Sup everyone, I am now aware that I mispronounced misshapen. Feel free to leave further corrections below the pinned comment just so I can make sure I remember for next time.
It IS a weird word, as the double S is actually not pronounced as a double S... the first S is the end of the prefix "mis", and the second S is the start of "shaping"... It is a word that used to be hyphenated, which made it easier to read...
Could be his God-Complex at work. All seeing, all knowing, ever present, all actions are indirect or through his followers. It makes sense With how much he wants to be like his creator.
He could have put the ring on any finger (or, in theory, toe, I suppose). This was never explored in the books, but it is clear that WHICH finger bore the ring was irrelevant. But other digits?? Who knows?
Noting how Luthien nearly fainted at the sight of Sauron, the fact that she didn't do so in the presence of Morgoth himself shows both how Morgoth had declined, while also showing just how unusually powerful Sauron is for a Maiar. (Edit: Overall my opinion has stayed thr same, though now I recognize that Sauron going for Luthien was him in full wrath, while Morgoth was more passive. Still, even afterwards he couldn't just shove out of the sleep spell)
Luthien did not "nearly fainted"! She literally fainted! In the Lay of Leithian book, Tolkien said that when wolf-Sauron came, even Luthien's eyes were blakened with fear and she fainted in terror. (Even Huan the hound of Valinor fled in fear and couldn't even stand against Sauron until he got distracted by the magical cloak)
@@_semih_ some of the versions differ slightly. That or I remembered things a bit wrong, since it has been a while since I read the silmarillion. Regardless, Luthien did eventually pass out, though some argue this is because Sauron was in full rage compared to Morgoth's comparatively passive nature in that moment.
...Or, after Sauron, she'd just become used to that kind of horror. It's explicitly said that Sauron in the *second age* was effectively greater than Morgoth at the end of the first, as Sauron's ring enhanced his power while on his finger. (Letter 131) In the First Age, Morgoth remained by far the greater terror. Keep in mind that Sauron directly attacked Lúthien where Morgoth was smitten by her and did not move against her, wishing to watch her dance.
Agreed. It was only by a prophecy wrought by a higher being that Sauron fell foul of Luthien and Huan. Both were instantly daunted by him and only persevered because they were heroes. Luthien was rendered unconscious and Huan became a snivelling wreck; nevertheless, the prophecy ordained by the Valar meant that the pair prevailed over Sauron, terrifying as he was. It was a clever ploy by Sauron, you must admit, he nearly subverted the prophecy but because he wasn't integrally a werewolf, it didn't work.
I was intrigued by this series because of the cool fantasy theme and eventually my intrigue turned into a desire to know everything about the movies. One said desires was to know what the title was about(who was the "Lord of the Rings?") Little did I know, it would be answered in like the first five minutes lol. So I guess, in a way, Sauron was what drew me, an audience member, into those box office numbers.
I think you are correct as I saw each movie several times and bought the DVDS. Guess he wasn't so dumb after all. I now realize he was reincarnated as Peter Jackson. 🤪
So true what you said about Sauron not having the power of friendship. If only someone could have reached out to him and said, "Hey, buddy...you ok?" Might have saved a lot of people a lot of grief,
I think it’s best to describe some of his abilities like that of the elves. Like when Frodo first sees Arwen he sees her pure spirit and how that naturally affects the world around it. I think the same of Sauron. Same for the Balrogs too. I think beings that naturally exude terror, it just permeates from them. Elves have this bright light about them, dark beings essentially have a dark “mist” about them. Dark creatures are naturally drawn to him and roost in his presence. That scene where he attacks Gandfalf in the hobbit as that black cloud. Stick his figure in the middle of that and that’s his presence, just puts a black cloud around everything around him. His spirit is a dark cloud. As with elves who positively affect their environment, he does the opposite and creatures that like to live among that gather in those places.
Good thing they called him Sauron because who would be afraid of a dude named Myron? I honestly think will is underrated as a concept in the fandom. We see all the time how morale plays a huge role in warfare, how hope or lack thereof can cause significant socio-political effects in a society and so on.
You're spot on about will. There were creatures (e.g. wraiths) and weapons (e.g. Narsil/Aduril) that were created with the power to strike virtually irresistible fear into opponents. The most pronounced, of course, are the rings of power, particularly the One Ring made by Myr.. er, Sauron.
Sauron was a Maia of Aule, in origin. This shows in his interest/focus on order and on technology. Saruman (another Maia of Aule) shares many of those characteristics. Saruman gives us something of a window into the nature of Sauron--it gives us potentials details of the nature and course of his fall. Knowing what the powers/abilities of any of the Ainur are is extremely difficult because we actually see VERY little "magic" in any of Tolkien's work. and very little of the Ainur in a context where they display abilities/powers. All Ainur have an innate ability to manipulate physical reality and the knowledge of that reality (very deep in their areas of "specialization," less deep in others but still beyond that of most non-Ainur)--as a Maia of Aule, Sauron's knowledge of physical properties and craftsmanship would likely be surpassed only by Aule himself. As an Ainur, he can alter his physical form (up to the point in time where he got locked into his form) and he would basically be physically invulnerable to most mundane attacks... and death is obviously not really an issue as he cannot die. He would also have a powerful "presence" and the ability to affect the emotions of mortals, sometimes over long distances. The ability to sense things over long distances. Anything else other than that would essentially be a WAG (wild-a$$ed guess). Imagine a smith who can literally see and manipulate matter at the subatomic level without recourse to actualk tools, only using will/innate abilities. A smith who can create and imbue these things with powers and abilities rooted in the deep understanding of reality. The failure in craftsmanship of beings like Sauron when compared to Feanor is not to be found in skill--but in imagination/creativity. The Ainur, for all their power lack the creative spark and imagination possessed by the Eldar and mortals. The only one that had some imagination was Melkor... and we see how that ended up.
Sauron proved to be pluripotent. He used some spells/powers like: a) Volcano Control - Orodruin; b) Earthquake - Minas Morgul; c) Weather Control - the Storm of hail, lightning and rain at Emyn Muil in The Two Towers; d) Dominate Monster - Orcs, Trolls, etc; e) Mass suggestion - Númenor; f) Antimagic field - Sammath Naur; g) Sympathy - the attraction of Gollum and all evils to Mordor; h) Create undead - Nazgûl, Barrow Wight. i) Shapeshift - Werewolve, serpent, vampire;
I’ll add one more: j) Mordo/Melkorian Element manipulation - As Tolkien specified in _Morgoth’s Ring_ all of Arda has been “marred” by Melkor infusing his mighty and tainted soul within it’s very matter; with the result being that in all of Arda there is a ‘Melkor ingredient’. Mount Doom is a place that is a relic of Melkor’s original might, so Sauron chose that mountain specifically for his sorceries and in time created a connection to Orodruin, tainting the land further into becoming Mordor. This implies that he can tap into and manipulate (at least locally) some of Melkor’s dispersed power over the world.
With his domination of Saruman, I think it had less to do with his charisma and more to do with Saruman already being corrupted by his own envy and lust for power on top of having the power limitations that were placed on the Istari before they came to Middle Earth, so Sauron would have just required more will power(or surety in his goals) than Saruman to break him at that stage. Since Saruman was already wavering on his own mission and effectively wanting to replace Sauron instead of oppose him, this would have been fairly simple for Sauron to ensnare him.
Sauron did not break or dominate Saruman. If you read the books you'll know that Saruman was working for himself and even actively lied to the Nazgûl. The idea that he was working for Sauron was a Peter Jackson invention. All Sauron did was convince Saruman to turn away from his cause- and so long as Saruman actively hindered the free peoples, Sauron did not give much thought to his loyalty, which he knew to be nonexistent.
