He is the Lord of the Rings, the one who would torment Middle-earth for two ages of the world.
But long before he would craft his ring, he would serve as the greatest and most trusted
lieutenant of Morgoth, assisting him in his conquest, and fighting against the mighty
heroes of Beleriand.
Today, on Nerd of the Rings, we cover the life and travels of Sauron during the First Age.
In the beginning, Sauron was a maia known as Mairon, serving under Aule - the smith of the Valar.
However, Mairon would be swayed to join the evil vala Melkor.
You see, Mairon had a love for order and a strong distaste for chaos and confusion.
This obsession would overtake his love for the other beings in Arda, to the point where
it becomes his sole focus.
So much so that he admires Melkor’s power and his attempts to shape the world as he sees fit.
Mairon comes to serve Melkor, becoming his most trusted servant.
He becomes known as Gorthaur, meaning “Terrible Dread” among the Sindar and by his more
common name Sauron meaning “the Abhorred” in Quenya.
In the earliest days of Middle-earth, Morgoth has two fortresses, Utumno and Angband.
While Morgoth would rule the greatest himself, he give Sauron command of Angband.
After the destruction of the Two Lamps and the awakening of the elves, the Valar decide
to move against Morgoth in the Battle of the Powers.
While this would primarily be a siege upon Utumno, the Valar in their victory would also search Angband.
Sauron, however, would evade their capture and continue to dwell in Middle-earth while
his master is held captive in Valinor for roughly 2,850 years.
We know very little of what Sauron did during these long years, aside from biding his time,
awaiting the return of his master.
This day would eventually come as the Valar give Morgoth a second chance, which he uses
to steal the silmarils, destroy the Two Trees - the sources of light for the world - and flee to Beleriand.
With the Two Trees destroyed, the Valar create the Sun and Moon.
As the Sun rises for the first time, it marks the awakening of the second Children of Iluvatar - Men.
Morgoth sees an opportunity to corrupt these new beings to his will and travels to the
East of Middle-earth, leaving Sauron in command of the war between the dark forces and the elves of Beleriand.
In the first 455 years of the First Age, Morgoth would only have fairly small victories against
the Elves, with the Free Peoples keeping the dark lord in check for the most part.
In 455, however, Morgoth launches the Dagor Bragollach, the Battle of Sudden Flame, which
devastates the plains of Anfauglith, the realm of Dorthonion, and would mark the beginning
of Morgoth’s gradual march toward domination.
Upon seeing the devastation across the plain, Fingolfin rides to Angband to challenge Morgoth to single combat.
Despite putting up a remarkable fight, Fingolfin is crushed by the dark lord.
The death of the High King of the Noldor, and the scorching of the plains, opens the
door for Sauron to attack the island of Tol Sirion.
We are told that at Sauron’s coming, absolute fear falls upon Orodreth and the defenders
of the Tol Sirion.
The realm falls to Sauron and he takes control of the great tower of Minas Tirith in 457 FA.
This is an important event, as controlling this area opens the passage to the East of
Beleriand to Morgoth’s forces.
Tol Sirion is now ruled by Sauron and is renamed Tol-in-Gaurhoth - the Isle of Werewolves.
Werewolves, while only being mentioned in the Third Age by Gandalf, play a much bigger role in the First Age.
Not only is Sauron their master, but he is also their creator.
These monstrous creatures were bred from the wolves of Morgoth.
Sauron would then imprison evil spirits within the bodies, thus creating the monstrous werewolves.
At times, Sauron also takes on the form of a wolf himself.
He is also known to transform into a serpent and a vampire.
After the Dagor Bragollach, Beren, his father Barahir, and a group of men would operate
as outlaws in their former lands of Dorthonion.
Hearing of the actions of these men, Morgoth orders Sauron to wipe them out.
Sauron’s orcs manage to capture one of these outlaws named Gorlim, after he saw what he
thought was his wife, who had been missing since the Bragollach.
Thus Gorlim was ensnared; and taking him to their camp they tormented, seeking to learn
the hidings of Barahir and all his ways.
But nothing would Gorlim tell.
Then they promised him that he should be released and restored to Eilinel, if he would yield;
and being at last worn with pain, and yearning for his wife, he faltered.
Then straightaway they brought him into the dreadful presence of Sauron; and Sauron said:
And Gorlim answered that he should find Eilinel again, and with her be set free; for he thought
Eilinel also had been made captive.
