodo, had left.
At the behest of Gandalf, and unknown to Sauron, Frodo and his friends set out to take the Ring to the elven stronghold at Rivendell. There Elrond convened a high council of the peoples of Middle-earth to discuss the crisis and decide on a course of action. The council determined that the Ring must be destroyed, and Frodo and Sam joined the Fellowship of the Ring, accepting the council's mission to destroy the Ring forever by casting it into the fires of Mount Doom, in the heart of Mordor.
Pretending to act on behalf of Sauron, Saruman raised a vast army of his own and invaded Rohan. Thanks to the intervention of Gandalf and the giant tree-people of Fangorn, the Ents, Saruman's armies were routed and his stronghold at Isengard was overthrown; soon after, Gandalf broke Saruman's power.
During Saruman's confrontation with Gandalf, the palantír of Orthanc fell into the hands of the Fellowship. Aragorn, the heir of Isildur and rightful owner of the palantír, was able to exploit it to create a ruse which he hoped would distract Sauron long enough to allow Frodo to reach Mount Doom and destroy the Ring. Sauron was led to believe that Aragorn had (or would soon have) the Ring. Sauron therefore attacked sooner than he had planned by sending an army commanded by his strongest servant, the fearsome Witch-king of Angmar, to overthrow Minas Tirith. (See Battle of the Pelennor Fields.)
Although the Witch-king, the army of Morgul, the forces of the Harad, Khand and Umbar were destroyed, Sauron still had sufficient armies in reserve to recover his strength and over the long term win the war. He was outwitted, however, by Gandalf, who urged the captains of the West to march on the gates of Mordor in another action to divert the Dark Lord's attention long enough to allow Frodo to finally reach Mount Doom.
The battle was joined and was going very poorly for the West as Frodo reached his goal, but he failed at the last moment. Unable to resist the power of the Ring at the place of its forging, he put it on his finger and claimed it for his own. At that moment Sauron discerned the truth and turned his gaze to Mount Doom, sending his remaining Nazgûl to capture the Ring. The attempt was futile, however; Gollum attacked Frodo and bit the Ring from his finger, but lost his footing and fell with it into the fire.
At the Ring's destruction, Sauron's power was immediately broken and his form in Middle-earth was destroyed. His departing spirit towered above Mordor like a black cloud, but was blown away by a powerful wind from the West. Barad-dûr crumbled and Sauron was permanently crippled, unable under his own remaining power to take shape or effective action again.
[edit] Names and titles
Sauron (from an earlier form Þauron) is Quenya, and can be translated as the Abhorred or the Abomination; in Sindarin he is called Gorthaur, the Abhorred Dread or the Dread Abomination. He is also called the Nameless 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 Lord of the Rings. His other titles or variants thereof include Base Master of Treachery, the Dark Lord, the Dark Power, Lord of Barad-dûr, the Red Eye, the Ring-maker, and the Sorcerer.
In the First Age he was the Lord of Werewolves of Tol-in-Gaurhoth. In the Second Age he assumed the name Annatar, which meant Lord of Gifts. In the Third Age he was briefly known as the Necromancer of Dol Guldur.
The remainder of his many titles were similar to Morgoth's.
[edit] Appearance
As a Maia, Sauron was able to change his appearance for many years. In the beginning he likely wore a form seeming fair and noble most of the time, but after switching his allegiance to Morgoth he frequently took the appearance of a dark and terrible shadow. As part of a plan to destroy Huan, Sauron took the form of the greatest werewolf which had been on Middle-earth up to that time, and then assumed several other forms when attempting to escape. He took a beautiful appearance once again at the end of the First Age in an effort to deceive Eönwë. He either remained such, or took this form again when appearing as Annatar to the Elves.
Like Morgoth, his ability to change his physical form (his hröa) was eventually reduced and possibly lost entirely. After the destruction of his fair form in the fall of Númenor, Sauron was unable to take a pleasing appearance or veil his power again. Thereafter, at the end of the Second Age and again in the Third, he always took the shape of a terrible dark lord. Tolkien described Sauron's form in the Third Age as "that of a man of more than human stature, but not gigantic." (The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien #246)
Isildur recorded that Sauron's hand "was black, and yet burned like fire, and so Gil-galad was destroyed..." Also, Sméagol/Gollum (who was tormented by Sauron in person) told Frodo that Sauron only had four fingers on one hand; apparently he was not able to restore the finger that Isildur had cut off.