@@Count.Saruman It's a bit more complex than that. Saruman did lose the battle of wills in the Palantir with Sauron and no longer sought Sauron's destruction. He sought to either replace him or failing that, to serve as his right hand. In effect Sauron broke Saruman's already wavering alignment, and though Saruman hoped to get the ring and supplant Sauron, that was effectively his only hope to do so and once the Nazgul got the truth out of Grima after Saruman lied to them, the White Wizard was utterly terrified of what would happen to him if either West or East won. Sauron had some inklings of Saruman's penchant for treachery-because he'd done the same kinds of things himself, Saruman was more or less an early stage Sauron, but once Sauron got proof, he VERY much cared about the disloyalty, because he does not tolerate individual thought and freedom in his servants that he himself didn't put there.
@@grandadmiralzaarin4962 No, that's all incorrect. Nowhere in any writing is it written that Sauron broke Saruman's will, or that he lost a battle of wills. Saruman didn't even engage Sauron in a battle of wills; Denethor did. It's only written that Saruman used the palantír to gaze far and wide, after which he got caught in Sauron's trap. And Saruman did continue to seek Sauron's destruction, though it was only through claiming Sauron's ring for his own. If Sauron had succeeded, he would have served him, of course, but Saruman never intended to let him. Calling Saruman an early-stage Sauron is just complete ignorance of Saruman's character. He was the only one among the Istari to come voluntarily to Middle-earth to see to Sauron's defeat. It was the desire for personal power that threw him from his path, not because Sauron broke his will. He was deceived, not defeated. This suited Sauron just fine, and he was content to let Saruman weaken Rohan. There was also an essential deceit woven into the Ring, that it would promise power while providing none (Letter 131). Sauron would not have feared the ring. Finally, according to Gandalf after the palantír was found, Sauron was always aware of Saruman's loyalty being only towards himself. It was an essential part of the deceit that led to Saruman's fall.
@@Count.Saruman I'm afraid you are mistaken as Tolkien wrote several times about this. "Saruman dares to use the palantír of Orthanc, but becomes ensnared by Sauron, who has the Ithil Stone. He becomes a traitor to the Council."- The Return of the King, LoTR Appendix B, The Tale of Years: The Third Age. "It was only Sauron who used a Stone for the transference of his superior will, dominating the weaker surveyor and forcing him to reveal hidden thought and to submit to commands."- Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 3, The Palantíri: Notes, Note 5. "Saruman fell under the domination of Sauron and desired his victory, or no longer opposed it."- Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 3, The Palantíri. "Easy it is now to guess how quickly the roving eye of Saruman was trapped and held; and how ever since he has been persuaded from afar, and daunted when persuasion would not serve.... How long, I wonder, has he been constrained to come often to his glass for inspection and instruction, and the Orthanc-stone so bent towards Barad-dûr that, if any save a will of adamant now looks into it, it will bear his mind and sight swiftly thither?"- The Two Towers, LoTR Book 3, Ch 11, The Palantír. "It is said that Sauron had at this time [3018], by means of the palantíri, at last begun to daunt Saruman, and could in any case often read his thought even when he withheld information. Thus Sauron was aware that Saruman had some guess at the place where the Ring was; and Saruman actually revealed that he had got as his prisoner Gandalf, who knew the most."- Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch 4, The Hunt for the Ring: Notes, Note 14.
@@Count.Saruman it's also very clear on the similarities between Saruman and Sauron, they were both Maia of Aulë the Smith. Both wished to bring order initially and had too much pride. Both would be corrupted by a more powerful Dark Lord and betray their allies while also wishing to rule one day. Isengard is also DIRECTLY compared to Barad dur writ small.
Very interesting! 50 years after I read Lord of the Rings for the first time, I finally have an idea of Sauron's modus operandi, what he could and could not do. Now I have to reread the series again to see how this changes my understanding of events. (I just finished it for the umpteenth time last month.) Many thanks!
you should definitely check out The Silmarillion if you havent! I just picked it up and it has given me many more insights into the motives and underlying devices I had previously missed out on :)
Sauron was very intelligent, powerful, and quite cunning. He is certainly one of the most powerful and iconic villains ever written, despite getting so little screen time in the films, except as the Great Eye. I heard that in theory, the One Ring could have been destroyed by someone that was as good of forger as Sauron. But I know of no canon characters that can compare to Sauron’s skills with such things. Not even elves.
Brilliant video, ty for all of this information - FYI in the old Chivalry & Sorcery RPG first published in 1977 and also in 1983 as 2nd edition there is indeed a very detailed amount of information regarding "Words of Command" under the Command spell list. They also reference MANY Tolkien Middle Earth areas such as, Balrogs, The Rings of Power (under the Necromancer section), Uruk-Hai, and a plethora of other topics. This was done at a time when there was little regard in the emerging field of RPG's for IP and copyrights. This game was VERY DEEPLY influenced by Tolkien's work and I love this game for doing this with his Lore regardless of the copyright issues. My friends and I still play this RPG to this day with all the Middle Earth references remaining.
I love and respect so much these videos from both yourself and the Tolkien lore community, but also all of the amazing artwork that really helps the words come to life 🙂
Sauron also used water bending to create mountain level waves against numenoreans to prove he is mighty ( Unfinished Tales I guess) . He could have stopped the Eorl and Rohirrim via shadows of Dol Guldur had Galadriel not intervened. And I would say even after he became bound to his body Sauron was still unbeatable in combat. Tolkien clarified only Gandalf the White with the One ring could be a match for him and Gandalf the Grey soloed a Balrog capable of conquering Khazad-dum all alone. Gil Galad and Elendil was able to defeat him only because his body was newly made .(he was still able to drive whole alliance back to Orodruin tho) P. S. I am not Sauron fan but I think he is criminally underrated. Movie made him easily approchable villian and not much of a threat indivudally P. S. S. I just argued with a guy with 0 knowledge of LOTR . He stated Vader could make Sauron his slave and I just responded by saying “ Grandpa Palp shocks Vader and he dies Zeus shocks Sauron and he laughs” I am a huge fan of your channel and how you analyze interesting facts ( especially dwarves) keep up great work! ( Woh that was a long comment😆)
That version is from the Lost Road and is from before what is in the Silmarillion and conflicts with Sauron surrendering himself to Ar-Pharazôn and going peacefully to Númenor. So, I don't think it's accurate to give him that ability.
@@istari0 while The Lost Road is from before the Silmarillion neither is a fully finalized story by Tolkien himself (he died before), so I would not rate the Silmarillion above The Lost Road as long as it does not contracidt-> Speaking of: why do you think it does contradict with The Silmarilion in this regard? Sauron intentionally let himself be captured. At that time he was still a capable shapeshifter, so I think he could have easily escaped if he wished to. Sauron flexing with his powers in front of the Numenorians would a) raise his own status among them more easily/quickly which was what he intended anyway and b) feed Ar-Pharazons hybris because he lets him think he "captured" one of those angelic beings from Valinor
There's a strong possibility that Darth Vader would be corrupted into a servant of Sauron just by being in the presence of him or the Ring, since Sauron's beguilement is a Chinese finger trap that is _more_ effective on the powerful and power-hungry. That's the whole reason they needed hobbits to carry the Ring, after all.
