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Sauron The Abominable. Ainu, one of the Maia of Aule. Seduced by Melkor early —— in the First Age, Sauron became chief of his servants and anchored the

 front line of his defense against the Valar and the Eldar. While Melkor
 dwelt in Utumno, Sauron held Angband; he escaped capture during the Battle
 of the Powers.
   When Melkor returned to Middle-earth with the Silmarils, Sauron joined him
 Angband and even directed the War during Melkor's attempt to corrupt Men
 soon after their awakening. After the breaking of the Seige of Angband,
 Sauron again ventured forth to secure Melkor's south-western front. In 457
 he took Minas Tirith on Tol Sirion, filling it with his warewolves and
 opening West Beleriand to the ravages of Orcs. A few years later Sauron
 secured Dorthonion by capturing Gorlim and using a sorcerous trick to make
 him betray Barahir's outlaws. In 466 Sauron capture Finrod and Beren,
 overcame Finrod in a wizard's dwell, and killed Finrod and his Elves one by
 one in his dungeons. But retribution came soon after, when Luthien and Huan
 came to rescue Beren. After Huan slew his warewolves, Sauron assumed wolf
 form and fought the hound. Overcome by Huan's strength and Luthien's magic,
 Sauron surrendered the tower and fled in vampire form to Taur-Nu-Fuin, where
 he remained, dreadful but passive for the rest of the First Age.
   After the Great Battle Sauron submitted to Eonwe, but was told that he
 would have to return to Aman to be judged by the Valar. Although his
 repentance may have been sincere, his pride would not allow him to endure
 such humiliation, and he fled and hid himself somewhere in Middle-earth.
 About Second Age 500 he began to reveal himself again, and by 1000 he had
 gathered enough power to establish a stronghold in Mordor and begin building
 the Barad-dur. In the long millennia of the Dark Years, Sauron corrupted
 many races of Men. Under the name of Annatar and wearing a fair body, he
 seduced many groups of Elves, notably by the Gwaith-i-Mirdain of Eregion.
 The combination of Sauron's skill and Noldorin creativity enriched both
 parties, until about 1500 they began forging the Rings of Power, by which
 Sauron hoped to ensnare the Free Peoples. Sauron placed much of his power in
 the One Ring, with which he completed the Barad-dur. When Celebrimbor of
 Eregion discovered Sauron's treachery with the Rings, Sauron resorted to
 force and began the War of the Elves and Sauron (1693-1700), in which he
 destroyed Eregion and overrun Eriador, but was defeated by Gil-galad and a
 fleet sent to Middle-earth by Tar-Minastir of Numenor.
   After this Sauron revealed himself openly, gathering in his service Orcs
 and other monsters of Morgoth, ruling great areas (especially in the east)
 by force and terror, and apparently converting his vassals to the worship
 of Melkor, for Sauron remained ever true in his allegiance. In his pride
 Sauron claimed the title King of Men, thus arousing the equal pride of Kings
 of Numenor. In 3262 Ar-Pharazon landed at Umbar with a vast force. Deserted
 by his armies, Sauron was forced to submit to Ar-Pharazon, who took his back
 to Numenor. In fifty years Sauron played on the Numenoreans' fear of death
 so effectively that the majority utterly repudiated the Valar and worshipped
 Melkor at Sauron's temple. Finally he persuaded Ar-Pharazon to seize
 immortality by invading Aman. To his surprise, the Valar reacted by calling
 on Iluvatar; Sauron's body was caught in a terrible catastrophe of the
 destruction of Numenor, and thereafter he was unable a fair seeming form.
   Sauron returned to Mordor and marshalled his forces. In 3429 he attacked
 Gondor, taking Minas Ithil and destroying the White Tree, a hated symbol of
 the Light of Aman. In 3434, however, he was defeated in the Battle of
 Dagorlad by the army of the Last Alliance and was besieged in the Barad-dur.
 In 3441, in a final battle on the slopes of Orodruin Suaron was overthrown
 by Gil-galad and Elendil, but killed both his foes. Isildur cut off his
 finger and took the Ring.
   In the Third Age, without the One Ring which formed the base of his power,
 Sauron was extremely cautious. His policy was to twofold: to weaken the
 Dunedain kingdoms without provoking massive retaliation, and to recover the
 Ring. The latter policy was clouded by Sauron's uncertainty about the fate
 of the Ring, which should have been destroyed by Isildur. After Sauron rose
 again about Third Age 1000, he hid his identity and was known as the
 Necromancer or the Sorcerer of Dol Guldur. Since Mordor was guarded by
 Gondor, he dwelt in Dol Guldur. About 1300 he began to attack the Free
 Peoples, especially the Dunedain. He sent the Lord of the Nazgul to the
 North, where he founded Angmar. In the South, Sauron stirred up the Haradrim
 and the Easterlings against Gondor.
   After the Great Plague of 1636, which may have been sent by Sauron,
 Gondor's watch was relaxed, and the Nazgul re-enterd that realm and prepared
 it for Sauron. In 2002 the Nazgul took Minas Ithil, thus obtaining a
 palantir for Sauron, which he later used to ensnare Saruman and trick
 Denethor II. In 2063, Gandalf went to Dol Guldur to learn the identity of
 the Necromancer, but Sauron fled to the East. He returned to Dol Guldur in
 2460 with increased strength and renewed his plots until 2941, when he was
 driven out of Dol Guldur by the White Council. Sauron willingly retreated to
 Mordor, where he openly proclaimed himself, rebuilt the Barad-dur, and
 prepared to defeat the West by overwhelming Gondor and the smaller realms of
 the North with his vast armies of Orcs, trolls, Haradrin, Easterlings, and
 creatures more foul.
   Even though Sauron did not have the Ring, its very existence gave him
 enough strength to crush the West. Gandalf and Elrond, realizing this, saw
 that the only way to defeat Sauron was to destroy the Ring. Frodo Baggins
 volunteered to undertake the Quest of Mount Doom and, escaping Sauron's
 servants searching for him and the Ring, destroyed the Ring in the Fire of
 Doom. The Nazgul were destroyed and Sauron so weakened that he was unable
 ever to take shape again.
   It is almost imposible to describe all the plots of Sauron, the master of
 deceit and treachery, and so only and outline of his policies is presented
 here. Among Sauron's other accomplishments stand the invention of the Black
 Speech; the creation of the Nazgul, his most powerful servants ensnared by
 the Nine Rings of Men; and the breeding of the Olog-hai and, perhaps, the
 Uruk-hai.
   After the ruin of his body in the destruction of Numenor, Sauron had the
 form of a Man; his skin was black and burning hot. In the Third Age he most
 frequently appeared as a fearsome, ever-searching Eye.
   Sauron comes fro the earlier Quenya Thauron; the Sindarin name was
 Gorthaur the Cruel. Also called Sauron the Deceiver, the Lord of the Earth
 (in the Second Age), the Enemy, the Master, the Dark Power, the Dark Lord,
 Lord of Mordor, the Power of the Black Land, the Black Master, the Black
 One, the Lord of Barad-dur, the Lord of the Dark Tower, and the Shadow. He
 was also called, attributively, the Great Eye, the Red Eye, the Eye of
 Barad-dur, the Lidless Eye, and the Evil Eye. Also called the Unnamed, the
 Nameless, the Nameless One, the Nameless Eye, and He or Him. Also the Lord
 of the Rings, the Lord of the Ring, and the Ring Maker. Also, by Gollum, the
 Black Hand.