Hail and well met everyone!
Last week we left off with Sauron being defeated by Isildur during the Last Alliance which brought the destruction of Sauron’s physical body. Isildur had the chance to destroy the one ring and end the war forever but corruption came over him. Isildur was betrayed years later and killed by orcs and the ring was lost in the Anduin river for centuries.
This week we pick up and learn that Sauron is still alive and has been in hiding for the past thousand years.
The Third Age
Despite his defeat, Sauron was not vanquished permanently. Though greatly weakened, he still existed, due to pouring most of his native power, strength, and will into the One Ring. Thus, as long as it existed, he could never be truly defeated, and during the first thousand years of the Third Age, he lay in hiding, slowly recovering his strength until he was once again able to create a body for himself.
The Necromancer of Dol Guldur
Sauron began his rise in the year 1000 of the third age, taking the stronghold of Dol Guldur, the Hill of Sorcery, in southern Mirkwood. There, he was disguised as a dark sorcerer known as the Necromancer, and the Elves did not realize at first that he was actually Sauron returned.
Around this time, the Valar sent the five Wizards, or Istari, to oppose Sauron and rally the free peoples of Middle-Earth against him.
While Sauron continued to gather his strength, the Ringwraiths reappeared three hundred years after Sauron arose in Dol Goldur and began steadily assaulting the Numenorian kingdoms in exile until, one by one, they fell. Whether the Witch King was acting on his own, or was being guided by Sauron, is not known.
Sauron Reveals Himself to Gandalf
Suspecting that Sauron had returned and was guiding the Nazgul, the wizard Gandalf infiltrated the fortress to confirm his theory, but Sauron fled into the East to conceal his identity. This marked the beginning of the Watchful Peace, which ended with Sauron’s return to Dol Guldur many years later. During that time, the One Ring was finally discovered by Smeagol and his friend Deagol.
Gandalf the Grey made a second intrusion into Dol Guldur around year 2850, and finally discovered that the Necromancer was indeed Sauron. Eventually, the White Council put forth their might and drove Sauron from Dol Guldur permanently. Without the Ring in his possession, Sauron could draw on only the smallest fraction of its strength, so his enemies were able to drive him from Dol Guldur with relative ease. However, the Dark Lord, having had ample time to prepare, was willing to abandon Dol Guldur, and returned to Mordor, where he openly declared himself, and began preparations for his final war against the free peoples of Middle-earth.
Until next week as we wrap up the final series on Sauron, I’m your host Iogro Merrybelly and I bid you a fine farewell.
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Another great article, and I love the pictures. For some extra information, when the White Concil confirmed it was Sauron at DG, Sauruman faught against action. He was already corrupted, and had discovered the location of Isildur’s death. He thought the close proximity of Sauron would “activate” the ring and he might be able to find it. When he found out some of Sauron’s spies were sniffing around the same area, he became alarmed and agreed to help evict Sauron. Unfortunatly for him Smeagol had taken it to the Misty Mountains hundreds of years earlier.
Barnabras, I always enjoy the extra little tid bits you have… I did like how they portrayed Sauruman in The Hobbit films when Gandalf met with the council to show them the morgul blade. Gandalf has a caution around him and they gave Sauruman a very un-trusting personality which I think did a good justice for the most part on the Lore.