I'd say that Sauron was actually a fighter, just not a good one. He's got all the power, durability, and brutality to go with it, but he's not overly skilled in combat like the litany of heroes he's gone up against. Combine that with his tendency to run away in favor of plotting (Morgoth as well), and it's pretty easy to see why he's got several losses/draws
Given his canonical original name is 'Mairon' which means 'The Admired one' and his new name means 'The Abhorrent one', 'Melkor' means 'He who rises in might' and 'Morgorth' means 'Dark/Black Enemy', I think that in terms of creation of the universe, Sauron was second to no Maia and was the closest to the Valar that a Maia could be.
No, that's wrong. He was explicitly second to Eönwë and Ilmarë who are referred to as the chiefs of the maiar as well as the mightiest of them on two occasions.
@@Count.Saruman See I always took the mention of those two as the Valar's estimation that they'd be enough to deal with Sauron, thinking he was weaker than he was when he was with them instead of growing in power
@@DracoSafarius "To the defeat of Morgoth he [Manwë] sent Eönwë, his herald. To the defeat of Sauron would he not then send some lesser (but mighty) spirit of the angelic people, one coeval and equal, doubtless, with Sauron in their beginnings, but not more? Olórin was his name.” -Unfinished Tales This more or less signifies that Manwë's opinion is that Eönwë would be too much for Sauron, which is why he sent Gandalf. The ultimate object was to inspire the people of Middle-earth to defeat Sauron and not do it alone, which must mean he thought Eönwë could do it singlehandedly.
@@Count.Saruman What I got out of that was that Morgoth, being a Valar (although heavily weakened) warranted the best that Manwe could send, being Eonwe, before the Valar personally step in later. For Sauron, he isn't a being that could fight Valar singlehandedly, so he he only warrants someone that Manwe would estimate to be his equal. I still think that Manwe was treating him as if he was just Aule's student, not an actual warrior or dark lord, and not realizing just how powerful he actually was. Alternatively, you could also throw out the idea that getting the continent to rise up against Sauron was the only way to win, since entrusting it to one single warrior ran the risk of Sauron killing them if they charged in and ignored amassing armies of their own.
Its worth remembering that Sauron was retroactively put into Tolkien's older works after the Lord of the Rings. He was layered on top of a previously existing one-off character in the story of Beren and Lúthien. While his story in the second and third age was carefully developed at the time Lord of the Rings was written, his role in the first age was a complete afterthought. He gradually transitioned from "a" servant of Morgoth to the chief lieutenant of Morgoth. But with almost no changes to speak of in the Silmarillion based on that. He also became more and more powerful in Tolkien's writings as time went on.
I personally find it very interesting that Sauron didn't do all that much of note in the First Age compared to the mighty feats shown by Gothmog, Glaurung or Ancalagon, but decided to up his game in the Second Age beyond anything any servant of Morgoth had been capable of. It gives you the sense that he was doing other work for Morgoth in the shadows (like rebuilding Angband and so on) and learning the ropes as Apprentice Dark Lord, eventually unleashing that terrible knowledge and power when the time was ripe and his greatest enemies had departed.
@@Count.Saruman Also likely he waited until Morgoth was out of the picture, Morgoth would probably see him as a threat after a while. I always thought they would have clashed eventually.
@@bryancaulfield2066 Now that I doubt, as Angband's hosts highly outnumbered and outmatched anything Sauron could muster, while being absolutely loyal to Morgoth. More likely Sauron hid from Morgoth after losing to Lúthien to avoid his scorn and hatred, as Morgoth would probably blame Sauron's defeat as the reason why he lost a Silmaril.
He was a powerful necromancer. Could also lie to you and manipulate you pretty good if you let him. In his physical form he could be a formidable fighter when he wanted to be one. In his spirit form he was more vulnerable though. He made the Master Ring. But he was only able to do so once.
A "powerful necromancer" by Middle-earth terms. What he could be called is a bender if corrupted spirits. Necromancer means a very different thing in non-Middle-earth things.
This is a great video. I already referenced it to someone on another channel who believed Sauron to be weak. I think he was clearly one of the most powerful Maia and personally I think he was the most powerful Maia, possibly close to being a Vala.
I've heard a few people say that Valar and Maiar are not necessarily two separate classes of power, Valarie were chosen to lead the Maiar but are essentially just particularly strong-willed and powerful Maiar. There's alot of evidence that many Maiar were more powerful than many Valar, and that the strength of particular Maiar and Valar could wax and wane over the course of various ages depending on what happens to them.
I'd be interested to hear where you heard this from. My understanding is that even the strongest maiar are still lessee than the Valar. There was some passage in one of the books I believe that said something along the lines of some maiars power was close to even of that of the Valar.
Something to add to the feat of surviving the lightning bolt. that was sent by the valar, probably manwe if I recall, with the intent to destroy the temple of morgoth. Thi means bare minimum he can tank a blow with bare minimum small to large building level attack potency and be fine afterwards.
I thought Morgoth was the overarching big bad, even above Sauron. Even though he was defeated in the first age, did he not carry on much like Sauron did after his army's defeat in The War of the Last Alliance?
Morgoth and Sauron both preferred not to fight, which is funny considering their might. When pressed to fight however, even Sauron is probably greater than say a Balrog or Gandalf. Still got killed by a man and an elf though, lol
So what I'm taking from this is Sauron had several levels in bard. With expertise in intimidation, persuasion, and smithing. (With a tad bit of artificer/forge domain)
@@DarthGandalfYT Oh, I believe it was something more than just "friendship"; certainly if the fanart is anything to go by :D And they do say he was *seduced* by Melkor to join his side.... He also waited like 3 ages for him to come back and made the Numenorians build a temple to his name. If that's not true love, I don't know what is.
I loved the video!! I am A Men of the West fan but your up there sir!!!! I cannot think of one thing about the video I would like different or changed in any way!
You forgot that being an Ainur he was naturally immortal,and when his body was twice destroyed he could ricreate it from nothing thanks to the one ring
He actually didn’t need the One Ring for this. It contained A LOT of his power so it took the vast majority of the third age to create a new body after his defeat at the end of the second age, but by the War of the Ring he had finally recovered all of the power that was not within his Ring and had whipped up a new body. The movies are fun, but an annoying thing is that it gives the impression that: A) Sauron didn’t have a physical form at all during the third age. B) Sauron not having a physical form in some way limited him despite the fact that his natural state was one without a body.
@@josephscott1292 Actually no,when an Ainur dies,his fea goes to Valinor. When Gandalf died he went to Valinor and was reembodied,in Saruman s case he tried to go to Valinor but was rejected and destined to wander as a spirit forever. In Sauron s case,the ring bound him to the earth,allowing him to recreate his body when he was destroyed.
Just speculation, but I wonder if perhaps Mount Doom had actually been created by Morgoth in the First Age, and that Sauron was able to tap into some kind of residual power left there by his master?
Perhaps. Another thing is that Morgith corrupted Middle-earth, so Sauron could ne using that corruotion to control the world. There is also te fact that he served Aule. Maybe he helped make the lava under Mordor?
Not sure you got some of your facts right here.. Orcs were originally designed and mutated from the early Elves captured during the time of Morgoth (or Melkor) the first dark lord, where Sauron was just his servant. Here also on the Island of the Werewolves, in Utumno, he made his fortress and created/mutated a great many other creatures - some of which included: Thuringwethal (the Vampire), Drauglin (the Werewolf), Gothmog (the Balrog-Lord), Ungoliant (the Giant Spider) from the rebel Maiar (lesser Ainur spirits) that followed him into Arda (Middle-earth). Sauron (and later Saruman the White Wizard) no doubt used his sorcery skills to develop and evolve the Orcs further into Uruk-hai (Super Orcs) and the Trolls into Olog-hai (Super Trolls), who both no longer feared or were affected by the Sun.
