Sauron
Sauron is a fictional character from J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth universe. He is the titular Lord of the Rings against whom the protagonists of that series struggle.
His name is pronounced "sour-on" (sour as in not sweet), or in IPA as: /'sɑʊɻɒn/. He also appears as Dark Lord Morgoth's chief lieutenant in The Silmarillion.
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First Age
In the earliest of days, before the Valar enter Arda, Sauron is in origin an "angelic" spirit called a Maia in Tolkien's invented mythology. He is at first a powerful servant of Aulë, the Smith, one of the Valar, or ruling powers of the world. However, Sauron is soon subverted by the Dark Lord Melkor (later known as Morgoth, an evil Vala), and Sauron himself turns to evil. Ever after, Sauron serves Morgoth faithfully, and even in later days, after Morgoth is defeated and locked outside the confines of the world, Sauron encourages and coerces Men to worship Morgoth as God. However, while Morgoth wants to either control or destroy the very matter of Arda itself, Sauron's desire is to dominate the minds and wills of its creatures.
During the First Age, the Ñoldorin Elves leave the Blessed Realm of Valinor in the Utter West (against the counsel of the Valar) in order to wage war on Morgoth, who has stolen the precious Silmarils. In that war, Sauron serves as Morgoth's chief lieutenant, surpassing all others in rank. Known as Gorthaur the Cruel, Sauron at that time is a master of illusions and changes of form, and werewolves are his servants, chief among them Draugluin, Sire of Werewolves, and Thuringwethil, his vampire herald. When Morgoth leaves Angband to corrupt the newly awakened Men, Sauron directs the War against the Elves. He conquers 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, dies protecting Beren in captivity there; soon afterward, Lúthien and Huan the Wolfhound defeat Sauron in that place and rescue Beren from the dungeons. After his resounding defeat by Lúthien, Sauron plays little part in the events of the First Age (possibly hiding from Morgoth), and after his master is defeated and cast out by the Valar, Sauron repents (apparently) and pleads for mercy. But he is unwilling to return to the Utter West for judgment, and so he flees and hides.
Second Age
After lying hidden and dormant for about one thousand years, Sauron puts on a fair visage in the Second Age. Calling himself Annatar, the Lord of Gifts, he befriends the Elvish smiths of Eregion, and counsels them in arts and magic. Not all the Elves trust 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 forges it.
By doing so, Sauron actually becomes more powerful than his master Morgoth at the end of the First Age, whose fëa ("soul" or "spirit"), while stronger, was dispersed into the matter of Arda. When Sauron puts on the One Ring and tries to dominate the Elves, they resist, and Sauron comes upon them in the War of the Elves and Sauron and, if not for the intervention of Númenor, might have defeated them.
In this time Sauron becomes known as the Dark Lord of Mordor. He raises Barad-dûr, the Dark Tower, near Mount Doom; constructs the Black Gate of Mordor to prevent invasion; corrupted nine mortal Men with Rings of Power and turns them into the Nazgûl (Ringwraiths), his chief servants; and raises massive armies of Orcs, Trolls, and Men, chiefly Easterlings and Southrons. Because of this, towards the end of the Second Age, Sauron assumes the titles of Lord of the Earth and King of Men.
This offends the Númenóreans, the powerful Men descended from the line of Beren and Lúthien, who live on the island of Númenor in the sea between Middle-earth and Valinor. The proud Númenóreans come to Middle-earth with great force of arms. Sauron's forces flee, and Sauron is taken as hostage to Númenor by King Ar-Pharazôn. There, he quickly grows from captive to advisor; he converts many Númenóreans to the worship of Morgoth, and raises a great temple in which he performs human sacrifices. Finally, he convinces the king to rebel against the Valar and attack Valinor itself. Eru, the supreme god, then directly intervenes: Númenor is drowned under the sea, and the great navy of Númenor is destroyed. Sauron is diminished in the flood of Númenor, and flees back to Mordor, where he slowly rebuilds his strength during the time known as the Dark Years.
From this point on he is unable to assume a fair shape, and rules now through terror and force. A few faithful Númenóreans are saved from the flood, and they found Gondor and Arnor in Middle-earth. These faithful Men, led by Elendil and his sons, ally with the Elven-king, Gil-galad, and together fight Sauron and, after a long war, defeat him, although both Elendil and Gil-galad are killed. Isildur, son of Elendil, cut the One Ring from Sauron's finger and claimed it. But later the Ring betrays him and is lost for more than two thousand years.
Third Age
In the Third Age, Sauron rises yet again, at first in a stronghold called Dol Guldur, the Hill of Sorcery, in southern Mirkwood. There he is known as the Necromancer, and the Elves do not recognize him at first. Gandalf the Wizard steals into Dol Guldur and discovers the truth; eventually the White Council of Wizards and Elves puts forth their might and drives Sauron out. But the White Council was led by Saruman, who wants the Ring for himself, and Sauron simply moves back to Mordor and raises Barad-dûr again. He fortifies Mordor and prepares for war against Gondor and the Elves, with Saruman now his servant.
Sauron breeds immense armies of Orcs and allies with and enslaves Men from the east and south. He adopts the symbol of a lidless eye, and he is able at that time to send out his will over Middle-earth, so that the Eye of Sauron is a symbol of power and fear.
After torturing Gollum, a former Ringbearer, he learned that his One Ring had been found by Bilbo Baggins the Hobbit. He sends his agents to the Shire, Bilbo's home, only to find that Bilbo's nephew, Frodo, had joined the Fellowship of the Ring on a quest to destroy the Ring forever. He rallies his vast armies to conquer the resistance's strongholds, and sends the Ringwraiths to find and kill Frodo. At about this time, he also learns that Aragorn, Isildur's heir, has also joined the Fellowship, and is rallying armies to defeat his.
When Saruman's army is defeated at Isengard, Sauron focuses nearly all his energy on finding Frodo and the Ring. He sends his strongest army to overthrow Minas Tirith in what would become known as the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, led by the Witch-king of Angmar, the chief of Nazgûl, whom he allows to control the battle so he could focus on finding the Ring.
Sauron is nearly successful, as Frodo, who had by now reached Mount Doom, fails at the last moment, unable to resist the power of the Ring at the place of its birth. Gollum inadvertently saves him, however, by recovering the Ring in a desperate attempt to possess it and then falling with it into the fire. Then 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 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.
See also Akallabêth and "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age".
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. 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.
External link
- Sauron at the Encyclopedia of Arda