From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Eye of Sauron)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Tolkien character
Sauron Tolkien illustration.jpg
J. R. R. Tolkien's watercolour illustration of Sauron
Portrayed bySala Baker
Voiced by
Motion captureBenedict Cumberbatch
AliasesSee Names and titles below

Sauron /ˈsrɒn/[1] is the title character[note 1] and main antagonist[3] of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

In the same work, he is identified as the Necromancer, mentioned in Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit. In Tolkien's The Silmarillion (published posthumously by Tolkien's son Christopher Tolkien),[4] he is also described as the chief lieutenant of the first Dark Lord, Morgoth. Tolkien noted that the Ainur, the "angelic" powers of his constructed myth, "were capable of many degrees of error and failing", but by far the worst was "the absolute Satanic rebellion and evil of Morgoth and his satellite Sauron".[5]


Before creation of the world[edit]

The Ainulindalë, the cosmological myth prefixed to The Silmarillion, explains how the supreme being Eru initiated his creation by bringing into being innumerable spirits, "the offspring of his thought", who were with him before anything else had been made. The being later known as Sauron originated among these as an "immortal (angelic) spirit".[6] In his origin, Sauron therefore perceived the Creator directly. As Tolkien noted: "Sauron could not, of course, be a 'sincere' atheist. Though one of the minor spirits created before the world, he knew Eru, according to his measure."[7]

In the terminology of Tolkien's invented language of Quenya, these angelic spirits were called Ainur. Those who entered the physical world were called Valar, especially the most powerful ones. The lesser Ainur who entered the world, of whom Sauron was one, were called Maiar. In Tolkien's letters, the author noted that Sauron "was of course a 'divine' person (in the terms of this mythology, a lesser member of the race of Valar)".[8] Tolkien noted that he was of a "far higher order" than the Maiar who later came to Middle-earth as the Wizards Gandalf, Radagast, and Saruman.[9] As created by Eru, the Ainur were all good and uncorrupt, as Elrond stated in The Lord of the Rings: "Nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so."[10]

Rebellion originated with the Vala Melkor (as Morgoth was called before he turned to darkness). According to a story meant as a parable of events beyond Elvish comprehension,[11] Eru let his spirit-children perform a great Music, the Music of the Ainur, developing a theme revealed by Eru himself. For a while the cosmic choir made wondrous music, but then Melkor tried to increase his own glory by weaving into his song thoughts and ideas that were not in accordance with the original theme. "Straightway discord arose around him, and many that sang nigh him grew despondent ... but some began to attune their music to his rather than to the thought which they had at first."[12]

The discord Melkor created would have dire consequences, as this singing was a kind of template for the world: "The evils of the world were not at first in the great Theme, but entered with the discords of Melkor."[13] However, "Sauron was not a beginner of discord; and he probably knew more of the Music than did Melkor, whose mind had always been filled with his own plans and devices."[14] Apparently Sauron was not even one of the spirits that immediately began to attune their music to that of Melkor, since it is noted elsewhere that his fall occurred later (see below).


First Age[edit]

Entering Eä at the beginning of time, the Valar and Maiar tried to build and organize the world according to the will of Eru. Each Maia was associated with one of the powerful Valar whom they served; for example, Sauron was prominent among the Maiar who served Aulë the Smith, the great craftsman of the Valar. As a result, Sauron came to possess great knowledge of the physical substances of the world, forging, and all manner of craftsmanship—emerging as "a great craftsman of the household of Aulë".[15] Sauron would always retain the "scientific" knowledge he derived from the great Vala of Craft: "In his beginning he was of the Maiar of Aulë, and he remained mighty in the lore of that people."[16] Sauron's original Elvish name in Valinor was Mairon (Quenya for "the Admirable"), but this name was not used anymore after he joined Melkor. In Beleriand, he was called in Sindarin Gorthu "Mist of Fear" and Gorthaur "The Cruel".[17] However, during the Second Age, Sauron continued to call himself Tar-Mairon (Quenya "King Excellent, the Admirable King").[17]