I just thought of a plot hole that may make poor old Jrr Tollkien turn in his grave! So back at the bridge of Kazum where Gandlaf fought the balrog the bridge was destroyed. How then was it that gollum got out of moria to harass Frodo later on. He should have been stuck down there shouldn't he
After watching lord of the rings, I never quite understood what Sauron was, and what his powers were. I was very confused about why he was to be feared. Thanks for clearing it up for me
Could you do a mystery video on what the thing was that flew over the fellowship on their way to Moria? I believe it is from the chapter (the ring goes south) Excerpt:
You have forgot that 1- Sauron can crush and destroy the very hills as it stated in the council of Elrond in the book: *“And yet we see that Sauron can torture and destroy the very hills.* What power still remains lies with us, here in Imladris, or with Cirdan at the Havens, or in Lórien. But have they the strength, have we here the strength to withstand the Enemy, the coming of Sauron at the last, when all else is overthrown?'” [The Fellowship of The Ring] 2-Also Sauron used to manipulate weather and clouds which he used to protect his army from the sunlight during the wars and invasions (battle of Gwatloo, battle of the pelennor fields etc). 3- And Sauron has the ability of raising the sea like a mountain despite not being a water affiliated Maiar spirit. Sauron literally raised the sea like a mountain and cast the Numenorean Armada out of the sea! Lol "Guards were set at the haven of Moriondë in the east of the land, where the rocks are dark, watching at the king’s command without ceasing for the ships’ return. It was night, but there was a bright Moon. They descried ships far off, and they seemed to be sailing west at a speed greater than the storm, though there was little wind. *Suddenly the sea became unquiet; it rose until it became like a mountain, and it rolled upon the land. The ships were lifted up, and cast far inland, and lay in the fields.* Upon that ship which was cast highest and stood dry upon a hill there was a man, or one in man’s shape, but greater than any even of the race of Númenor in stature. ‘He stood upon the rock and said: ‘This is done as a sign of power. For I am Sauron the mighty, servant of the Strong” (wherein he spoke darkly). “I have come. Be glad, men of Númenor, for I will take thy king to be my king, and the world shall be given into his hand.” And it seemed to men that Sauron was great; though they feared the light of his eyes. To many he appeared fair, to others terrible; but to some evil. [J.R.R Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, The Lost Road and Other Writings, p.73-74]
The version from the Lost Road is from before what is in the Silmarillion and conflicts with Sauron surrendering himself to Ar-Pharazôn and going peacefully to Númenor. So, I don't think it's accurate to give him that ability.
or possibly from tolkeins point of view - Sauron embodied the might , 'the evil', and the power of the Industrial revolution released upon the idylic green lands
Thus befell the contest of Sauron and Felegund which is renowned. For Felegund strove with Sauron in songs of power and the power of the king was very great, but Sauron held the mastery. As is told in the ley of Lathien. He chanted a song of wizardry Of piercing, opening Of Treachery Revealing, uncovering, betraying Then sudden Felegund there swaying Sang in answer a song of staying Resisting, battling against power Of secrets kept Strength like a tower And trust unbroken Freedom, escape Of changing and shifting shapes Of snares eluded, broken traps The prison opening The chain that snaps Backwards and forwards swayed their song Reeling and foundering As ever more strong The chanting swelled Felegund fought And all of the magic and might he brought Of elveness into his words Softly in the gloom they heard the birds Singing afar in Nargothrond The sighing of the sea beyond Beyond the western world on sand On sand of pearls in elven land Then the gloom gathered Darkness growing In Valanor the red blood flowing Beside The sea where the Nuldor slew The foam riders and stealing drew Their white ships with their white sails From laplit heavens The wind wails The wolf howls The ravens flee The ice mutters in the mouths of the sea The captives sad in Angband mourn The thunder rumbles The fires burn. (Sorry for any mistakes but I think I got it. It's my favorite poem/song in all of the books.)
7:27 Ehm...the eye literally fixated on Frodo who was wearing the ring which was visible so...can you explain that?! What the hell happened then? Does he have myopia?
Given his skills, how would Sauron have responded if one of the Free Peoples asked for his aid building a machine or magic device (say for pumping water, or automating a repetitive task like forging nails)?
Aren't u mixing up melkor and Sauron powers and action from the Silmarillion? All this stuff happened to melkor (I though, though has been some years since I read it)
It's worth saying that when Sauron fought Gil-Galad and Elendil, he hadn't completed his "bodily rehabilitation" as Tolkien writes. He was half of what he was, which was less (even if he was 100%) than the indomitable being which could only be destroyed by God himself on Numenor. The takeaway is that at half strength, Sauron was able to defeat the mightiest elf and the mightiest man in existence at once (in a 2 vs 1) and was only felled when another approached his ruined form and severed from him a portion of his power (invested in the Ring).
@@pyktukasplays4945 Fair. I meant the mightiest elf and man in existence at the time. Either of those would've given Sauron trouble ... he'd probably kill them in a personal confrontation, but he'd need to reembody himself afterwards.
Interesting thing: Voldemort and his Horcruxes mirrored Sauron and his Ring. Locking part of your soul into a physical object so you can prolong your existence and control others.
@Siberian Funnily enough many of his things were done before him. There was a similar fantasy story with a journey to destroy a thing in a fantasy world. It had many things that Middle-earth had. And it was written in 1800s. Long before Tolkien was even more. Most of what inspired Harry Power came from way before even that. Although, since J. K. Rowling is from an English-soekaing world, it could be argued she was inspired by Tolkien a bit.
@@DarthGandalfYT You make good content though. I especially enjoy the jokes that often end your videos. An example would be: "and always remember: if you do not speak English very well then maybe do not make videos where all you do is speak English" I can hear you saying in your distinct accent. * Oh yeah: and when you said "if Morgoth is your favorite character you have issues" or something to that effect.... I took that personally. Fellow content creator "The Red Book" might have something to say about that as well. You two should collaborate
Does anyone know if Sauron is capable of lying? Does Sauron inteend to marry Galadriel in the way he describes it, if she had accepted? I can't recall any of the maia lie in the movies (don't remember in the books) Sarumann is pretty close when he doesn't revael where the shire is to the ringwraiths.
Sauron taught The Witch King some of the morgul arts. How to create barrow wights, command fell spirits, morgul blades etc. I believe the Morgul blades were made during the Angmar wars when Sauron was still diminished.
There is a saying that beauty can be a curse, but in Sauron's case, it cursed others. Masses of people followed beautiful Sauron no matter how extreme his ideas were. It's like people can look past almost anything to catch a glimpse of the charming and the fair. Sauron well understood this weakness, especially in men, and could just take his pick of anyone that he wanted in his service.
To be very honest, he probably would have been far less powerful. In the beginning, he was said to be 'equal and coëval' with Gandalf, and Morgoth's gifts as well as the Ring of Power (Letter 131 & Morgoth's Ring) made him as strong as he was in time.
i think theirs corruption in wanting status. we see this all over the real world. if you want to be in control, even if your intent is good, it will come with baggage.
@@Count.Saruman Could be. But then, Melkor was by far the strongest of the Valar in the beginning. But he used his power to corrupt and destroy, and by the end of the first age this had made him much weaker. Same with Sauron - he got weaker, not stronger, over time, like losing his power to change his form after it was destroyed with Númenor.
