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{{Short description|Primary antagonist in Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings}}
{{About|the character from J.&nbsp;R.&nbsp;R. Tolkien's Middle-earth writings}}
{{good article}}
{{pp-move|small=yes}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox character
| name    = Sauron
| series  = [[J. R. R. Tolkien|Tolkien]]
| image   = Sauron Tolkien illustration.jpg
| caption = J. R. R. Tolkien's watercolour illustration of Sauron<ref name="Hammond Scull 1995" group=T/>
| aliases = {{Plainlist|
* Mairon (originally)
<!--please do not add things here which are not explained and cited in the article body, thanks-->
* Annatar
* The [[Dark Lord]]
* The [[Necromancer]]
* Lord of the Rings
}}
| race = [[Maia (Middle-earth)|Maia]]
| lbl24 = Book(s)
| data24 = {{Plainlist |
* ''[[The Hobbit]]''
* ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''
* ''[[The Silmarillion]]''
* ''[[Unfinished Tales]]''
* ''[[The History of Middle-earth]]'' series
* ''[[Beren and Lúthien]]''}}
}}

'''Sauron''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|aʊr|ɒ|n}})<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc="Note on Pronunciation": "The first syllable of ''Sauron'' is like English ''sour'', not ''sore''"}}</ref> is the [[title character]]{{efn|This is made clear in the chapter "[[The Council of Elrond]]", where Glorfindel states that "soon or late the Lord of the Rings would learn of its hiding place and would bend all his power towards it".<ref group=T name="Council of Elrond">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=book 2, ch. 2 "[[The Council of Elrond]]"}}</ref>}} and the main [[antagonist]]<ref>{{cite web |publisher=GreenBooks, [[TheOneRing.net]] |url=http://greenbooks.theonering.net/guest/files/050102.html |title=How much was Rowling inspired by Tolkien? |first=Caroline |last=Monroe |access-date=21 May 2006 |archive-date=14 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190914023536/http://greenbooks.theonering.net/guest/files/050102.html |url-status=live }}</ref> of [[J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'', where he rules the land of [[Mordor]]. He has the ambition of ruling the whole of [[Middle-earth]], using the power of the [[One Ring]], which he has lost and seeks to recapture. In the same work, he is identified as the "[[necromancy|Necromancer]]" of Tolkien's earlier novel ''[[The Hobbit]]''. ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' describes him as the chief lieutenant of the first [[Dark Lord]], [[Morgoth]]. Tolkien noted that the [[Ainur (Middle-earth)|Ainur]], the "[[angel]]ic" powers of his constructed myth, "were capable of many degrees of error and failing", but by far the worst was "the absolute [[Satan]]ic rebellion and evil of Morgoth and his satellite Sauron".<ref group=T name="Letter 156">{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#156 to [[Robert Murray SJ]], 4 November 1954 }}</ref> Sauron appears most often as "the Eye", as if disembodied.

Tolkien, while denying that absolute [[Evil in Middle-earth|evil]] could exist, stated that Sauron came as near to a wholly evil will as was possible. Commentators have compared Sauron to the [[Count Dracula|title character]] of [[Bram Stoker]]'s 1897 novel ''[[Dracula]]'', and to [[Balor of the Evil Eye]] in [[Irish mythology]]. Sauron is briefly seen in a [[humanoid]] form in [[Peter Jackson]]'s [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|film trilogy]], which otherwise shows him as a disembodied, flaming Eye.<!--this is a SUMMARY of what is in the article - please do not add things here which are not explained and cited in the article body, thanks-->

== Fictional history ==

{{further|History of Arda|Decline and fall in Middle-earth}}
<!--section must be brief; must not be in-universe or flowery in style-->

=== Before the world's creation ===

The ''[[Ainulindalë]]'' tells how the supreme being [[Eru Ilúvatar|Eru]] began the creation with good,<ref group=T name="Council of Elrond"/> immortal spirits, the [[Ainur (Middle-earth)|Ainur]]. The lesser [[Maia (Middle-earth)|Maiar]] included Sauron, under the greater [[Valar]].<ref group="T" name="Letter 156" /><ref name="Letter 183" group="T"/> The Vala Melkor rebelled against Eru,<ref group=T>The story of the Song of Creation was presented by the [[Vala (Middle-earth)|Valar]] "according to our modes of thought and our imagination of the visible world, in symbols that were intelligible to us". {{harvnb|Tolkien|1994|p=407}}</ref><ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc="[[Ainulindalë]]"}}</ref> starting evils<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1996|p=413}}</ref> that Sauron continued.<ref name="MR pp395–398" group=T/> Sauron perceived Eru directly;<ref name="MR pp395–398" group="T">{{harvnb|Tolkien|1993|pp=395–398}}</ref> he was "far higher" than the Maiar who later came to Middle-earth as [[Wizard (Middle-earth)|Wizards]].<ref name="Letter 183" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#183, notes on [[W. H. Auden]]'s review of ''[[The Return of the King]]'' }}</ref>

