Sauron, is best-known as the Dark Lord of Mordor – the terror of the Third Age. However, as Gandalf points out, he was not always evil. Originally a Maia of Aule, he was corrupted by Melkor, becoming his most powerful servant. It was only after Morgoth’s fall that Sauron took the place as the new Great Enemy of the free peoples of Middle Earth.
Sauron was immensely proud – something that may have contributed to his fall. He was too proud to suffer himself to be judged by the Valar after the War of Wrath, and in the Second Age styled himself as the Lord of the Earth.
But what was the extent of Sauron’s actual involvement in the battles of the First Age? Why was he initially corrupted, and what parallels can we see with his own later corruption of Saruman? Finally, how did he manage to escape the fall of his mentor?
Join us this weekend as we explore the origins and rise of Morgoth’s lieutenant and the major antagonist of the Lord of the Rings.
In coming weeks, we’ll return to this topic with a separate discussion on Sauron and the Rings that will look at the Dark Lord during the Second and Third Ages.
Suggested reading:
Silmarillion – Valaquenta
Silmarillion – The Tale of Beren and Luthien
Silmarillion – Of the rings of power and the third age
The letters of JRRT – any references to Sauron
Upcoming topics:
June 14-15
RoTK Ch 9 – The Last Debate
June 21-22
The ‘greatest’ culture of Tolkien’s world
Times:
Saturday Chat:
5:30pm ET (17:30)
[also 11:30pm (23:30) CET and 7:30am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat:
7:00 pm (19:00) CET
[also 1:00pm (13:00) ET and 3:00am (03:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast
CET = Central European Time, Central Europe
AET = Australian East Coast
Having trouble working out a time zone near you? Try this.
Do you have a possible topic for Hall of Fire? Drop us a line at halloffire@theonering.net. And don’t forget that you can check out previous chats here.