@@kardy12 Actually, Sauron was said not to have diminished until the Númenor episode. "Sauron with the ring in the second age was effectively greater than Morgoth at the end of the first"- HoME vol.10, Morgoth's Ring. Note that it says Sauron in the Second Age, by which time he had done a lot more corrupting, than Sauron in the First. Letter 131 also says the Ring enhanced Sauron's powers to never-before seen heights. Only after the downfall of Númenor is Sauron said to have been weakened, in that he could no longer assume fair form, and this is attributed as the direct judgment of Ilúvatar. Sauron was extremely resilient to this form of decay, demonstrating perhaps that he had learned from Morgoth's errors.
@@Count.Saruman That may well be so, but it does not mean that he was stronger by virtue of having been corrupted by Melkor than he would have been if he had not.
Comments on the series now that it's done? I thought the last 2 episodes were a bit weak, direction-wise. Curious how many changes were made to the Sauron lore.
I thought episode 7 was one of the worst of the season. They invented a lot of new events for Sauron, but his character in the show is somewhat accurate Sauron's short attempt at redemption.
I think that Sauron has an ability (by using the Morgoth Ingredient as a prerequisite for his "magic") to nullify the powers of his enemies: a) Sauron captures Minas Tirith on Tol Sirion: (...) when the power of Ulmo was in that water (...); b) Sauron tanked and repelled lightning bolts sent by Manwë on the temple of Melkor in Númenor; c) Samwise Gamgee at Sammath Naur in his great need drew out the phial of Galadriel (with the light of Earendil) but it was pale and cold, because all other powers were here subdued; d) And Galadriel's power in Lothlorien. Dol Guldur's armies could not conquer the elven realm unless Sauron himself had arrived. Remembering that Lórien is (in my opinion) a "dimension/pocket" where the time (forest, river, the air. Not for people) and space are different from the other places of Middle Earth: "Anyone would think that time did not count there. And perhaps that was the way of it (...) in that land, maybe, we were in a time that has elsewhere long gone by." This sets him apart from other Maiar. Sauron must also possess a pluripotency (with the use of Morgoth Element in the matter) to a lesser degree than Melkor/Morgoth.
Sauron reminds me of Hera from Hercules:tlj. She was rarely seen but behind every evil plot and you would see her eyes in the sky to show she was always watching.
@@pyktukasplays4945 I was talking about the artwork shown on the video. I don’t remember what Sauron wore in the films. I don’t remember that he was ever actually shown in person. He never was in the book. I saw the films when they first came out and never set eyes on them again. For me, Lord of the Rings means the book.
I think what we are seeing is something embedded in the history of science fantasy, laser like energy projections, violent telekinesis and mind control are not the sort of things that were in JRT's inspiration, which were Norse and Greek Mythology, pagan witchcraft and Biblical, bear in mind were strictly literature media at the time,. Convincing magical cinematic physical special effects, computer game animated mechanics were decades away and it took awhile for the lexicon of spell casting in fantasy adventure movies and games to come about, and that we now take for granted. None of the Magical characters in Tolkien's works do much actual physical magic or spell casting
Huh? He even said it in this video .. their natural powers appear as magic to lesser beings. Words of power are spells...there are not many characters capable of magic but those that are use it almost all the time. What are you talking about?
@@julesbrunton1728 `i mean that the manifestations of magical power in modern fantasy has developed into very physical effects. colorful beams of energy directed at foes, enemies sent flying into walls by simple hand gestures, where as JRT characters don't do any of that. as you say "words of power" inspiration, terror, craft. terrible mythical creatures, Peter jackson grafts some of that (modern) style of effects into the movies, but even so is restrained. I'm not disagreeing with the content of the video, just noting that sci fi and fantasy effects have become more physical and visceral as the Media of delivery and possibilities have expanded with the technology.
@@logtothebase2 But you actually make an interesting point there. Visual Media has shaped the way younger people, myself included, think about magic quite a bit, even if mythological or even just older literary magic is often more... esoteric and less tangible. I have not read a lot of contemporary fantasy or science fantasy literature, but what I'd like to know now is this: Has magic become more visceral in literature, too, with the advent of special effects and especially CGI? I have to admit that I sometimes write in ways that would be more suited to a visual medium. I deem it to be in poor taste, but my tiny audience of my friends and family seem to like this style. (Alas, it is meaningless as my works shall be left unpublished, as the intended target audience consists of myself. (Sorry, kind-of derailed here.))
yeah i would say he mixed it up with 'mishap', which would be an easy mistake. unless he actually intended to say mishap, yet i have never heard of mishapping lol. anyhow not a big deal.
"And though he didn't make a physical appearance..." Didn't make a physical appearance? Then how the hell did my nipples get hard when watching it in the damn theater!?! What did the rings power reach out and give em a twist? NOOOO! Bloody bastards believing in ghost stories!
Sup everyone, I am now aware that I mispronounced misshapen. Feel free to leave further corrections below the pinned comment just so I can make sure I remember for next time.
Pronouncing 2999/3000 words correctly is a pretty good track record!
Do you mean misshaping ? Which is pronounced miss shaping…
Mishapping, the art of causing mishaps
Np, accidents misshappen.
It IS a weird word, as the double S is actually not pronounced as a double S... the first S is the end of the prefix "mis", and the second S is the start of "shaping"...
It is a word that used to be hyphenated, which made it easier to read...
Perhaps Sauron’s greatest ability is to become one the most iconic villains despite never making a formal appearance in the LotR books.
A sign of a pro Dark Lord.
Or one who hates crowds.
Ah yes, the power of "trust me, bro, I'm a big deal".
Could be his God-Complex at work. All seeing, all knowing, ever present, all actions are indirect or through his followers. It makes sense With how much he wants to be like his creator.
The ring is essentially the Essence of Sauron.
And it's everywhere in the books
@@hq3473 it's not even a, horcrux.
Sauron loses in the very beginning, and yet we still fear him. That is quality writing.
Sauron might have had many powers, but the one he lacked was a full set of fingers
I'm sure he'd trade them all in if it meant getting that damn finger back!
He could have put the ring on any finger (or, in theory, toe, I suppose). This was never explored in the books, but it is clear that WHICH finger bore the ring was irrelevant. But other digits?? Who knows?
@@Kirby444 yes...other...digits....I mean it does change size automatically to fit...anything...right?
He could never rock her with the Shocker it's true. 🤞🙏👍🤷♂️🤦♂️
Dude knew how to make rings though.
Noting how Luthien nearly fainted at the sight of Sauron, the fact that she didn't do so in the presence of Morgoth himself shows both how Morgoth had declined, while also showing just how unusually powerful Sauron is for a Maiar.
(Edit: Overall my opinion has stayed thr same, though now I recognize that Sauron going for Luthien was him in full wrath, while Morgoth was more passive. Still, even afterwards he couldn't just shove out of the sleep spell)
Luthien did not "nearly fainted"! She literally fainted! In the Lay of Leithian book, Tolkien said that when wolf-Sauron came, even Luthien's eyes were blakened with fear and she fainted in terror. (Even Huan the hound of Valinor fled in fear and couldn't even stand against Sauron until he got distracted by the magical cloak)
@@_semih_ some of the versions differ slightly. That or I remembered things a bit wrong, since it has been a while since I read the silmarillion. Regardless, Luthien did eventually pass out, though some argue this is because Sauron was in full rage compared to Morgoth's comparatively passive nature in that moment.
...Or, after Sauron, she'd just become used to that kind of horror.