=== First Age ===

Sauron served [[Aulë]], the smith of the Valar, acquiring knowledge;<ref name="MR 52" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1993|p=52}}</ref><ref name="Valaquenta" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc="[[Valaquenta]]"}}</ref> he was called ''Mairon'' ([[Quenya]]: "The Admirable") until he joined Melkor. In [[Beleriand]], he was called ''Gorthu'' ([[Sindarin]]: "Mist of Fear") and ''Gorthaur'' ([[Sindarin]]: "The Cruel").<ref group=T>''[[Parma Eldalamberon]]'' #17, 2007, p. 183</ref> Sauron, hating disorder,<ref name="MR pp395–398" group=T/> was drawn to Melkor's power.<ref name="Of the Rings of Power" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc="Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"}}</ref> He became a spy for Melkor on the isle of [[Almaren]], the Valar's home,<ref name="MR 52" group=T/> which Melkor soon destroyed; the Valar moved to [[Valinor]], not perceiving Sauron's treachery.<ref name="Letter 131" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#131 to [[Milton Waldman]], late 1951 }}</ref> Sauron followed Melkor to [[Middle-earth]],<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|p=239}}</ref> joining the Valar's enemy.<ref name="Letter 183" group=T/>

Sauron helped Melkor in every kind of deceit.<ref name="MR 420–421" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1993|pp=420–421}}</ref><ref name="Valaquenta" group=T/> By the time [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]] awoke, Sauron was Melkor's lieutenant with command over the stronghold of [[Angband (Middle-earth)|Angband]]. The Valar made war on and captured Melkor; Sauron escaped.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc=ch. 3 "Of the Coming of the Elves and the Captivity of Melkor"}}</ref> He repaired Angband, and bred an army of [[Orc (Middle-earth)|Orcs]]. Melkor, now called Morgoth, murdered Finwë, King of the Noldor, and escaped to Middle-earth with the [[Silmaril]]s, pursued by the Noldor.<ref name="MR 420–421" group=T/>{{efn|This conflicts with earlier versions of the story, in which Orcs existed before the wakening of the Elves, as in ''[[The Fall of Gondolin]]''.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|2018|p=25}}</ref>}} Sauron directed the war against the Elves, conquering their fortress of Minas Tirith (not the later city in Gondor) on the isle of Tol Sirion. [[Lúthien]] came there to save her lover, the imprisoned [[Beren]], with [[Huan (Middle-earth)|Huan]] the Wolfhound. Sauron, as a [[werewolf]], battled Huan, who took him by the throat; he was defeated and left as a huge [[vampire bat]]. Lúthien destroyed the tower and rescued Beren. [[Eärendil]] sailed to Valinor, getting the Valar to fight Morgoth in the [[War of Wrath]]; he was cast into the Outer Void, but again Sauron escaped.<ref name="v333" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1987|p=333}}</ref>

=== Second Age ===

In the [[Second Age]], Sauron reappeared,<ref name="MR 420–421" group="T"/> intent on taking over Middle-earth.<ref name="Letter 183" group="T"/><ref name="Letter 131" group="T"/><ref name="letters190" group="T">{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#153 to Peter Hastings (draft) }}</ref><ref name="MR pp395–398" group="T"/> To seduce the Elves into his service, Sauron assumed a fair appearance as ''Annatar'', "Lord of Gifts"<ref name="Of the Rings of Power" group="T"/> and befriended [[Celebrimbor]]'s Elven-smiths. He taught them arts and magic, helping them to forge the [[Rings of Power]]. Sauron secretly forged the [[One Ring]], to rule all the others.<ref name="Letter 131" group="T"/> The Elves detected him when he put on the Ring, and removed their Rings. Enraged, Sauron made war, killed Celebrimbor, and seized the Seven and the Nine Rings of Power. The Three Rings were hidden by the Elves [[Gil-galad]], [[Círdan]], and [[Galadriel]]. Sauron attacked them. The Elves were saved by an army from [[Númenor]], defeating Sauron. Sauron fortified Mordor and completed the Dark Tower of [[Barad-dûr]]. He distributed the Seven and the Nine Rings to lords of [[Dwarf (Middle-earth)|Dwarves]] and Men. Dwarves would not submit, but he enslaved Men as the feared [[Nazgûl]]. Orcs, [[Troll (Middle-earth)|Trolls]], [[Easterling (Middle-earth)|Easterlings]] and men of [[Harad]] became his servants.<ref name="Letter 183" group="T"/>

Late in the Second Age, Númenor sought to colonise Middle-earth. Led by Ar-Pharazôn, a massive army sailed to Middle-earth to battle Sauron. Dismayed, Sauron surrendered, hoping to corrupt Númenor from within.<ref name="Letter 211" group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#211 to Rhona Beare, 14 October 1958 }}</ref><ref name="Letter 156" group=T/> Using the One Ring, Sauron soon dominated the Númenóreans,<ref name="Letter 211" group=T/> undermining Númenor's religion, and inciting the island to worship Melkor with [[human sacrifice]].<ref name="Letter 156" group=T/><ref name="MR pp395–398" group=T/> Sauron convinced Ar-Pharazôn to attack [[Aman (Middle-earth)|Aman]] by sea to steal immortality from the Valar.<ref name="Letter 156" group=T/><ref name="Letter 131" group=T/> The Valar appealed to Eru,<ref group=T name="Letter 156"/> who [[The Silmarillion#Akallabêth|destroyed Númenor]]. Sauron's body was destroyed and he lost the ability to appear beautiful.<ref name="Letter 211" group=T/>