Sauron's fall[edit]


As for Sauron's motives, Tolkien noted that "it had been his virtue (and therefore also the cause of his fall ...) that he loved order and coordination, and disliked all confusion and wasteful friction". Thus, "it was the apparent will and power of Melkor to effect his designs quickly and masterfully that had first attracted Sauron to him".[19]




The Lieutenant of Morgoth[edit]






Ten years later, Finrod Felagund, the king of Nargothrond and former lord of Tol Sirion, came there with Beren and ten Elves, disguised as Orcs. However Sauron had them brought before him. Finrod had a magical battle with Sauron, but was defeated (in part because of the curse of Fëanor). All 12 were thrown into Sauron's dungeons and the 10 Elves were devoured by wolves. Finrod died fighting a wolf to save Beren.





Chastened, Sauron assumed his fairest form and approached Eönwë, emissary of the Valar, who nevertheless could not pardon a Maia like himself. Through Eönwë, Manwë as Lord of the Valar "commanded Sauron to come before him for judgement, but [he] had left room for repentance and ultimate rehabilitation".[26] Although Sauron's repentance before Eönwë was genuine, if out of fear, he was ashamed to return to Valinor and receive a judgement or sentence due to his long service to Morgoth. Furthermore, the influence of his former master was still strong, so he escaped and hid in Middle-earth.

Second Age[edit]




The Rings of Power[edit]

As part of a plan to seduce the Elves into his service, Sauron assumed a fair appearance as Annatar, "Lord of Gifts",[29] befriended the Elven-smiths of Eregion, led by Celebrimbor, and counselled them in arts and magic. Sauron hinted that he was an emissary of the Valar, specifically of Aulë, whom the Noldor in Exile held in high regard. Some of the Elves distrusted him, especially Galadriel and Gil-galad, the High King of the Noldor. The Elves in Eregion, however, did not heed their warnings.





Resurgence from Mordor[edit]




Destruction of Númenor[edit]






Ar-Pharazôn, despite his power, eventually became fearful of his approaching death. Sauron convinced the king that he now had the status to take what was rightfully his, and suggested that the Númenóreans send a great armada upon Aman in order to seize immortality by force from the Valar.[8] While he led the King to believe that it was actually possible to conquer the Blessed Realm, Sauron knew well that the godlike Valar would utterly defeat any mortal army. Sauron did expect the Valar to respond by destroying Ar-Pharazôn and his naval might, thus removing Sauron's greatest obstacle to dominance of Middle-earth. But the Valar had no direct dominance over the Children of Eru, so in the face of this challenge they laid down their guardianship of the world and appealed to Eru for a solution.[34]

Eru's divine intervention did indeed bury the king's armies and drown the armada; but Númenor itself was swallowed by the sea, and the Blessed Realm was removed from the physical world. Sauron had not foreseen this, and his body was destroyed in the cataclysm. Having expended much effort in the corruption of Númenor, he was diminished,[35] particularly as he forever lost the ability to take a fair form. Yet his spirit rose out of the abyss, and he was able to carry with him the one thing that mattered most. Wrote Tolkien, "I do not think one need boggle at this spirit carrying off the One Ring, upon which his power of dominating minds now largely depended."[35]


War against the Last Alliance[edit]





Third Age[edit]


A few years after the War of the Last Alliance, Isildur's army, while marching to Rivendell, was ambushed and overwhelmed by a band of Orcs in what became known as the Disaster of the Gladden Fields. Isildur 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. He was spotted and killed by Orc archers.[39] The Ring would remain lost beneath the water for about 2461 years (from year 2 of the Third Age until Déagol found it in 2463).

The Necromancer of Dol Guldur[edit]




Sauron finally reappeared with increased strength in 2460. About the same time, the long-lost Ruling Ring was finally recovered from the River Anduin, found by a Stoor Hobbit[41] named Déagol. Déagol's friend and relative,[42] Sméagol, coveted the Ring and killed Déagol to get it, and was swiftly corrupted by it. Banished by his family, Sméagol took the Ring, which he called his "Precious". His life unnaturally prolonged by the Ring, he hid in the Misty Mountains for centuries, becoming further corrupted and eventually degenerating into the creature Gollum.