It's explicitly said that Sauron in the *second age* was effectively greater than Morgoth at the end of the first, as Sauron's ring enhanced his power while on his finger. (Letter 131)
In the First Age, Morgoth remained by far the greater terror. Keep in mind that Sauron directly attacked Lúthien where Morgoth was smitten by her and did not move against her, wishing to watch her dance.
@@Count.Saruman good point.
Agreed. It was only by a prophecy wrought by a higher being that Sauron fell foul of Luthien and Huan. Both were instantly daunted by him and only persevered because they were heroes. Luthien was rendered unconscious and Huan became a snivelling wreck; nevertheless, the prophecy ordained by the Valar meant that the pair prevailed over Sauron, terrifying as he was. It was a clever ploy by Sauron, you must admit, he nearly subverted the prophecy but because he wasn't integrally a werewolf, it didn't work.
One of Sauron's power that not one ever talked about was his uncanny power to make money at the box office and after sales.
hmm i didnt watch lotr for sauron , didnt really bother about him , lol
I was intrigued by this series because of the cool fantasy theme and eventually my intrigue turned into a desire to know everything about the movies. One said desires was to know what the title was about(who was the "Lord of the Rings?") Little did I know, it would be answered in like the first five minutes lol. So I guess, in a way, Sauron was what drew me, an audience member, into those box office numbers.
@@sdqsdq6274 Execpt Lord of The Rings is a title for him.
ah yes, the power of Stonks.
I think you are correct as I saw each movie several times and bought the DVDS. Guess he wasn't so dumb after all. I now realize he was reincarnated as Peter Jackson. 🤪
So true what you said about Sauron not having the power of friendship. If only someone could have reached out to him and said, "Hey, buddy...you ok?" Might have saved a lot of people a lot of grief,
I think it's mis-shaping what he touched not miss-happing. Great video as always!
I think it’s best to describe some of his abilities like that of the elves. Like when Frodo first sees Arwen he sees her pure spirit and how that naturally affects the world around it. I think the same of Sauron. Same for the Balrogs too. I think beings that naturally exude terror, it just permeates from them. Elves have this bright light about them, dark beings essentially have a dark “mist” about them. Dark creatures are naturally drawn to him and roost in his presence. That scene where he attacks Gandfalf in the hobbit as that black cloud. Stick his figure in the middle of that and that’s his presence, just puts a black cloud around everything around him. His spirit is a dark cloud. As with elves who positively affect their environment, he does the opposite and creatures that like to live among that gather in those places.
Good thing they called him Sauron because who would be afraid of a dude named Myron?
I honestly think will is underrated as a concept in the fandom. We see all the time how morale plays a huge role in warfare, how hope or lack thereof can cause significant socio-political effects in a society and so on.
Better call Sauron
You're spot on about will. There were creatures (e.g. wraiths) and weapons (e.g. Narsil/Aduril) that were created with the power to strike virtually irresistible fear into opponents. The most pronounced, of course, are the rings of power, particularly the One Ring made by Myr.. er, Sauron.
It's Mairon, dimwit.
Myron means pubic hair in my language 🙃
I dunno, I think Mairon is a pretty cool name.
Sauron was a Maia of Aule, in origin. This shows in his interest/focus on order and on technology. Saruman (another Maia of Aule) shares many of those characteristics. Saruman gives us something of a window into the nature of Sauron--it gives us potentials details of the nature and course of his fall.
Knowing what the powers/abilities of any of the Ainur are is extremely difficult because we actually see VERY little "magic" in any of Tolkien's work. and very little of the Ainur in a context where they display abilities/powers.
All Ainur have an innate ability to manipulate physical reality and the knowledge of that reality (very deep in their areas of "specialization," less deep in others but still beyond that of most non-Ainur)--as a Maia of Aule, Sauron's knowledge of physical properties and craftsmanship would likely be surpassed only by Aule himself. As an Ainur, he can alter his physical form (up to the point in time where he got locked into his form) and he would basically be physically invulnerable to most mundane attacks... and death is obviously not really an issue as he cannot die.
He would also have a powerful "presence" and the ability to affect the emotions of mortals, sometimes over long distances. The ability to sense things over long distances.
Anything else other than that would essentially be a WAG (wild-a$$ed guess).
Imagine a smith who can literally see and manipulate matter at the subatomic level without recourse to actualk tools, only using will/innate abilities. A smith who can create and imbue these things with powers and abilities rooted in the deep understanding of reality.
The failure in craftsmanship of beings like Sauron when compared to Feanor is not to be found in skill--but in imagination/creativity. The Ainur, for all their power lack the creative spark and imagination possessed by the Eldar and mortals. The only one that had some imagination was Melkor... and we see how that ended up.
Sid is the Morgoth of Toy Story.
Sauron proved to be pluripotent. He used some spells/powers like:
a) Volcano Control - Orodruin;
b) Earthquake - Minas Morgul;
c) Weather Control - the Storm of hail, lightning and rain at Emyn Muil in The Two Towers;
d) Dominate Monster - Orcs, Trolls, etc;
e) Mass suggestion - Númenor;
f) Antimagic field - Sammath Naur;
g) Sympathy - the attraction of Gollum and all evils to Mordor;
h) Create undead - Nazgûl, Barrow Wight.
i) Shapeshift - Werewolve, serpent, vampire;
I love it when it's put this way. Well done.
I’ll add one more:
j) Mordo/Melkorian Element manipulation - As Tolkien specified in _Morgoth’s Ring_ all of Arda has been “marred” by Melkor infusing his mighty and tainted soul within it’s very matter; with the result being that in all of Arda there is a ‘Melkor ingredient’. Mount Doom is a place that is a relic of Melkor’s original might, so Sauron chose that mountain specifically for his sorceries and in time created a connection to Orodruin, tainting the land further into becoming Mordor. This implies that he can tap into and manipulate (at least locally) some of Melkor’s dispersed power over the world.
Sympathy doesn't fit. Domination and suggestion drew the monsters and various evils to Mordor.
A yes Dnd speak
Nice sum up
With his domination of Saruman, I think it had less to do with his charisma and more to do with Saruman already being corrupted by his own envy and lust for power on top of having the power limitations that were placed on the Istari before they came to Middle Earth, so Sauron would have just required more will power(or surety in his goals) than Saruman to break him at that stage. Since Saruman was already wavering on his own mission and effectively wanting to replace Sauron instead of oppose him, this would have been fairly simple for Sauron to ensnare him.
Sauron did not break or dominate Saruman. If you read the books you'll know that Saruman was working for himself and even actively lied to the Nazgûl. The idea that he was working for Sauron was a Peter Jackson invention.
All Sauron did was convince Saruman to turn away from his cause- and so long as Saruman actively hindered the free peoples, Sauron did not give much thought to his loyalty, which he knew to be nonexistent.
@@Count.Saruman It's a bit more complex than that. Saruman did lose the battle of wills in the Palantir with Sauron and no longer sought Sauron's destruction. He sought to either replace him or failing that, to serve as his right hand.
In effect Sauron broke Saruman's already wavering alignment, and though Saruman hoped to get the ring and supplant Sauron, that was effectively his only hope to do so and once the Nazgul got the truth out of Grima after Saruman lied to them, the White Wizard was utterly terrified of what would happen to him if either West or East won.
Sauron had some inklings of Saruman's penchant for treachery-because he'd done the same kinds of things himself, Saruman was more or less an early stage Sauron, but once Sauron got proof, he VERY much cared about the disloyalty, because he does not tolerate individual thought and freedom in his servants that he himself didn't put there.
@@grandadmiralzaarin4962 No, that's all incorrect.