Led by [[Elendil]], nine ships escaped from [[Akallabeth|the Downfall]]; they founded the kingdoms of [[Gondor]] and [[Arnor (Middle-earth)|Arnor]] in Middle-earth. Sauron returned to Mordor and made war on these Exiles.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=Appendices}}</ref> He captured Minas Ithil; Elendil's son [[Isildur]] escaped down the Anduin. [[Anárion]] defended [[Osgiliath]] and drove Sauron's forces back to the mountains.<ref name="Of the Rings of Power" group=T/> Elendil, Isildur and Anárion formed the Last Alliance with the Elves and defeated Sauron at [[Dagorlad]]. They invaded Mordor and besieged Barad-dûr for seven years. Finally, Sauron came out to fight face-to-face, killing Elendil and Gil-galad;<ref name="Letter 131" group=T/> Elendil's sword [[List of Middle-earth weapons and armour#Narsil|Narsil]] broke beneath him. Isildur took up the hilt-shard and cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand, vanquishing Sauron. Isildur refused to destroy the Ring by casting it into Mount Doom, but kept it for his own.<ref name="Of the Rings of Power" group=T/>

=== Third Age ===

{{further|The Lord of the Rings}}

Isildur was ambushed by Orcs at the [[Gladden Fields]]. Isildur put on the Ring and attempted to escape by swimming across [[Anduin]], but the Ring slipped from his finger. Isildur was killed by Orc archers. Sauron spent a thousand years as a shapeless evil.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1980|loc="The disaster of the Gladden Fields", p. 275}}</ref>

Sauron eventually reembodied, hiding in [[Mirkwood]] as the [[Necromancy|Necromancer]], in [[Dol Guldur]], "Hill of Sorcery".<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=Appendix B, "The Tale of Years", "The Third Age"}}</ref> The chief of the Nazgûl, the [[Witch-king of Angmar]], destroyed the northern realm of Arnor. When attacked by Gondor, the Witch-king retreated to Mordor.<ref name="Of the Rings of Power" group=T/> The Nazgûl captured Minas Ithil, renamed [[Minas Morgul]], and seized its [[palantír]], a seeing stone from Númenor.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1980|loc=part 4, ch 3 "The Palantíri"}}</ref> The [[White Council]] of Wizards discovered Sauron,<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=book 2, ch. 2 "[[The Council of Elrond]]", and Appendix B.}}</ref> and drove him from Mirkwood. He returned to Mordor, openly declared himself, rebuilt Barad-dûr, and bred armies of large orcs, [[Uruk-Hai|Uruks]].<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=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.)</ref>

The One Ring, lost in the Anduin, was found by the hobbit Sméagol. The Ring corrupted him. He shunned sunlight and took on the personality of [[Gollum]]. He retreated into caves, obsessed with the Ring, his "Precious". It slipped from him and was picked up by [[Bilbo Baggins]]. Gollum attempted to murder Bilbo and reclaim the Ring, but Bilbo escaped when the Ring slipped onto his finger. Many years later, Gandalf identified Bilbo's ring, now passed down to his cou<!--yes, not nephew, see his family tree-->sin [[Frodo Baggins|Frodo]], as Sauron's One Ring. He tasked Frodo with taking it to Rivendell.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=book 1, ch. 2 "[[The Shadow of the Past]]"}}</ref> 

Sauron tortured Gollum and discovered where the Ring was.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=book 1, ch. 2 "[[The Shadow of the Past]]"}}</ref> Sauron sent the Nazgûl to pursue Frodo, but he escaped to [[Rivendell]], where Elrond convened a council. It determined that the Ring should be destroyed in Mount Doom by the [[Company of the Ring]]. [[Saruman]] attempted to capture the Ring, but was defeated. The [[palantír]] of [[Orthanc]] fell into the hands of the Company; [[Aragorn]], Isildur's descendant and heir to the throne of Gondor, used it to show himself to Sauron as if he held the Ring. Sauron, troubled, attacked Minas Tirith prematurely. His army was destroyed at the [[Battle of the Pelennor Fields]]. Frodo entered Mordor. Aragorn distracted Sauron with an attack on Mordor's [[Morannon|Black Gate]].<ref name="RotK last" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=book 5, ch. 9 "The Last Debate"}}</ref> Frodo reached Mount Doom, but claimed the Ring for himself, revealing the Ring to Sauron. Gollum seized the Ring and fell into the Cracks of Doom, destroying it and himself. Sauron was utterly defeated, and vanished from Middle-earth.<ref name="RotK last" group=T/>

== Appearance ==

=== Physical body ===

Tolkien never described Sauron's appearance in detail, though he painted a watercolour illustration of him.<!--in infobox--><ref name="Hammond Scull 1995" group=T>{{harvnb|Hammond|Scull|1995|pp=152ff}}</ref> Sarah Crown, in ''[[The Guardian]]'', wrote that "we're never ushered into his presence; we don't hear him speak. All we see is his influence".<ref name="Crown 2014"/> She called it "a bold move, to leave the book's central evil so undefined – an edgeless darkness given shape only through the actions of its subordinates",<ref name="Crown 2014"/> with the result that he becomes "truly unforgettable ... vaster, bolder and more terrifying through his absence than he could ever have been through his presence".<ref name="Crown 2014">{{cite news |last=Crown |first=Sarah |title=Baddies in books: Sauron, literature's ultimate source of evil |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/oct/27/baddies-in-books-sauron-literatures-ultimate-source-of-evil |access-date=19 September 2020 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=27 October 2014 |archive-date=28 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028060905/https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/oct/27/baddies-in-books-sauron-literatures-ultimate-source-of-evil |url-status=live }}</ref>