In 2850, Gandalf made a second attempt to spy out Dol Guldur. Stealing into the stronghold, he was finally able to confirm the identity of its lord.[43] He reported this to the White Council of Elves and Wizards, but Saruman, hoping to acquire the One Ring for himself, dissuaded the Council from acting against Sauron.




The War of the Ring[edit]




Having captured and tortured Gollum, Sauron learned that the Ring had been found by a Hobbit named "Baggins". Sauron sent the Nazgûl to the Shire, Bilbo's home, where they found that both Bilbo and Frodo had left. The Nazgûl pursued and nearly killed Frodo, but they were defeated near Rivendell by the Elf-lord Glorfindel and by Aragorn, Isildur's heir, whom Gandalf had sent to protect the Hobbits.




Immediately after the huge army left Mordor from the fortress of Minas Morgul, which was formerly Minas Ithil, Frodo and Sam attempted to enter Mordor through the pass of Cirith Ungol in the mountains above. They had been previously met by Gollum, whom Sauron had earlier released from captivity. For a while, Gollum had acted as a guide for Frodo and Sam. However, he finally betrayed them to Shelob – a monstrous, spider-like creature that guarded the pass. (Sauron is said to have called Shelob his "cat", sending her the occasional prisoner to be devoured.)


Aragorn marched on the Black Gate of Mordor with 7,000 men, knowing this force was far too small to actually defeat Sauron, but intending to cause a diversion to draw Sauron's armies away while Frodo and Sam journeyed to Mount Doom. After a brief encounter with the Mouth of Sauron, the battle was joined and went very poorly for the outnumbered Gondor/Rohan armies. Now wrongly convinced that Aragorn had the Ring, Sauron apparently reacted just as Gandalf had thought he would: "I will crush him, and what he has taken in his insolence shall be mine again for ever."[46]


At the Ring's destruction, Sauron's power evaporated 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 (the direction of the Blessed Realm and the Valar). His constructions crumbled, the Nazgûl were consumed in a hail of fire, and his armies, suddenly left with no direction, were easily defeated.


Names and titles[edit]

In some of Tolkien's notes, it is said that Sauron's original name was 'Mairon or "the admirable", though this was altered after he was suborned by Melkor. Despite this, he continued to call himself Mairon the Admirable, or Tar-Mairon "King Excellent", until after the downfall of Númenor."[17]

The name Sauron (from an earlier form Thauron)[47] originates from the adjective saura "foul, putrid" in Tolkien's invented language of Quenya, and can be translated as "the Abhorred" or "the Abomination". In Sindarin (another Elf-language created by Tolkien) he is called Gorthaur, "the Abhorred Dread" or "the Dread Abomination". He is also called the Nameless Enemy. The Dúnedain (the descendants of the Númenóreans) call him "Sauron the Deceiver" due to his role in the Downfall of Númenor and the forging of the Rings of Power. In the Númenórean (Adûnaic) tongue he was also known as Zigûr, The Wizard.

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 Great Deceiver", the "Dark Lord", the "Dark Power", "Lord of Barad-dûr", the "Red Eye", the "Ring-maker" and the "Sorcerer".












Tolkien's illustration[edit]



Eye of Sauron[edit]

Artwork by J. R. R. Tolkien

Throughout The Lord of the Rings, "the Eye" (the Red Eye, the Evil Eye, the Lidless Eye, the Great Eye) is the image most often associated with Sauron. Sauron's Orcs bore the symbol of the Eye on their helmets and shields, and referred to him as the "Eye" because he did not allow his name to be written or spoken, according to Aragorn[54] (a notable exception to this rule was his emissary, the Mouth of Sauron). Also, the Lord of the Nazgûl threatened Éowyn with torture before the "Lidless Eye"[55] at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.




one moment only it stared out ... as from some great window immeasurably high there stabbed northward a flame of red, the flicker of a piercing Eye ... The Eye was not turned on them, it was gazing north ... but Frodo at that dreadful glimpse fell as one stricken mortally.[57]






Most adaptations of the story to visual media depict the Eye as visibly present. The film adaptations directed by Peter Jackson depict the Eye of Sauron as an all-seeing eye, and his prequel adaptation shows it as an extended aura about Sauron's spiritual essence, which is a silhouette of his physical form and appears as the eye's slit pupil.