Despite his retainment of his black, burning, physical form, sans a finger, Sauron appeared metaphysically as an Eye to Frodo in The Fellowship of the Ring. The Eye of Sauron was yellow and had a black slit for a pupil, resembling a cat's, but was rimmed with fire.
[edit] Concept and creation
Since the earliest versions of the Silmarillion legendarium as detailed in the History of Middle-earth series, Sauron had undergone many changes. The prototype of this character was Tevildo, Prince of 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 (note that the later Sauron appears as a cat's eye). Tevildo later 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.
[edit] Adaptations
In film versions of The Lord of the Rings, Sauron has been portrayed as either a humanoid or an Eye (making the Eye his physical form as opposed to a metaphysical one). Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated version, The Lord of the Rings showed him as a humanoid. The 1980 animated The Return of the King showed him as an Eye.[1] Peter Jackson's 2001-2003 The Lord of the Rings film trilogy shows both forms.
In Jackson's film adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring, Sauron wields a mace while fighting the Last Alliance. He knocks many people into the air with every blow (possibly through the power of the Ring, though this has no precedent in the book). He kills Elendil and Isildur grabs his sword Narsil, but it breaks (into many pieces, as opposed to two) when Sauron steps on it. Sauron then stretches his hand out, but Isildur then cuts off the Ring (and most of Sauron's fingers, as opposed to only one) with the hilt-shard. Separation from the Ring destroys Sauron's body, which explodes and causes a shockwave, knocking everyone on the battlefield over. Later Saruman says that he "cannot yet take physical form" but the Eye of Sauron "sees all"; but in the following films the Eye is revealed to be his physical form, literally sitting on top of Barad-dûr.
In Jackson's film adaptation of The Two Towers, Galadriel suggests that if Sauron had reclaimed the One Ring, he would have controlled all life in Middle-earth, "even unto the ending of the world".
In Jackson's film adaptation of The Return of the King, Sauron is shown scanning Mordor rather like a lighthouse, and can only observe one location at a time. Curiously, before the Battle of the Black Gate, Aragorn says a line from the book, "Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth!" despite earlier references in the films that Sauron lacks a physical form. The Eye falls from Barad-dûr when it collapses after the Ring is destroyed, and is destroyed with both.
In earlier versions of the script Sauron would indeed "come forth" at Aragorn's challenge, and do battle with him. Scenes of the fight were shot, but later this idea was discarded and Sauron was digitally replaced by a Troll.
[edit] Trivia
- 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 Robert Foster's The Complete Guide to Middle-earth, Sauron is described as "probably of the Eldar elves."
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Dark Lord Born: Ainulindalë Pre-creation Died: 3019 Third Age |
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|---|---|---|
| Preceded by None (created by Sauron) |
Bearer of the Great Ring circa 1600 SA – 3441 SA |
Succeeded by Isildur |
| Vacant Title last held by None; Line established |
Lord of Mordor | Succeeded by Destroyed |
| Vacant Title last held by None; Line established |
Lord of Dol Guldur | Succeeded by Khamûl |
| Ainur from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium | |
|---|---|
| Ainulindalë (Music of the Ainur) | |
| Lords of the Valar: | Manwë | Ulmo | Aulë | Oromë | Námo (Mandos) | Irmo (Lórien) | Tulkas |
| Queens of the Valar (The Valier): | Varda | Yavanna | Nienna | Estë | Vairë | Vána | Nessa |
| The Enemy: | Morgoth (a.k.a. Melkor) |
| Maiar: | Eönwë | Ilmarë | Ossë | Uinen | Salmar | Sauron | Melian | Arien | Tilion | Gothmog Curumo (Saruman) | Olórin (Gandalf) | Aiwendil (Radagast) | Alatar and Pallando | Durin's Bane |
Categories: Articles to be merged since February 2007 | Tolkien articles with unsourced statements | Film characters | Characters in The Lord of the Rings | Characters in The Silmarillion | Middle-earth Maiar | Fictional demons | Fictional magic users | Fictional shapeshifters | Fictional warlords | Fictional immortals | Fictional mass murderers | Bearers of the One Ring | Fictional characters with superhuman strength
