Whether you still think of him as the giant, flaming eye fromPeter Jackson’sThe Lord of the Ringsfilm trilogy, or have fully committed toCharlie Vickers' portrayal as Halbrand inThe Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, it’s clear that no matter which way you slice it, Sauron is pretty shifty. Now that he’s changed his appearance yet again in Season 2 of the Prime Video series, now showing up as the “Lord of Gifts” Annatar, it begs the question,how many forms is Sauron going to shapeshift himself into?We know that, once upon a time, Sauron looked a bit differently (played byJack Lowdenin the opening flashback of “Elven Kings Under the Sky”), but did you know that there are even wilder appearances that the Dark Lord has undertaken throughoutJ.R.R. Tolkien’s larger mythology?
Sauron Has Been a Shapeshifter Throughout His Entire Story
If you know anythingabout Sauron’s origins, you likely know that his story, in some ways, parallels that of the biblical Satan. Like Satan, who was once an angel known as Lucifer,Sauron was originally an angelic being himself called Mairon. As one of the Maiar (the race of immortal spirits from which Gandalf also derives), he was subservient to the higher class of Valar and the most powerful of his kind. But all of that changed when Melkor rebelled against the Creator, Eru Ilúvatar,becoming the first Dark Lord, Morgoth. Mairon followed him in his rebellion,forging his own path as Sauron. Aiding Morgoth (once called Melkor), Sauron helped create the Orcs as a pale imitation meant to mock the other Children of Ilúvatar (the Elves and Men). It wasn’t long then before this fallen spirit began to take on his recognizable Sauron form, which was larger than most mortals but not gigantic.
Of course,the form most associated with Sauron, especially during the Second Age in whichThe Rings of Poweris set,is that of Annatar, the “Lord of Gifts,“who inspires Celebrimbor (Charles Edwards) to forge the titular Rings of Power. According to Tolkien’sUnfinished Tales, he did this very thingin anticipation of the arrival of the Istari(Maia sent into the world as Wizards to aid in the battle against him), pretending to be an emissary of the Valar himself to further his deception. This fair, Elvish form gave him favor withthe Elves of Eregion, and it was there that he forged his One Ring, a master Ring that would bend those given to Dwarves and Men under his will (though the Elf Rings remained free from his influence).
Sauron’s turn from light to darkness, all while still pretending to be something good and pure, waslikely inspired by Tolkien’s own Catholic faith. It’s no secret that the professor himself was a professed Christian, and he used his deep religious convictions as guides when sub-creating his fictional world. As such, the story of Satan’s fall is one he would’ve been deeply familiar with, and likely inspired the tales of both Morgoth and Sauron. The biblical passage2 Corinthians 11:14comes to mind, which notes that, “even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” This is exactly what Sauron does in his Annatar form, and why his tempting offer to Celebrimbor in “Where the Stars are Strange” is so appealing. As Tolkien notes inThe Silmarillion, “for he could assume many forms, and for long if he willed he could still appear noble and beautiful, so as to deceive all but the most wary.”
‘The Rings of Power’ Season 2 Goes Full Horror With This Scene
“A sharer of gifts.”
Werewolves and Vampires Aren’t Out of the Realm of Possibility in ‘The Rings of Power’
But just because Sauron prefers to use fairer forms to deceive those around him doesn’t mean that those are the only shapes he shifts into. Did you know that werewolves exist in Middle-earth? What about vampires? Well, they do, and they’re often forces that Sauron has used to further his evil ends throughout the high-fantasy world’s immense history. In fact,Sauron has appeared as both of these creatures at different times. InThe Silmarillion, Tolkien chronicles how, in the First Age, the Dark Lord took the isle of Tol Sirion by force and set it aside for a bunch of supernatural monsters, naming himself the Lord of Werewolves long before he was the self-imposedLord of the Rings. Aided by the first werewolf sired by Morgoth (Draugluin) and a vampire messenger (Thuringwethil), Sauron commanded his own werewolf forces alongside the Orcs already under his charge.