Concept and creation[edit]





Statue of Sauron from The Lord of the Rings movies


In film versions of The Lord of the Rings, Sauron has been portrayed as either a humanoid creature (as in Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated version, The Lord of the Rings) or a physical, disembodied Eye (as in the 1980 animated The Return of the King),[62] or both.





Sauron appears as The Necromancer (a figure only incidentally mentioned by Gandalf in the original novel) and one of the main antagonists in Jackson's The Hobbit film adaptations where he is portrayed through voice[63] and motion capture[64] by Benedict Cumberbatch. The Necromancer appears briefly in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey when Radagast the Brown enters Dol Guldur. In The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, Jackson moves Gandalf's decisive expedition to Dol Guldur forward in time to coincide with the Quest of Erebor. Sauron appears an amorphous entity of shadowy mist floating around in the ruins before he assumes his semi-physical form, and then manifests the Eye of Sauron while capturing Gandalf. In The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, and the extended edition of The Desolation of Smaug, Sauron is shown to have been behind Smaug's actions as part of a grand scheme to restore the Kingdom of Angmar. However, the actions of Thorin Oakenshield and company force Sauron to dispatch his Orc army to capture Erebor. During the third film, as his Orc army is nearing Erebor, Sauron appears before the White Council after they battle the nine Nazgûl and rescue Gandalf from Dol Guldur. He is rendered formless by Galadriel, who uses Eärendil's Light to banish him and the Nazgûl back to Mordor.

Video games[edit]

Sauron appears in merchandise of the Jackson films, including computer and video games. These include The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II (where he was voiced by Fred Tatasciore), The Lord of the Rings: Tactics, and The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age.

Sauron also appears as a playable character in the game The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, voiced by Jon Olson.

Sauron is a playable character in Lego The Lord of the Rings. His Necromancer form is playable in Lego The Hobbit.

He is further alluded to in Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor as the Black Hand of Sauron, the aspect of himself that resided within the hand cut off by Isildur during the War of the Last Alliance. While Sauron was voiced by Steve Blum, the Black Hand of Sauron was voiced by Nolan North. Sauron returns in the sequel Middle-earth: Shadow of War.

Sauron appears as a boss in Lego Dimensions with the voice provided by Steve Blum once again. He is one of the villains serving Lord Vortech, and he takes over Superman's hometown, Metropolis. He is stopped by Batman and Gandalf, with Gandalf noting that his power is significantly decreased since he is not in his home realm, and is cleansed of the Locate Keystone. Similar to the movie, his armour crumbles up when he is defeated. The only difference is that he crumbles into a cube that is teleported back to Lord Vortech's lair.

Other Films[edit]

The Lego Batman Movie portrays Sauron in his eye form, voiced by comedian Jemaine Clement. He appears as one of the villains imprisoned in the Phantom Zone who join with Joker to take over Gotham City. The Eye of Sauron causes mayhem in the city by spreading lava, and supports the takeover by being able to find anyone anywhere. He is accidentally destroyed by fire blast from the Kraken from Clash of the Titans.