Nowhere in any writing is it written that Sauron broke Saruman's will, or that he lost a battle of wills. Saruman didn't even engage Sauron in a battle of wills; Denethor did. It's only written that Saruman used the palantír to gaze far and wide, after which he got caught in Sauron's trap.
And Saruman did continue to seek Sauron's destruction, though it was only through claiming Sauron's ring for his own.
If Sauron had succeeded, he would have served him, of course, but Saruman never intended to let him.
Calling Saruman an early-stage Sauron is just complete ignorance of Saruman's character. He was the only one among the Istari to come voluntarily to Middle-earth to see to Sauron's defeat. It was the desire for personal power that threw him from his path, not because Sauron broke his will. He was deceived, not defeated.
This suited Sauron just fine, and he was content to let Saruman weaken Rohan. There was also an essential deceit woven into the Ring, that it would promise power while providing none (Letter 131). Sauron would not have feared the ring.
Finally, according to Gandalf after the palantír was found, Sauron was always aware of Saruman's loyalty being only towards himself. It was an essential part of the deceit that led to Saruman's fall.
@@Count.Saruman I'm afraid you are mistaken as Tolkien wrote several times about this.
"Saruman dares to use the palantír of Orthanc, but becomes ensnared by Sauron, who has the Ithil Stone. He becomes a traitor to the Council."- The Return of the King, LoTR Appendix B, The Tale of Years: The Third Age.
"It was only Sauron who used a Stone for the transference of his superior will, dominating the weaker surveyor and forcing him to reveal hidden thought and to submit to commands."- Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 3, The Palantíri: Notes, Note 5.
"Saruman fell under the domination of Sauron and desired his victory, or no longer opposed it."- Unfinished Tales, Part 4, Ch 3, The Palantíri.
"Easy it is now to guess how quickly the roving eye of Saruman was trapped and held; and how ever since he has been persuaded from afar, and daunted when persuasion would not serve.... How long, I wonder, has he been constrained to come often to his glass for inspection and instruction, and the Orthanc-stone so bent towards Barad-dûr that, if any save a will of adamant now looks into it, it will bear his mind and sight swiftly thither?"- The Two Towers, LoTR Book 3, Ch 11, The Palantír.
"It is said that Sauron had at this time [3018], by means of the palantíri, at last begun to daunt Saruman, and could in any case often read his thought even when he withheld information. Thus Sauron was aware that Saruman had some guess at the place where the Ring was; and Saruman actually revealed that he had got as his prisoner Gandalf, who knew the most."- Unfinished Tales, Part 3, Ch 4, The Hunt for the Ring: Notes, Note 14.
@@Count.Saruman it's also very clear on the similarities between Saruman and Sauron, they were both Maia of Aulë the Smith. Both wished to bring order initially and had too much pride. Both would be corrupted by a more powerful Dark Lord and betray their allies while also wishing to rule one day.
Isengard is also DIRECTLY compared to Barad dur writ small.
Very interesting! 50 years after I read Lord of the Rings for the first time, I finally have an idea of Sauron's modus operandi, what he could and could not do. Now I have to reread the series again to see how this changes my understanding of events. (I just finished it for the umpteenth time last month.) Many thanks!
you should definitely check out The Silmarillion if you havent! I just picked it up and it has given me many more insights into the motives and underlying devices I had previously missed out on :)
“…he didn’t have the power of friendship.” 🤣
Poor lonely Sauron!
Great video - keep up the good work!
Sauron was very intelligent, powerful, and quite cunning. He is certainly one of the most powerful and iconic villains ever written, despite getting so little screen time in the films, except as the Great Eye.
I heard that in theory, the One Ring could have been destroyed by someone that was as good of forger as Sauron. But I know of no canon characters that can compare to Sauron’s skills with such things. Not even elves.
Iconic? Yes? One of the most powerful? Probably not.
Feanor might have been more skilled
Wasn't it also in theory that one of the great dragons could also destroy the ring with thier breath.
@@williamking1081 Maybe, but I’ve never heard that. In the LOTR cartoon, Gandalf says “not even a Dragon’s fire could harm that Ring.”
Sauron's former master, the vala Aüle can more than likely destroy that ring with a swing of his hammer!
Brilliant video, ty for all of this information - FYI in the old Chivalry & Sorcery RPG first published in 1977 and also in 1983 as 2nd edition there is indeed a very detailed amount of information regarding "Words of Command" under the Command spell list. They also reference MANY Tolkien Middle Earth areas such as, Balrogs, The Rings of Power (under the Necromancer section), Uruk-Hai, and a plethora of other topics. This was done at a time when there was little regard in the emerging field of RPG's for IP and copyrights. This game was VERY DEEPLY influenced by Tolkien's work and I love this game for doing this with his Lore regardless of the copyright issues. My friends and I still play this RPG to this day with all the Middle Earth references remaining.
I love and respect so much these videos from both yourself and the Tolkien lore community, but also all of the amazing artwork that really helps the words come to life 🙂
Sauron also used water bending to create mountain level waves against numenoreans to prove he is mighty ( Unfinished Tales I guess) . He could have stopped the Eorl and Rohirrim via shadows of Dol Guldur had Galadriel not intervened. And I would say even after he became bound to his body Sauron was still unbeatable in combat. Tolkien clarified only Gandalf the White with the One ring could be a match for him and Gandalf the Grey soloed a Balrog capable of conquering Khazad-dum all alone. Gil Galad and Elendil was able to defeat him only because his body was newly made .(he was still able to drive whole alliance back to Orodruin tho)
P. S. I am not Sauron fan but I think he is criminally underrated. Movie made him easily approchable villian and not much of a threat indivudally
P. S. S. I just argued with a guy with 0 knowledge of LOTR . He stated Vader could make Sauron his slave and I just responded by saying “ Grandpa Palp shocks Vader and he dies Zeus shocks Sauron and he laughs” I am a huge fan of your channel and how you analyze interesting facts ( especially dwarves) keep up great work! ( Woh that was a long comment😆)
Bro you destroyed that guy
Although Gandalf the Grey could solo a Balrog, he did have one of the 3 elven rings to aid him.
That version is from the Lost Road and is from before what is in the Silmarillion and conflicts with Sauron surrendering himself to Ar-Pharazôn and going peacefully to Númenor. So, I don't think it's accurate to give him that ability.
@@istari0 while The Lost Road is from before the Silmarillion neither is a fully finalized story by Tolkien himself (he died before), so I would not rate the Silmarillion above The Lost Road as long as it does not contracidt->
Speaking of: why do you think it does contradict with The Silmarilion in this regard? Sauron intentionally let himself be captured. At that time he was still a capable shapeshifter, so I think he could have easily escaped if he wished to.
Sauron flexing with his powers in front of the Numenorians would a) raise his own status among them more easily/quickly which was what he intended anyway and b) feed Ar-Pharazons hybris because he lets him think he "captured" one of those angelic beings from Valinor
There's a strong possibility that Darth Vader would be corrupted into a servant of Sauron just by being in the presence of him or the Ring, since Sauron's beguilement is a Chinese finger trap that is _more_ effective on the powerful and power-hungry. That's the whole reason they needed hobbits to carry the Ring, after all.
I'd say that Sauron was actually a fighter, just not a good one. He's got all the power, durability, and brutality to go with it, but he's not overly skilled in combat like the litany of heroes he's gone up against. Combine that with his tendency to run away in favor of plotting (Morgoth as well), and it's pretty easy to see why he's got several losses/draws
Given his canonical original name is 'Mairon' which means 'The Admired one' and his new name means 'The Abhorrent one', 'Melkor' means 'He who rises in might' and 'Morgorth' means 'Dark/Black Enemy', I think that in terms of creation of the universe, Sauron was second to no Maia and was the closest to the Valar that a Maia could be.
