Hey, guys, so today we are clearing something up about the chief villain of the Second and Third
ages of Middle-earth. While we’ve talked a lot on this channel about Sauron during the second age,
there’s a common misconception about the dark lord during the Third Age.
While the incredible Peter Jackson trilogy brought to life so much of Tolkien’s world,
one of the biggest misnomers resulting from the films that often I’m asked about
is the nature of Sauron’s form in the later Third Age.
Sauron in The Lord of the Rings films famously appears as a giant flaming eyeball
atop the tower of Barad-dur. While a striking supernatural image, this is nowhere near the
actual appearance of Sauron during this time - or any time for that matter. This
device did work effectively for keeping Sauron an imposing and all-seeing presence,
while setting the stakes of his return to his physical form should he regain the ring.
However, the Eye of Sauron is indeed a canon concept, though it is in a
different form entirely. Firstly when Frodo looks in the Mirror of Galadriel,
he sees what may indeed be Sauron’s actual physical eye - yellow and rimmed with fire with
a slit pupil described as a window into nothing. While he stays in his fortress of Barad-dur,
Sauron indeed had a physical form by the War of the Ring. However, without his One Ring,
he remains in his fortress, while his servants would carry out his battle plans.
His physical form is confirmed by Gollum in The Two Towers, as he talks briefly about
his time as Sauron’s prisoner, during which he was tortured by the dark lord.
‘That would be Minas Ithil that Isildur the son of Elendil built,’ said Frodo.
‘It was Isildur who cut off the finger of the Enemy.’ ‘Yes, He has only four on the Black Hand,
but they are enough,’ said Gollum shuddering. ‘And He hated Isildur’s city.’
Now, we know that Sauron both has a physical form and is not a giant eyeball,
but the Eye of Sauron is indeed a major concept in the books - also referred to as The Red Eye,
the Evil Eye, The Lidless Eye, and simply The Eye. In these instances, rather than an actual eye,
it refers to a symbol used by the dark lord and his followers.
It is found on orc armor and places where the servants of Mordor had wrought their destruction.
The fellowship has one of their first sights of the emblem of Sauron at Amon Hen:
They had not come very far from the road,
and yet even in so short a space they had seen ... the newer wounds made by the Orcs
and other foul servants of the Dark Lord ... trees hewn down wantonly and left to die,
with evil runes or the fell sign of the Eye cut in rude strokes on their bark.
This emblem was not only a symbol for Sauron’s forces,
but also a reminder to all of Middle-earth of the dark lord’s unceasing vigilance and piercing
perception. Not only did he have the nazgul and legions of orcs and men under his sway,
but he also had the palantir, with which he could survey the lands and affect the minds of others.
However, we also can’t rule out that Sauron himself had a supernatural ability for sight.
If we go back even further in Middle-earth history, we find that Morgoth, the original Dark
Lord whom Sauron served, was described as having a supernatural ability of sight and perception. For
when he captures Hurin and places him in a seat atop Thangorodrim, he said “Therefore with my
eyes you shall see and with my ears you shall hear, and nothing shall be hidden from you.”
This ability certainly had its limitations, as Morgoth could not use it to discover the
hidden elf city of Gondolin, however it did allow Hurin to know of the misfortune that
would fall upon his family. As for Sauron’s ability to survey the lands of Middle-earth,
it’s unknown how much of this was a result of his possession of a palantir
vs an innate power of the Ainur. Whatever it was, Sauron was diligent in his use of
it. So much so that he would use the emblem of the Red Eye for his armies.
The fact that Sauron’s orcs use the eye as their symbol
helps Aragorn to deduce the meaning of a strange new emblem found on the fallen orcs at Amon Hen:
Upon their shields they bore a strange device: a small white hand in the centre of a black field;
on the front of their iron helms was set an S-rune, wrought of some white metal.
‘I have not seen these tokens before,’ said Aragorn. ‘What do they mean?’ ‘S is for Sauron,’
said Gimli. ‘That is easy to read.’ ‘Nay!’ said Legolas. ‘Sauron does not use the elf-runes.’
‘Neither does he use his right name, nor permit it to be spelt or spoken,’
said Aragorn. ‘And he does not use white. The Orcs in the service of Barad-dûr use the sign of
the Red Eye.’ He stood for a moment in thought. ‘S is for Saruman, I guess,’ he said at length.
‘There is evil afoot in Isengard, and the West is no longer safe.
As Sam and Frodo make their way through Ithilien,
they discover a once great statue - much like the Argonath - that had been maimed, its head removed,
and in its place, a rough-hewn stone painted with a grinning face and a large red eye in the midst
of its forehead. This leaves no doubt as to who desecrated this monument, or whom they served.
The symbol is also described as being on the orc-helmets that Sam brings to Frodo
that they may go forth from Cirith Ungol in disguise. It’s also the symbol that is
found on the banner accompanying the Mouth of Sauron as he issues forth from the Black
Gate to parley with the Men of the West. A single black banner, it bears a red evil eye.
One of the most chilling appearances of Sauron’s symbol comes in the Siege of Gondor:
For the enemy was flinging into the City all the heads of those who had fallen
fighting at Osgiliath, or on the Rammas, or in the fields.
They were grim to look on; for though some were crushed and shapeless,
and some had been cruelly hewn, yet many had features that could be told, and it
seemed that they had died in pain; and all were branded with the foul token of the Lidless Eye.
Now I do believe the eye of flame atop Barad-dur was effective in the films
to convey an ever-present foe and his never-ceasing vigilant gaze. And while,
it also helped to show the audience where the dark lord’s attention was drawn, I personally
prefer the book version of Sauron in physical form, still marred by the blade of Isildur.
It takes us further down the path of each of the dark lord’s downfalls costing him - first he loses
his ability to take a fair form in the downfall of Numenor, and now he bears a reminder of Isildur’s
blade upon his hand, which adds some added depth to his hatred of the descendants of Numenor.
While it has inevitably caused some confusion to fans over the years, I totally understand the
use of a more visual and in some ways limited representation of Sauron’s form in the films.
It doesn’t ruin my enjoyment of my favorite films of all time,
nor does it affect my enjoyment of the book version, which I prefer.
In the end, I’ll envision Sauron as he is in the books - the nine-fingered creature of malice,
pulling the strings in his war against his most hated enemies, always gazing throughout the lands,
searching for his enemies and his One Ring. And while he is engaged in a game of chess with the
men and maiar of Middle-earth, his symbol of the red eye brings fear to those who behold it.
What other burning questions do you have from Middle-earth?
Are there other misconceptions from the films you feel should be addressed in their own video?
Let me know what you think in the comments!
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