If that sounds likesomething you might see in theUnderworldfranchiserather than Tolkien’s usual high-fantasy adventures, just wait. Perhaps most impressively, Sauron turns into one of these beasts himself. In the chapter “Of Beren and Lúthien,“the Dark Lord turns into a werewolf to attack Lúthien,the Elf maiden who fell in love with the Man, Beren(who had previously been killed by one of Sauron’s werewolf enforcers). The Dark Lord was fought off by Lúthien’s companion, the wolfhound Huan. Here’s how Tolkien describes the encounter: “Then Sauron shifted shape, from wolf to serpent, and from monster to his own accustomed form; but he could not elude the grip of Huan without forsaking his body utterly.” In the end, Sauron was only able to get away by taking the form of a vampire instead, likely flying off into the night.
Of course, Sauron is a frightening foe even without taking the guise of monsters, but thinking about how Charlie Vickers could turn into a vampire or a werewolf at any time is a pretty terrifying prospect. You probably noticed that, in addition to his werewolf and vampire transformations, that passage also mentions thatSauron took on the form of a serpent. Harkening back to Satan’s serpentine form, a la the biblical Genesis account of the Garden of Eden, there are potentially a few instances where Sauron turns into a serpent.But instead of tempting the Children of Ilúvatar to sin, he used this slithery appearance to win battles and gain an upper hand in combat, most notably in the First Age.
The Downfall of Númenor Robs the Dark Lord of His Annatar Form
Sauron in the First Age was seemingly a lot more willing to turn into vile creatures to see that his ends were met, but in the Second Age, he relied a lot more on his more cunning and crafty approach: pure deception. As Annatar, Sauron not only tricked Celebrimbor into giving him one of the most powerful weapons in Middle-earth, but he gained the trust of many through deceptive means. Later on during this Age,Sauron uses this form to trick the Númenóreans into engaging in a full-on assault on the Valarafterfirst persecuting the Faithfulwho have remained true to the ways of Eru Ilúvatar. We have yet to see this happen onThe Rings of Power, but now that Annatar has been properly introduced, it would not be a surprise if this happened in the second or perhaps a potential third season.
But Sauron’s plan fails. Instead, Ilúvatar destroys Númenor, wiping outall but Elendil(Lloyd Owen), his family, and some of the Faithful. More than that,the One Above All uses this event to strip Sauron forever of his fairer, Elvish form. Following the destruction of Númenor (and the re-making of the world that follows), the Dark Lord is unable to use his shapeshifting abilities again.The History of Middle-earthnotes that Sauron was taller than most, towering over Men and had a light flickering in his eyes that many feared. We also know that, during the War of the Last Alliance,the High King Gil-galad(Benjamin Walker) is killed by Sauron’s touch, which gives off an intense heat unable to be withstood. Here’s hoping we can see this Dark Lord in action.
Contrary to Peter Jackson’s Trilogy, Sauron Has a Body in the Third Age
While most consider Peter Jackson’sLord of the Ringsfilms to be the definitive take on Tolkien’s literary genius, there’s one glaring issue that he gets absolutely wrong: Sauron was never stuck in the form of a flaming eye. Yes, the theoretical “Eye of Sauron” was on all those within Mordor, but in Tolkien’s epic trilogy, Gollum himself makes a clear case fora physical Sauron who still exists following his defeat in the Second Age.Having lost a finger to Elendil’s son Isildur(Maxim Baldry) when he cut off the One Ring from the Dark Lord’s hand,Sauron is described by Gollumas having four fingers when he encountered him in Mordor. No, Sauron isn’t a flaming eye, nor was he completely stripped of his physical body after his defeat, but eventually, the Dark Lord was unable to take physical form any longer.
With the destruction of the One Ring during the War of the Ring, Sauron’s body was effectively destroyed. The Dark Lord was turned then into an intrusive shadow that hovered over Mordor, only for the winds to blow him away into nothing. Never again did Sauron have the power to conjure up another body, as he did with his Halbrand form after being betrayed by Adar (Sam Hazeldine) inThe Rings of Power. Instead, though his immortal spirit was bound to Eru Ilúvatar’s created world,he had no ability to pull himself back together. After all the forms he took in all those years, trying desperately to rule over all he could touch, there isn’t a worse punishment for his crimes than existing without any ability to touch, feel, or even influence from afar.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Epic drama set thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings’ follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Poweris available to stream on Prime Video.