He was initially able to change his appearance at will; however, when he became Morgoth's servant, he took a sinister shape. In the First Age, the outlaw Gorlim was ensnared and brought into "the dreadful presence of Sauron", who had daunting eyes.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc=ch. 19, "Of Beren and Luthien"}}</ref> In the battle with [[Huan (Middle-earth)|Huan]], the hound of Valinor, Sauron took the form of a werewolf. Then he assumed a serpent-like form, and finally changed back "from monster to his own accustomed [human-like] form".<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc=ch. 20 "Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad"}}</ref> He took on a beautiful appearance at the end of the First Age to charm [[Eönwë]], near the beginning of the Second Age when appearing as Annatar to the Elves, and again near the end of the Second Age to corrupt the men of Númenor. He appeared then "as a man, or one in man's shape, 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."<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1987|p=67}}</ref> After the destruction of his fair form in the fall of Númenor, Sauron always took the shape of a terrible dark lord.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#246 to Eileen Elgar, September 1963 }}</ref> His first incarnation after the Downfall of Númenor was hideous, "an image of malice and hatred made visible".<ref name="Akallabêth" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc=[[Akallabêth]]}}</ref> Isildur recorded that Sauron's hand "was black, and yet burned like fire".<ref group=T name="Council of Elrond"/>

{{anchor|Eye of Sauron}}

=== Eye of Sauron ===

[[File:Flag of Mordor SVG.svg|thumb|A flag displaying the Red Eye of Sauron, based on a design by Tolkien that was used on the cover of the first edition of ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'' in 1954]]

Throughout ''The Lord of the Rings'', "the Eye" (known by other names, including 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.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc=book 3, ch. 5 "The Departure of Boromir"}}</ref>{{efn|A notable exception was Sauron's emissary, the [[Mouth of Sauron]].}} The [[Lord of the Nazgûl]] threatened [[Éowyn]] with torture before the "Lidless Eye" at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc=book 5, ch. 6 "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields"}}</ref> Frodo had a vision of the Eye in the Mirror of Galadriel:<ref name="Mirror of Galadriel" group=T/>

{{blockquote|The Eye was rimmed with fire, but was itself glazed, yellow as a cat's, watchful and intent, and the black slit of its pupil opened on a pit, a window into nothing.<ref name="Mirror of Galadriel" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954a|loc=book 2, ch. 7 "The Mirror of Galadriel"}}</ref>}}

Later, Tolkien writes as if Frodo and Sam really glimpse the Eye directly. The mists surrounding Barad-dûr are briefly withdrawn, and:

{{blockquote|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.<ref name="Mount Doom" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1955|loc=book 6, ch. 3 "Mount Doom"}}</ref>}}

This raises the question of whether an "Eye" was Sauron's actual manifestation, or whether he had a body beyond the Eye.<ref name="sd38" group=T/> Gollum (who was tortured by Sauron in person) tells Frodo that Sauron has, at least, a "Black Hand" with four fingers.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc=book 4, ch. 3 "The Black Gate is Closed"}}</ref> The missing finger was cut off when [[Isildur]] took the Ring, and the finger was still missing when Sauron reappeared centuries later. Tolkien writes in ''[[The Silmarillion]]'' that "the Eye of Sauron the Terrible few could endure" even ''before'' his body was lost in the War of the Last Alliance.<ref name="Akallabêth" group=T/> In the draft text of the climactic moments of ''The Lord of the Rings'', "the Eye" stands for Sauron's very person, with emotions and thoughts:<ref name="sd38" group=T/>

{{blockquote|The Dark Lord was suddenly aware of him [Frodo], the Eye piercing all shadows ... Its wrath blazed like a sudden flame and its fear was like a great black smoke, for it knew its deadly peril, the thread upon which hung its doom ... [I]ts thought was now bent with all its overwhelming force upon the Mountain..."<ref name="sd38" group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1992|loc=part 1, ch. 4 "Mount Doom"}}</ref>}}

[[Christopher Tolkien]] comments: "The passage is notable in showing the degree to which my father had come to identify the Eye of Barad-dûr with the mind and will of Sauron, so that he could speak of 'its wrath, its fear, its thought'. In the second text ... he shifted from 'its' to 'his' as he wrote out the passage anew."<ref name="sd38" group=T/>

== Concept and creation ==

Since the earliest versions of the Silmarillion [[legendarium]], as detailed in the ''[[The History of Middle-earth|History of Middle-earth]]'' series, Sauron underwent many changes. The prototype or precursor Sauron-figure was a giant monstrous cat, the Prince of Cats. Called ''Tevildo'', ''Tifil'' and ''Tiberth'' among other names, this character played the role later taken by Sauron in the earliest version of the story of Beren and Tinúviel in ''[[The Book of Lost Tales]]'' in 1917.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1984b|loc=Part Two, "The Tale of Tinúviel"}}</ref> The Prince of Cats was later replaced by ''Thû'', the Necromancer. The name was then changed to ''Gorthû'', ''Sûr'', and finally to Sauron. ''Gorthû'', in the form ''Gorthaur,'' remained in ''The Silmarillion'';<ref name="Valaquenta" group=T/> both ''Thû'' and ''Sauron'' name the character in the 1925 ''[[Lay of Leithian]]''.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1984|loc="The Lay of Leithian"}}</ref>

