Hail and well met everyone!
Last week we left off with the Necromancer being defeated by Luthien and fleeing into hiding. He had very little to do with the events that took place in the first age but things in Middle-Earth were not safe as the Necromancer was laying dormant just waiting. This week we pick up with the beginning events of his rise to power in the second age.
The Dark Lord’s hand of Power.
After lying hidden and dormant for 500 years, Sauron began revealing himself once more, and around the year 1000 he gathered his power and established himself in the land of Mordor and began building the dreaded Dark Tower of Barad-dur near Mount Doom. Sauron, like Morgoth, soon began raising massive armies of Orcs, Trolls, and possibly other creatures, as well as corrupting the hearts of Men with delusions of power and wealth, chiefly Easterlings and Southrons.
Although Sauron knew that men were easier to sway, he sought to bring the Elves into his service, as they were far more powerful. By year 1500, Sauron put on a masterful front in the Second Age, and calling himself Annatar, the “Lord of Gifts”, he befriended the Elvish smiths of Eregion, and counseled them in arts and magic. Not all the Elves trusted him, particularly Lady Galadriel, Elrond, and Gil-galad, High King of the Noldor.
Sauron, wearing the One Ring.
To the elves who listened, Sauron gave knowledge and encouragement in forging the Rings of Power, though in secret Sauron forged his own, the One Ring, to rule the Elvish rings. Upon that ring Sauron left the inscription, Ash nazg durbatuluk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatuluk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul. In Westron the inscription translated into: One Ring to Rule Them All, One Ring to Find Them, One Ring to Bring Them All, and in the Darkness Bind Them. However, as soon as Sauron put the Ring on his finger the Elves sensed his treachery, and removed their rings and hid them. Enraged, Sauron came against them in open war and demanded that all the Rings of Power be given to him. The Elves managed to hide the three greatest of the Rings from him, but the other sixteen Rings of Power were either captured by Sauron, destroyed, or lost. To the Dwarves he had given seven, but to Men he had given Nine, knowing that they would be the easiest to enslave. The Dwarf Lords who received the Rings proved to be very resistant to their power, and neither “faded” nor became enslaved to Sauron’s will. The Rings instead created in them an insatiable lust for gold, which ultimately caused a great deal of grief for the Dwarves.
The Corrupted Nine
As Sauron predicted however, the nine Men were all corrupted by their Rings and became the Nazgul which we just finished our series on last week. These corrupted men were called Sauron’s deadliest servants. Had the Elves not recognized Sauron’s treachery and forsaken the power of their rings, the results would have been catastrophic for the Free Peoples of Middle-Earth. It seems that most if not all of the native Men of Middle-Earth succumbed to the power of the Ring once the Nazgul were created; the Numenoreans were spared because of their distance. The Elves, had they been captured in this fashion, would have become the slaves of Sauron, and thus Celebrimbor’s resistance was of immense importance in the history of Middle-earth.
In this era, during which he marshalled and commanded great armies, Sauron became known as the Dark Lord of Mordor and his fortress of Barad-dur was completed. He was very powerful even without control of the Elves, and he conquered nearly all of Middle-earth during the War of the Elves and Sauron. However, the armies of Numenor’s King Tar-Minastir were finally able to defeat him at a last battle near Gwathlo or the Greyflood in the year 1700. Defeated but not vanquished, Sauron retreated back to Mordor and began recouping his strength over the many centuries.
Until next time, I’m your host Iogro Merrybelly and I bid you a farewell.
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I always liked the fact that Sauron was still loyal to Morgoth/Melkor. I wonder which of the Maiar were originally assigned to Melkor? Where they the Balrogs?
So from my readings of that history, i’m not seeing where Melkor had any one specific Maiar assigned to him. I do see where he had an influence and a following though. I think his influence really came when he turned to darkness though and that is when he began gathering other Maiar up.. just my thoughts though 🙂 – Do love conversations like these as they spawn new ideas for Lore articles. Always a pleasure Barnabras! Thanks
The influence came during The Music.