Then Sauron smiled, saying:
Now Gorlim would have drawn back, but daunted by the eyes of Sauron he told at last all that he would know.
Then Sauron laughed; and he mocked Gorlim, and revealed to him that he had only seen
a phantom devised by wizardry to entrap him; for Eilinel was dead.
'Nonetheless I will grant thy prayer,' said Sauron; 'and thou shalt go to Eilinel, and
be set free of my service.'
Then he put him cruelly to death.
In 460 FA, Sauron sends a force of orcs to the outlaws’ hideout of Tarn Aeluin,
where all are killed, except Beren.
Beren continues to operate in the area as a lone outlaw, achieving great deeds against
the forces of the Dark Lord.
In response, Morgoth sets a high price on Beren’s head, leading Sauron to command
a great army of werewolves and fell beasts to search for Beren.
This forces Beren to flee south, where he would meet Luthien and be tasked by her father
Thingol to steal a Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown.
This quest in 465 FA, would bring Beren, Galadriel’s brother Finrod, and a group of ten elves to
attempt the passage to the north.
Finrod uses his magic to disguise the group as orcs, in an effort to pass by Sauron’s isle unnoticed.
However, Sauron had ordered all who pass to report to him.
When he notices this band of orcs passing without reporting, they are captured and brought before him.
There, Finrod and Sauron fight in songs of power and while both possess great strength,
Sauron is more powerful.
He strips them of their orc disguises, but cannot determine who they are or what their purpose was.
When they refuse to disclose any of this information, Sauron throws all 12 into a dark pit.
There, one by one, they are devoured by a werewolf.
Even as they are consumed one by one, Beren and the elves will not betray one another.
Finally, Finrod and Beren are the only two who remain.
As the werewolf goes to attack Beren, Finrod fights the werewolf and, using every bit of
his power left to him, kills the wolf.
Finrod soon dies of his wounds from the battle.
In this moment, Luthien comes to the bridge of Tol-in-Gaurhoth and begins to sing.
Sauron sees her from his tower of Minas Tirith and knows her to be the daughter of Melian and Thingol.
Rather than kill her, he wishes to capture her so that he may deliver her to Morgoth.
He sends werewolf after werewolf to the bridge, but they are each in turn killed by Luthien’s
companion - Huan the Hound.
Finally, Sauron sends Draugluin - the great father of the werewolves.
After a fierce battle with the hound, Draugluin flees, telling Sauron of Huan before he dies.
Sauron sends no more servants.
He will take this battle himself.
He takes the form of a werewolf - said to be the greatest the world had ever seen, and
comes to the bridge to fight the hound of valinor.
So great was the terror of his approach that even Huan momentarily recoils from his might.
Sauron leaps at Luthien.
She draws her magic veil over his eyes, blinding him and afflicting him with fatigue.
Huan then jumps upon Sauron and the two fight their brutal fight.
It is said Luthien is left weak and very nearly unconscious from the force of Sauron’s malice alone.
While Sauron fights fiercely, he cannot defeat the hound.
Eventually, Huan traps Sauron within his jaws.
In an attempt to escape, Sauron takes the form of a serpent, still the hound holds him captive.
Finally, he returns to his normal form.
Here, Sauron is faced with a choice.
As an immortal spirit, he can abandon his physical form, but as we see in later ages
- it takes a long time for him to regain it.
Instead, he yields control of the isle to Luthien in exchange for his release.
Now free, he takes the form of a vampire, fleeing to Taur-nu-Fuin, where he fills the forest with horror.
80 years later, in 545 FA, the Host of the West, led by the maia Eonwe, comes to Beleriand
in an effort to overthrow Morgoth.
What follows is the 40-year War of Wrath, an unimaginable battle with uncountable combatants
and devastation throughout the lands of Beleriand.
In the end, Angband is destroyed, Morgoth is once again captured, bound in chains, and
his feet are hewn from under him.
Sauron, knowing his master is utterly defeated, takes on a fair form and repents of his evil deeds to Eonwe.
Eonwe orders Sauron to return to Valinor, where he may repent to Manwe and receive judgement.
However, Sauron is unwilling to endure such humiliation.
Instead, he flees to the lands of Middle-earth, where he would hide, biding his time.
With his master banished to the void, the time has come for a new Dark Lord.
One that would use all his cunning, and his craftsmanship, to bend Middle-earth to his will.
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