The story of [[Beren and Lúthien]] also features the heroic hound Huan and involved the subtext of cats versus dogs in its earliest form. Later the cats were changed to wolves or werewolves, with Sauron becoming the Lord of Werewolves.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1977|loc=ch. 18 "Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin"}}</ref>

Before the 1977 publication of ''The Silmarillion'', Sauron's origins and true identity were unclear to those without access to Tolkien's notes. In 1968, the poet [[W. H. Auden]] conjectured that Sauron might have been one of the Valar.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Auden |first=W. H. |author-link=W. H. Auden |title=Good and Evil in ''The Lord of the Rings'' |journal=[[Critical Quarterly]] |volume=10 |issue=1–2 |date=June 1968 |pages=138–142 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8705.1968.tb02218.x}}</ref>

== Analysis ==

=== Wholly evil will ===

{{further|Evil in Middle-earth}}

Tolkien stated in his ''[[The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien|Letters]]'' that although he did not think "Absolute Evil" could exist as it would be "Zero", "in my story Sauron represents as near an approach to the [[Evil in Middle-earth|wholly evil will as is possible]]."  He explained that, like "all tyrants", Sauron had started out with good intentions but was corrupted by power, and that he "went further than human tyrants in pride and the lust for domination", being in origin an immortal (angelic) spirit. He began as Morgoth's servant; became his representative, in his absence in the Second Age; and at the end of the Third Age actually claimed to be 'Morgoth returned{{' "}}.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Carpenter|2023|loc=#183 notes on [[W. H. Auden]]'s review of ''[[The Return of the King]]'' }}</ref>

=== Classically reptilian ===

{{see also|Tolkien and the classical world}}

The classicist J. K. Newman comments that "Sauron's Greek name" makes him "the Lizard", {{ety|grc|''[[wikt:σαῦρος|σαῦρος]]'' (sauros)|lizard or reptile}}, and that in turn places Frodo (whose quest destroys Sauron) as "a version of [[Praxiteles]]' ''[[Apollo Sauroktonos]]''", [[Apollo]] the Lizard-killer.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Newman |first=J. K. |title=J.R.R. Tolkien's 'The Lord of the Rings': A Classical Perspective |journal=Illinois Classical Studies |volume=30 |year=2005 |pages=229–247 |jstor=23065305}}</ref>

=== Destructive Dracula-figure ===

Gwenyth Hood, writing in ''[[Mythlore]]'', compares Sauron to [[Count Dracula]] from [[Bram Stoker]]'s 1897 novel ''[[Dracula]]''. In her view, both of these monstrous antagonists seek to destroy<!--are "counter-creators"-->, are linked to powers of darkness, are parasitical on created life, and are [[undead]]. Both control others psychologically and have "hypnotic eyes". Control by either of them represents "high spiritual terror" as it is a sort of "[[damnation]]-on-earth".<ref name="Hood 1987">{{cite journal |last=Hood |first=Gwenyth |title=Sauron and Dracula |journal=[[Mythlore]] |date=1987 |volume=14 |issue=2 (52) |pages=11–17, 56 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol14/iss2/2/ |access-date=2020-05-31 |archive-date=2020-09-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919185156/https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol14/iss2/2/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Celtic Balor of the Evil Eye ===

{{further|Celtic influences on Tolkien}}

Edward Lense, also writing in ''Mythlore'', identifies a figure from [[Celtic mythology]], [[Balor of the Evil Eye]], as a possible source for the Eye of Sauron. Balor's evil eye, in the middle of his forehead, was able to overcome a whole army. He was a leader of the supernatural [[Fomorians]]. Lense further compares Mordor to "a Celtic [[hell]]", just as the Undying Lands of Aman resemble the Celtic [[Earthly Paradise]] of ''[[Tír na nÓg]]'' in the furthest (Atlantic) West; and Balor "ruled the dead from a tower of glass".<ref name="Lense1976">{{cite journal |last=Lense |first=Edward |title=Sauron and Dracula |journal=[[Mythlore]] |date=1976 |volume=4 |issue=1 |at=article 1 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol4/iss1/1/ |access-date=2020-05-31 |archive-date=2020-09-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918170825/https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol4/iss1/1/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Antagonist ===

The Tolkien scholar [[Verlyn Flieger]] writes that if there was an opposite to Sauron in ''The Lord of the Rings'', it would not be Aragorn, his political opponent, nor Gandalf, his spiritual enemy, but [[Tom Bombadil]], the earthly Master who is entirely free of the desire to dominate and hence cannot be dominated.<ref name="Flieger 2011">{{cite book |last=Flieger |first=Verlyn |author-link=Verlyn Flieger |chapter=Sometimes One Word is Worth a Thousand Pictures |editor1-last=Bogstad |editor1-first=Janice M. |editor2-last=Kaveny |editor2-first=Philip E. |title=[[Picturing Tolkien]] |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jNjKrXRP0G8C&pg=PA244 |year=2011 |publisher=[[McFarland (publisher)|McFarland]] |location=Jefferson, North Carolina |isbn=978-0-7864-8473-7 |pages=50–51 |access-date=2020-06-28 |archive-date=2020-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200921142641/https://books.google.com/books?id=jNjKrXRP0G8C&pg=PA244 |url-status=live }}</ref>

