
Sauron (Quenya; IPA [ˈsaʊron] or [ˈθaʊron]), the eponymous Lord of the Rings, was the greatest subversive Maia, the maker of the One Ring, renowned student of the Vala Aulë, and the most trusted lieutenant of Morgoth. After Morgoth's ousting by the Valar, Sauron became the second Dark Lord and sought to conquer Middle-earth and even Númenor through guileful trickery - the chief representation of which were the Rings of Power - or overwhelming legions.
At the end of the Second Age, Sauron was defeated in the War of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men united under Gil-galad and Elendil. In the final battle, Isildur managed to cut the One Ring from him, dismantling Sauron's corporeal form and ridding him of much of his power. After centuries lying dormant, rebuilding strength and stirring awake evil things, Sauron returned to power late in the Third Age, but was permanently crippled in the War of the Ring after the destruction of his Ring in the fires of Mount Doom by Frodo Baggins and his spirit was claimed by the Void.
To the Sindar of Beleriand, Sauron was known as Gorthaur the Cruel in the First Age.
Appearance[]
In the time of The Silmarillion, however, Sauron was a shape changer, taking in one instance the forms of a serpent, a vampire, and a great wolf. After Morgoth's fall, Sauron appeared in fair form as "Annatar", the Lord of Gifts, and maintained this appearance until the fall of Númenor, in which he was unable to ever take a fair form ever again. The History of Middle-earth includes a passage vaguely describing how the Númenóreans saw him: "Upon that ship which was cast highest and stood dry upon a hill there was a man, but greater than any even of the race of Númenor in stature...And it seemed to men that Sauron was great; though they feared the light of his eyes. To many he appeared fair, to others terrible; but to some evil."
A few clues are given as to Sauron's appearance as the Dark Lord, after he lost his ability to take a fair form: Tolkien described Sauron in one of his letters as having the form of a man of more than human stature, but not gigantic, and as an image of malice and hatred made visible. He apparently gave off great heat, so much so that Gil-galad was burned to death by his mere touch, and Isildur described Sauron's hand as black, yet burning like fire, suggesting that his entire body was blackened from fire and heat.
Gollum, having apparently once seen Sauron directly, described him as having only four fingers on his black hand, suggesting that Sauron was unable to regenerate the finger from which Isildur took the One Ring, similar to how the wounds Morgoth took from Fingolfin never healed.
In addition to his physical appearance, Sauron also apparently had an aura of incredible malevolence. A passage in The Silmarillion describes him as having a "dreadful presence," and daunting eyes.
Sauron existed even before the beginning of time itself as an Ainur spirit, created by Eru Ilúvatar. Like all of his kind, he had the ability to shapeshift and existed without any physical form for quite some time.
In addition to his physical appearance, Sauron also apparently had an aura of incredible and pure malevolence. A passage in The Silmarillion describes him as having a "dreadful presence", and daunting eyes. Furthermore, his mere presence could bend all but the strongest wills.
Personality[]
Regarding Sauron's personality, Tolkien said in his letters:
- In my story Sauron represents as near an approach to the wholly evil will as is possible. He had gone the way of all tyrants: beginning well, at least on the level that while desiring to order all things according to his own wisdom he still at first considered the (economic) well-being of other inhabitants of the Earth. But he went further than human tyrants in pride and the lust for domination, being in origin an immortal (angelic) spirit. Sauron desired to be a God-King, and was held to be this by his servants, by a triple treachery: 1. Because of his admiration of Strength he had become a follower of Morgoth and fell with him down into the depths of evil, becoming his chief agent in Middle-earth. 2. when Morgoth was defeated by the Valar finally he forsook his allegiance; but out of fear only; he did not present himself to the Valar or sue for pardon, and remained in Middle-earth. 3. When he found how greatly his knowledge was admired by all other rational creatures and how easy it was to influence them, his pride became boundless.
Sauron was once a wise Maia who valued order but was corrupted by Morgoth and became his first lieutenant wishing to assist Morgoth in order to create the world he saw fit. However, after Morgoth was banished, Sauron merely wanted power and domination, becoming utterly malicious and cruel just like Morgoth. While he wasn't as powerful as his master, he was more successful.
During his time in Middle-earth, Sauron proved himself to be merciless, extremely wrathful and aggressive, and happy to slaughter as many as he wished. He had the will to dominate Arda itself, despising free will and wanting all life to be his slaves. He was so unsympathetic for human life that he wanted to kill the women and children of Minas Tirith, alongside the entire city's population. Those who he didn't want to kill were nothing but slaves who carried out his bidding without question, such as the Nazgûl and the Orcs.
He was a master of deception, taking advantage of the greed and corruptibility of others, such as the Nazgûl whom he corrupted with the Rings of Power, and Gollum, who through the Ring was corrupted. Sauron despised the Free Men who refused to join him most out of all races, waging war against the free kingdoms of Rohan and Gondor, wishing to destroy the world of Men. In addition to this, he greatly feared Aragorn, knowing that he would become the King of Gondor. He was also a real enemy of the Elves, with his presence alone in the Second and Third Age leading many of them to leave Middle-earth out of fear of him. He would have also destroyed the Shire and enslaved all the Hobbits.
Sauron was also psychologically cruel and sadistic, tormenting Pippin whilst they communicated each other via the palantír, telling a man his wife was already dead after lying she wasn't and then killing him to "reunite" them, or ordering the Mouth of Sauron to mock the Fellowship about Frodo getting tortured by him for years in order to break their spirits.