Allusions in other works[edit]

The Eye of Sauron is mentioned in The Stand, a post-apocalyptic novel written by Stephen King. The villain Randall Flagg possesses an astral body in the form of an "Eye" akin to the Lidless Eye. The novel itself was conceived by King as a "fantasy epic like The Lord of the Rings, only with an American setting".[65] The idea of Sauron as a sleepless eye that watches and seeks the protagonists also influenced King's epic fantasy series The Dark Tower; its villain, the Crimson King, is a similarly disembodied evil presence whose icon is also an eye.[66]


In the comic series Fables, by Bill Willingham, one character is called "The Adversary", an ambiguous figure of immense evil and power believed to be responsible for much of the misfortune in the Fables' overall history. Willingham has stated "The Adversary", in name and in character, was inspired by Sauron.[68] Ainur Sauron and Ainur Narsil, a Russian based Android audio modification tool, were named after Sauron and Narsil[69]

See also[edit]




  1. ^ Tolkien, J.R.R. (1977). The Silmarillion. London, England: George Allen & Unwin. p. 310. ISBN 0-04-823139-8. The first syllable of Sauron is like English sour, not sore
  10. ^ Tolkien, J.R.R. (1954). "The Council of Elrond". The Fellowship of the Ring. London, England: Allen & Unwin. p. 349. OCLC 1487587.
  12. ^ Tolkien, J.R.R. (1977). "Ainulindalë". The Silmarillion. London, England: Allen & Unwin. p. 4. ISBN 0-04-823139-8.
  16. ^ Valaquenta, prefixed to The Silmarillion
  17. ^ a b c Parma Eldalamberon #17, 2007, p. 183
  18. ^ Tolkien, J.R.R. (1977). "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age". The Silmarillion. London, England: Allen & Unwin. p. 87. ISBN 0-04-823139-8.
  23. ^ Valaquenta, "Of the Enemies"
  24. ^ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1993), Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Morgoth's Ring, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, pp. 420–421, ISBN 0-395-68092-1. This conflicts with earlier versions of the story, in which Orcs existed before the wakening of the Elves, as in The Fall of Gondolin, p. 25.
  28. ^ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1993), Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Morgoth's Ring, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, pp. 397–398, ISBN 0-395-68092-1
  30. ^ Letters #131.
  31. ^ Letters, #183, p. 243.
  34. ^ Letters, #156, p. 206
  35. ^ a b Letters, #211, p. 280
  39. ^ Unfinished Tales, "The disaster of the Gladden Fields", p. 275.
  44. ^ The Return of the King, Appendix A, "The Stewards": "In the last years of Denethor I the race of Uruks, black orcs of great strength, first appeared out of Mordor." (Denethor I died in TA 2477.)
  45. ^ The Fellowship of the Ring, "The Shadow of the Past"
  46. ^ a b The Return of the King, "The Last Debate".
  48. ^ The Silmarillion, chapter 19
  49. ^ The Silmarillion, chapter 20
  51. ^ Akallabêth
  60. ^ a b Tolkien, J. R. R. (1992), Christopher Tolkien (ed.), Sauron Defeated, Boston, New York, & London: Houghton Mifflin, , p. 38, ISBN 0-395-60649-7
  61. ^ Auden, W. H. (June 1968). "Good and Evil in The Lord of the Rings". Critical Quarterly. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley-Blackwell. 10 (1–2): 5–8.
  62. ^ The Eye of Sauron – J.R.R. Tolkien's The Return of the King
  63. ^ "YouTube".
  64. ^ Sherlockology. "Benedict Cumberbatch and Louise Brealey at The 2012 Cheltenham Literature Festival".
  65. ^ King, Stephen (1978). The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition. New York City: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-12168-2. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  66. ^ Magistrale, Tony (December 21, 2009). Stephen King: America's Storyteller. Santa Barbara, California: Praeger. p. 40. ISBN 978-0313352287. Retrieved May 19, 2015.
  67. ^ X-Men #60 (September, 1969)
  69. ^ "Ainur Audio Mod on XDA Developers". Retrieved 2019-09-01.
  70. ^ Eskov, K. Y.; Marusik, Y. M. (1995). "On the spiders from Saur Mt. range, eastern Kazakhstan (Arachnida: Araneae)". Beiträge zur Araneologie. 4 (1994): 55–94.

External links[edit]