{| style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; border: none;" class="wikitable"
|+ Sauron's opposite, as analysed by Verlyn Flieger<ref name="Flieger 2011"/>
|-
! style="width: 100px;" |          
! style="width: 150px;" | Sauron 
! style="width: 275px;" | Tom Bombadil
|-
! Role  
| Antagonist || Earthly counterpart
|-
! Title  
| Dark Lord || "Master"
|-
! Purpose 
| Domination of whole of [[Middle-earth]] || Care for [[The Old Forest]] "No hidden agenda, no covert desire or plan of operation"
|-
! Effect of the One Ring 
| "Power over other wills" || No effect on him "as he is not human", nor does it make others invisible to him, or him to others
|-
! How he sees the Ring 
| Means of domination || Looks right through it, his "blue eye peering through the circle of the Ring"
|}

== Adaptations ==

[[File:Sauron.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|left|Sauron, portrayed by [[Sala Baker]], in [[Peter Jackson]]'s ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring|The Fellowship of the Ring]]''<ref name="BFI">{{cite web |title=Sala Baker |url=https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2bcac0937e |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203145133/https://www2.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2bcac0937e |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 3, 2020 |publisher=[[British Film Institute]] |access-date=13 September 2022}}</ref>]]

In film versions of ''The Lord of the Rings'', Sauron has been left off-screen as "an invisible and unvisualizable antagonist"<ref name="Langford 2013"/> as in [[Ralph Bakshi]]'s 1978 [[The Lord of the Rings (1978 film)|animated version]],<ref name="Langford 2013">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Langford |first=Barry |title=Bakshi, Ralph (1938–) |editor-first=Michael D. C. |editor-last=Drout |editor-link=Michael D. C. Drout |encyclopedia=[[J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B0loOBA3ejIC&pg=PA48 |year=2013 |orig-year=2007 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |location=Abingdon, England |isbn=978-0-415-96942-0 |page=48 |access-date=2020-07-03 |archive-date=2020-08-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200802072541/https://books.google.com/books?id=B0loOBA3ejIC&pg=PA48 |url-status=live }}</ref> or as a disembodied Eye, as in [[Rankin/Bass]]'s 1980 animated adaptation of ''[[The Return of the King (1980 film)|The Return of the King]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cedmagic.com/featured/tolkien/rotk-2-3400-eye-sauron.html |title=The Eye of Sauron – J.R.R. Tolkien's ''The Return of the King'' |access-date=2006-10-13 |archive-date=2017-06-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170601224634/http://www.cedmagic.com/featured/tolkien/rotk-2-3400-eye-sauron.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the 2001–2003 [[The Lord of the Rings (film series)|film trilogy]] directed by [[Peter Jackson]], Sauron is voiced by [[Alan Howard (actor)|Alan Howard]]. He is briefly shown as a large humanoid figure clad in spiky black armour, portrayed by [[Sala Baker]],<ref>{{cite web |last=Vejvoda |first=Jim |title=Lord of the Rings: Amazon Series Reportedly Includes Sauron, Galadriel, and Elrond |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/lord-of-the-rings-series-sauron-galadriel-elrond |publisher=[[IGN]] |access-date=14 October 2022 |date=31 July 2020 |quote=The villainous Sauron was played in humanoid form by Sala Baker, while Alan Howard voiced the antagonist in The Lord of the Rings}}</ref><ref name="BFI"/><!-- when he forges and possesses the Ring,{{cn}}--> but appears only as the disembodied Eye throughout the rest of the storyline.<ref name="MOTG">{{cite journal |last=Harl |first=Allison |title=The monstrosity of the gaze: critical problems with a film adaptation of The Lord of the Rings |date=Spring–Summer 2007 |journal=[[Mythlore]] |volume=25 |issue=3 |url=https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol25/iss3/7 |access-date=14 October 2022 |archive-date=19 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919191226/https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/vol25/iss3/7/ |url-status=live }}</ref> In earlier versions of Jackson's script, Sauron does battle with Aragorn, as shown in the extended DVD version of ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King]]''. The scene was removed as too large a departure from Tolkien's text and was replaced with Aragorn fighting a troll.<ref>{{cite web |last=Stauffer |first=Derek |title=Lord Of The Rings: 15 Deleted Scenes You Won't Believe Were Cut |url=https://screenrant.com/lord-of-the-rings-best-deleted-scenes-extended-edition/ |website=[[Screen Rant]] |access-date=31 May 2020 |date=10 August 2017 |archive-date=6 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190806035624/https://screenrant.com/lord-of-the-rings-best-deleted-scenes-extended-edition/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Sauron appears as the Necromancer in Jackson's [[The Hobbit (film series)|''The Hobbit'' film adaptations]], where he is voiced by [[Benedict Cumberbatch]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Child |first=Ben |title=Hobbit forming: will Peter Jackson give Tolkien's story a new ending? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2012/jan/06/the-hobbit-peter-jackson-ending |access-date=31 May 2020 |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=6 January 2012 |archive-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111173337/http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2012/jan/06/the-hobbit-peter-jackson-ending |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File:Alternative views of Evil in the world.svg|thumb|upright=1.6|Alternative views of [[evil in Middle-earth]] are hinted at in Tolkien's Middle-earth writings: [[Manichaean]], where evil coexists with good, and [[Augustinian theodicy|Augustinian]], where the world is created good,<!--{{sfn|Shippey|2005|pp=160-161}}{{sfn|Rosebury|2003|pp=35–41}}--> and evil represents the absence of goodness.<ref name="Walther Larsen 2024"/> ]]