“But as the theme progressed, it came into the heart of Melkor to interweave matters of his own imagining that were not in accord with the theme of Ilúvatar; for he sought therein to increase the power and glory of the part assigned to himself. To Melkor among the Ainur had been given the greatest gifts of power and knowledge, and he had a share in all the gifts of his brethren. He had gone often alone into the void places seeking the Imperishable Flame; for desire grew hot within him to bring into Being things of his own, and it seemed to him that Ilúvatar took no thought for the Void, and he was impatient of its emptiness. Yet he found not the Fire, for it is with Ilúvatar. But being alone he had begun to conceive thoughts of his own unlike those of his brethren. Some of these thoughts he now wove into his music, and straightway discord arose about him, and many that sang nigh him grew despondent, and their thought was disturbed and their music faltered; but some began to attune their music to his rather than to the thought which they had at first. Then the discord of Melkor spread ever wider, and the melodies which had been heard before foundered in a sea of turbulent sound. But Ilúvatar sat and hearkened until it seemed that about his throne there was a raging storm, as of dark waters that made war one upon another in an endless wrath that would not be assuaged.”
He had followers before they stepped foot into Ea. He continued to convince and beguile some of the Ainur who came to Arda that weren’t originally aligned with him, but still had some of the same intentions, which we see a clear example in Ungoliant’s relationship with Melkor.
I don’t remember reading anywhere that he had any Maia specifically assigned to him, as I don’t think any of the Maia were “assigned” to any other Valar. Yes, Maia served certain Vala, but it was more due to the union they shared in that specific part of the Mind of Iluvatar from whence they came than any real indentured servitude.
One thing I would point out though is that Sauron was originally a Maia of Aule, which could explain why the Noldor in Eregion were so eager to learn from him as they were of Aule back in Aman. While the “Wise” saw through the guise, the eagerness of the last real Noldorin settlement in Middle-earth eventually caused it’s destruction — a clear parallel with their Dwarven friends in Moria: Delving too greedily and awoke the Nameless Fear.
As far as the Balrogs are concerned, these are Maia as well who did serve Melkor, for a time. But once Melkor was chained and Thangorodrim broken, they essentially did their own thing, much like Sauron.
Greetings….great reading
Greetings to you as well Kimstar, glad you enjoyed 🙂
In reply to Joseph’s post, do you mean when Morgoth was cast into the void for good, post war of wrath? Or do you mean when he was held (in Mandos?) as a prisoner? Because after he stole the Simiril, the Balrogs were still serving him. I recall Ungoliant attacking Morgoth because she wanted to devour the Simirils. The Balrogs came and drove her off and protected Morgoth. I think all the Balrogs execpt Durin’s Bane were destroyed (or thought to be) in the War of Wraith. My personal theory is that Sauron roused the Balrog more so than the Dwarves. At that point in time I think he had already established Dol Guldor which was close by. And he had a hatred for the dwarves of Moria, because they helped out the elves of Erigion. And he could not take Moria from the “outside” as it were. Sorry I am going by memory, I don’t have access to my books right now.
I meant after the War of Wrath. Up until then we see clear examples of the Balrogs serving Melkor, as you have already stated. After that though, we don’t know exactly how many Balrogs perished as a result of the War, the breaking of Beleriand, etc. (Which is why I think LOTRO isn’t wrong with Thaurlach in the game. He *could* plausibly be there)
I would also tentatively agree that Sauron might’ve roused the Balrog, but I do think the book is clear that the Dwarves are the one who awoke the Maia. Your theory does have credence since Dol Guldur was established around T.A. 1100 and the Balrog was disturbed much later (T.A. 1980); but I would also point out that, regardless of how the movies portray Sauron at DG, he was in no shape to do any real “rousing.” He was there to bide his time and gather what strength he could without the Ring.
This, however is one of the great, beautiful things about Tolkien’s Legendarium: that we can even have these conversations. It’s as if we are discussing real world history because not all the holes are plugged. There is enough grey areas in the lore to allow for these different theories to crop up, and to me it makes the story and the world even the more rich and beautiful.
The most important question is, did Balrogs have wings?