[edit] Sauron
[edit] Quick Facts
| Timeline: |
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| Dates: |
In Middle-earth for many thousands of years before the beginning of the First Age, banished 25 March III 3019 (Endured at least 16,000 years, and probably much longer) |
| Race: |
An ancient spirit from outside the World |
| Division: |
Originally one of the people of Aulë |
| Titles: |
Base Master of Treachery, The Black Hand, The Dark Lord, The Dark Power, Lord of Barad-dûr, Lord of Mordor, The Lord of the Rings, The Necromancer, The Red Eye, The Ring-maker, The Sorcerer |
| Meaning: |
'The Abhorred' |
| Pronunciation: |
sow'ron ('ow' as in 'now') |
Originally a spirit of Aulë's people, Sauron was early corrupted by the first Dark Lord and became his most trusted lieutenant. In the wars of the First Age, Sauron was the most feared of Morgoth's servants, but after the expulsion of the first Dark Lord, Sauron rose to become the greatest enemy of Elves and Men in the Second and Third Ages.
[edit] Sauron's History Before the First Age
In the beginning of days Sauron served Aulë the Smith. From Aulë he learnt much of forging and making, knowledge that he would make use of many thousands of years later when he built the Barad-dûr and forged the One Ring.
In the earliest days, Sauron was seduced into the service of the first Dark Lord, and Sauron became the greatest and most trusted of his followers. While Udûn still stood in the dark north of the world, Sauron was given command of his lesser fortress of Angband. At length, the Valar assaulted Sauron's master and took him in chains back to Valinor, but Sauron escaped, and remained in Middle-earth.
[edit] Sauron in the First Age
While his master was captive in Aman, Angband was made ready for his return, and it must be assumed that Sauron had a large part in this work. After the destroying the Two Trees, the Dark Lord returned indeed to Middle-earth, and took up his abode in Angband. Soon after, he travelled for a while into the eastern lands to seek the newly-awakened Men leaving Sauron in command of his forces once again.
Sauron's last great act of the First Age was the capture of Finrod's northern watchtower, where Sauron then took up his abode to watch the roads leading north. When Finrod and Beren came north through the guarded pass, Sauron spied them and threw them into a dungeon. Then Lúthien came and, with the aid of a magical hound, overthrew Sauron and drove him away from the tower. That defeat is the last we hear of him in the First Age.
[edit] Sauron in the Second Age
After the defeat of his master Morgoth, Sauron fled for a time into the east of the world.1 A period of one thousand years followed in which Sauron was not seen in the west of Middle-earth. As the first millennium of the Second Age turned, Sauron came back. He took the fenced and mountainous land of Mordor, and there began building his mighty Dark Tower of Barad-dûr.
The beginning of Sauron's reign as Dark Lord can be dated from this time: he set himself no less a goal than the conquest of Middle-earth, and perhaps even of Númenor itself.
For six hundred years, he pursued a dual strategy. Coming to them in a guise of friendship, he tutored the Elves of Eregion, teaching them the secret things that only a great spirit of Aulë's people could know. From his lore, the Rings of Power were forged, but while he worked with the Elves, he continued the fortification of Mordor to make it an unassailable stronghold.
In the fire-mountain of Orodruin, he secretly forged the One Ring. This was to be the first stroke in his conquest of the west - a device by which he could know, and control, the thoughts of the bearers of the other Rings. His plan failed, though: the Elves became aware of his malevolent presence, and took off their Rings.
Angered by this setback, Sauron loosed the hordes of Mordor, six hundred years in the building, and overran Eriador, destroying the land of Eregion where the Rings were made. The Elves called on Númenor for aid, though, and the army of Tar-Minastir put Sauron's forces to rout. After this reverse, Sauron sought instead to build power in the eastern countries, and left the Westlands in peace for many centuries.
When Ar-Pharazôn usurped the throne of Númenor in 3255 (Second Age), he saw Sauron's growing eastern kingdom as a threat. Building and equipping a mighty fleet, he sailed for Middle-earth, and landed at Umbar, to the south of the Mouths of Anduin. Ar-Pharazôn demanded that Sauron submit to his authority and, seeing that the might of the Númenóreans far outstripped his own, Sauron agreed.
[edit] Footnotes
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