Sauron appears in the form of his eye in the 2017 ''[[The Lego Batman Movie]]'' voiced by [[Jemaine Clement]]. He is one of the many classic villains the [[Joker (character)|Joker]] frees from the [[Phantom Zone]] to run amok in [[Gotham City]].<ref>{{Cite web |first=Caitlin |last=Busch |url=https://www.inverse.com/article/27676-lego-batman-villains-voldemort-sauron-godzilla-king-kong-daleks-jaws/amp |title=The 9 Most Surprising Cameos in 'Lego Batman' |date=February 10, 2017 |access-date=3 January 2021 |archive-date=29 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029063450/https://www.inverse.com/article/27676-lego-batman-villains-voldemort-sauron-godzilla-king-kong-daleks-jaws/amp |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first=Caitlin |last=Busch |url=https://www.inverse.com/article/27707-lego-batman-voldemort-sauron-daleks-harry-potter-lord-of-the-rings-doctor-who/amp |title='LEGO Batman' Crosses over with 'Harry Potter,' 'Doctor Who,' and 'Lord of the Rings' |date=February 10, 2017|access-date=3 January 2021 |archive-date=29 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029063449/https://www.inverse.com/article/27707-lego-batman-voldemort-sauron-daleks-harry-potter-lord-of-the-rings-doctor-who/amp |url-status=live}}</ref> He features, too, in the 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]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Power |first=Ed |title=The battle of Middle Earth: how Christopher Tolkien fought Peter Jackson over The Lord of the Rings |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/battle-middle-earth-christopher-tolkien-fought-peter-jackson/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/battle-middle-earth-christopher-tolkien-fought-peter-jackson/ |archive-date=2022-01-11 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=31 May 2020 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |date=17 January 2020}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Sammut |first1=Mark |title=Every Single The Lord Of The Rings Video Game, Officially Ranked |url=https://www.thegamer.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-video-games-ranked-best-all-time/ |newspaper=Thegamer |access-date=3 July 2020 |date=23 July 2018 |archive-date=3 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200703115658/https://www.thegamer.com/the-lord-of-the-rings-video-games-ranked-best-all-time/ |url-status=live }}</ref><!-- Sauron is a [[playable character]] in games such as ''[[The Lord of the Rings: Conquest]]'', voiced by Jon Olson.{{cn}} He appears in ''[[Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor]]'' and its sequel ''[[Middle-earth: Shadow of War]]'', voiced by [[Steve Blum]].{{cn}}--> In the ''[[Lord of the Rings Online]]'' game, he is featured as an enemy.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bainbridge |first=William Sims |title=Virtual Nature: Environmentalism in Two Multi-player Online Games |journal=Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature & Culture |date=September 2010 |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=135–152 |doi=10.1558/jsrnc.v4i3.135 }}</ref>

Sauron's rise to power in the Second Age is portrayed in the Amazon prequel series ''[[The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Otterson |first=Joe |title='Lord of the Rings' Amazon Series Reveals Full Title in New Video |website=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |date=19 January 2022 |url=https://variety.com/2022/tv/news/lord-of-the-rings-rings-of-power-amazon-series-1235156784/ |access-date=23 July 2022 }}</ref> He first appears disguised as the non-canonical human character Halbrand,<ref name="Hibberd 2022">{{cite news |last=Hibberd |first=James |title='The Rings of Power' Finale: Even Sauron Actor Didn't Know He Was Sauron at First |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=13 October 2022 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/rings-of-power-finale-sauron-actor-interview-1235240895/ |access-date=14 October 2022}}</ref> and then in the second season as Annatar (a canonical alias of Sauron), both played by [[Charlie Vickers]].<ref name="ROP S2 ref">{{cite magazine |last=Dockterman |first=Eliana |title=Why Sauron Can Change Form on ''The Rings of Power'' |date=29 August 2024 |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time magazine]] |url=https://time.com/7010955/the-rings-of-power-sauron-true-form/ |accessdate=30 August 2024}}</ref> The Halbrand persona was conceived to make the audience share the feeling of being deceived by Sauron, and to ensure he would not overshadow other characters. Afterwards, he would be allowed to function like other classic TV villains (such as [[Walter White (Breaking Bad)|Walter White]] or [[Tony Soprano]]), or [[Lucifer]] in [[John Milton]]'s ''[[Paradise Lost]]''.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hibberd |first=James |title='The Rings of Power' Showrunners: Sauron Will Be Like Walter White in Season 2 |work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]] |date=13 October 2022 |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/rings-of-power-sauron-season-2-lotr-1235240809/ |access-date=5 October 2024}}</ref> Vickers said he was unaware of his character's true identity until filming [[Adar (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power)|the third episode]]. He admitted he began to suspect when lines from [[John Milton]]'s ''[[Paradise Lost]]'', a narrative poem about the [[Bible|biblical]] story of the [[fall of man]], were used during an audition.<ref name="Hibberd 2022"/> [[Jack Lowden]] portrays the character's First Age and early Second Age form in flashback in the [[Elven Kings Under the Sky|second season premiere]].<ref name="ROP S2 ref"/> The depiction of [[Evil in Middle-earth|evil in Arda]] as embodied in Sauron shifts both in Tolkien's writings and in the Amazon series. The prequel adopts Tolkien's use of both [[Augustinian theodicy|Augustinian]] and [[Manichean]] attitudes to evil.<ref name="Walther Larsen 2024">{{cite journal |last1=Walther |first1=Bo Kampmann |last2=Larsen |first2=Lasse Juel |year=2024 |title=Beyond the Fantasy of Orcs: Orcish Transformation in Amazon's The Rings of Power |journal=HumaNetten |issue=52 (Spring 2024) |pages=92–109 |url=https://open.lnu.se/index.php/hn/article/view/4305/3796 |doi=10.15626/hn.20245209|doi-access=free }}</ref>

== In culture ==

{{further|List of things named after J. R. R. Tolkien and his works}}
<!--Per talk, please do not add anything named after Sauron here, the list is sufficient-->

<!--Novels-->
The Eye of Sauron is mentioned in ''[[The Stand]]'', a 1978 [[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".<ref>{{cite book |last=King |first=Stephen |author-link=Stephen King |title=The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition |publisher=[[Doubleday (publisher)|Doubleday]] |location=New York City |date=1978 |isbn=978-0-385-12168-2 |url=https://archive.org/details/stand00step_1 |url-access=registration}}</ref> The idea of Sauron as a sleepless eye that watches and seeks the protagonists also influenced King's epic fantasy series ''[[The Dark Tower (series)|The Dark Tower]]''; its villain, the [[Crimson King]], is a similarly disembodied evil presence whose icon is also an eye.<ref>{{cite book |last=Magistrale |first=Tony |author-link=Tony Magistrale |date=21 December 2009 |title=Stephen King: America's Storyteller |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=neqOJbFjVvEC&pg=PA40 |location=Santa Barbara, California |publisher=[[Greenwood Publishing Group|Praeger]] |page=40 |isbn=978-0313352287 |access-date=19 May 2015 |archive-date=29 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029063451/https://books.google.com/books?id=neqOJbFjVvEC&pg=PA40 |url-status=live }}</ref>

<!--Comics-->
In the [[Marvel Comics Universe]], the [[supervillain]] [[Sauron (Marvel Comics)|Sauron]], an enemy of the [[X-Men]] created in 1969, names himself after the Tolkien character.<ref name="X-Men' 1969">{{cite comic |writer=[[Roy Thomas]] |penciller=[[Neal Adams]] |inker=[[Tom Palmer (comics)|Tom Palmer]] |letterer=[[Sam Rosen (comics)|Sam Rosen]] |editor=[[Stan Lee]] |story=In the Shadow of...Sauron! |title=[[Uncanny X-Men|The X-Men]] |volume=1 |issue=60 |date=September 1969 |publisher=[[Marvel Comics]] |location=New York City}}</ref> In the comic series ''[[Fables (comics)|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.<ref>{{cite web |last=O'Shea |first=Tom |title="This is a Wonderful Job": An Orca Q&A with Fables' Bill Willingham | year=2003 |url=http://www.orcafresh.net/interview/in020503.html |access-date=31 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050429103441/http://www.orcafresh.net/interview/in020503.html |archive-date=29 April 2005}}  Interview with Bill Willingham</ref><!-- Technology -->

== Notes ==

{{notelist}}

== References ==

=== Primary ===

{{Reflist|group=T|28em}}

=== Secondary ===

{{Reflist|28em}}

=== Sources ===

* {{ME-ref|Letters}} <!--Carpenter-->
* {{ME-ref|A&I}} <!--Hammond & Scull, but Tolkien's artwork-->
* {{ME-ref|FOTR}}
* {{ME-ref|TT}}
* {{ME-ref|ROTK}}
* {{ME-ref|Silm}}
* {{ME-ref|UT}}
* {{ME-ref|BOLT}}
* {{ME-ref|BOLT2}}
* {{ME-ref|LROW}}
* {{ME-ref|MR}}
* {{ME-ref|SD}}
* {{ME-ref|WJ}}
* {{ME-ref|PM}}
* {{ME-ref|FG}}

{{Lotr}}
{{Hobbit}}
{{Middle-earth}}
<!--
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[[Category:The Silmarillion characters]]
[[Category:The Hobbit characters]]
[[Category:The Lord of the Rings characters]]
[[Category:Middle-earth rulers]]
[[Category:Male characters in literature]]
[[Category:Video game bosses]]
[[Category:Dark lords]]

[[de:Figuren in Tolkiens Welt#Sauron]]