No, that's wrong. He was explicitly second to Eönwë and Ilmarë who are referred to as the chiefs of the maiar as well as the mightiest of them on two occasions.
@@Count.Saruman See I always took the mention of those two as the Valar's estimation that they'd be enough to deal with Sauron, thinking he was weaker than he was when he was with them instead of growing in power
@@DracoSafarius "To the defeat of Morgoth he [Manwë] sent Eönwë, his herald. To the defeat of Sauron would he not then send some lesser (but mighty) spirit of the angelic people, one coeval and equal, doubtless, with Sauron in their beginnings, but not more? Olórin was his name.” -Unfinished Tales
This more or less signifies that Manwë's opinion is that Eönwë would be too much for Sauron, which is why he sent Gandalf. The ultimate object was to inspire the people of Middle-earth to defeat Sauron and not do it alone, which must mean he thought Eönwë could do it singlehandedly.
@@Count.Saruman What I got out of that was that Morgoth, being a Valar (although heavily weakened) warranted the best that Manwe could send, being Eonwe, before the Valar personally step in later. For Sauron, he isn't a being that could fight Valar singlehandedly, so he he only warrants someone that Manwe would estimate to be his equal.
I still think that Manwe was treating him as if he was just Aule's student, not an actual warrior or dark lord, and not realizing just how powerful he actually was.
Alternatively, you could also throw out the idea that getting the continent to rise up against Sauron was the only way to win, since entrusting it to one single warrior ran the risk of Sauron killing them if they charged in and ignored amassing armies of their own.
Its worth remembering that Sauron was retroactively put into Tolkien's older works after the Lord of the Rings. He was layered on top of a previously existing one-off character in the story of Beren and Lúthien. While his story in the second and third age was carefully developed at the time Lord of the Rings was written, his role in the first age was a complete afterthought. He gradually transitioned from "a" servant of Morgoth to the chief lieutenant of Morgoth. But with almost no changes to speak of in the Silmarillion based on that.
He also became more and more powerful in Tolkien's writings as time went on.
I personally find it very interesting that Sauron didn't do all that much of note in the First Age compared to the mighty feats shown by Gothmog, Glaurung or Ancalagon, but decided to up his game in the Second Age beyond anything any servant of Morgoth had been capable of.
It gives you the sense that he was doing other work for Morgoth in the shadows (like rebuilding Angband and so on) and learning the ropes as Apprentice Dark Lord, eventually unleashing that terrible knowledge and power when the time was ripe and his greatest enemies had departed.
@@Count.Saruman Also likely he waited until Morgoth was out of the picture, Morgoth would probably see him as a threat after a while. I always thought they would have clashed eventually.
@@bryancaulfield2066 Now that I doubt, as Angband's hosts highly outnumbered and outmatched anything Sauron could muster, while being absolutely loyal to Morgoth.
More likely Sauron hid from Morgoth after losing to Lúthien to avoid his scorn and hatred, as Morgoth would probably blame Sauron's defeat as the reason why he lost a Silmaril.
Another power lacked by Sauron beside "friendship" is the power of "self-reflection" and "humility". The lack of this is what lead to his destruction.
Very sad, very sad.
He was a powerful necromancer. Could also lie to you and manipulate you pretty good if you let him. In his physical form he could be a formidable fighter when he wanted to be one. In his spirit form he was more vulnerable though. He made the Master Ring. But he was only able to do so once.
A "powerful necromancer" by Middle-earth terms.
What he could be called is a bender if corrupted spirits.
Necromancer means a very different thing in non-Middle-earth things.
This is a great video. I already referenced it to someone on another channel who believed Sauron to be weak. I think he was clearly one of the most powerful Maia and personally I think he was the most powerful Maia, possibly close to being a Vala.
I've heard a few people say that Valar and Maiar are not necessarily two separate classes of power, Valarie were chosen to lead the Maiar but are essentially just particularly strong-willed and powerful Maiar. There's alot of evidence that many Maiar were more powerful than many Valar, and that the strength of particular Maiar and Valar could wax and wane over the course of various ages depending on what happens to them.
I'd be interested to hear where you heard this from. My understanding is that even the strongest maiar are still lessee than the Valar. There was some passage in one of the books I believe that said something along the lines of some maiars power was close to even of that of the Valar.
Man you pick some of the coolest topics, well done
What about when the topic he picked was all about in the family porn? Was that one of the coolest topic home boy? Answer me that son.
He's more powerful than I thought!
Something to add to the feat of surviving the lightning bolt. that was sent by the valar, probably manwe if I recall, with the intent to destroy the temple of morgoth. Thi means bare minimum he can tank a blow with bare minimum small to large building level attack potency and be fine afterwards.
And that lighting bolt was strong enough to damage the roof of a small building.
I thought Morgoth was the overarching big bad, even above Sauron. Even though he was defeated in the first age, did he not carry on much like Sauron did after his army's defeat in The War of the Last Alliance?
He did, but he doesn't do anything as he's been shut out of the world
Morgoth and Sauron both preferred not to fight, which is funny considering their might. When pressed to fight however, even Sauron is probably greater than say a Balrog or Gandalf. Still got killed by a man and an elf though, lol
So what I'm taking from this is Sauron had several levels in bard.
With expertise in intimidation, persuasion, and smithing.
(With a tad bit of artificer/forge domain)
His bee whole prolly stunk though. I bet your bee whole stinks.
Loved the quote were Sauron was Tormenting the very hills.
Great content, I find Turin to be super interesting as he is the one prophesised to slay Saurons master Morgoth when he returns
This was an awesome video
"But one thing he didn't have, is the power of friendship."
Angbang fans would beg to differ.
Was Angbang true friendship or was it just superficial?
@@DarthGandalfYT Oh, I believe it was something more than just "friendship"; certainly if the fanart is anything to go by :D And they do say he was *seduced* by Melkor to join his side....
He also waited like 3 ages for him to come back and made the Numenorians build a temple to his name. If that's not true love, I don't know what is.
@@MajinOthinus would those be Angfans?
I loved the video!! I am A Men of the West fan but your up there sir!!!! I cannot think of one thing about the video I would like different or changed in any way!
You forgot that being an Ainur he was naturally immortal,and when his body was twice destroyed he could ricreate it from nothing thanks to the one ring
He actually didn’t need the One Ring for this. It contained A LOT of his power so it took the vast majority of the third age to create a new body after his defeat at the end of the second age, but by the War of the Ring he had finally recovered all of the power that was not within his Ring and had whipped up a new body.
The movies are fun, but an annoying thing is that it gives the impression that:
A) Sauron didn’t have a physical form at all during the third age.
B) Sauron not having a physical form in some way limited him despite the fact that his natural state was one without a body.
@@josephscott1292 Actually no,when an Ainur dies,his fea goes to Valinor.
When Gandalf died he went to Valinor and was reembodied,in Saruman s case he tried to go to Valinor but was rejected and destined to wander as a spirit forever.
In Sauron s case,the ring bound him to the earth,allowing him to recreate his body when he was destroyed.
Great video altogether truly ! But didn’t melkor/morgoth create uruks ?
No, Urks and Olog-Hai were Sauron's creations in the books
One could actually argue that Sauron’s power was indeed the power of friendship, given how many folk he got as his posee
A hidden Shonen protagonist, eh? Driven completely batshit insane by The One Ring sounds like a good fall from Grace reason.
Poor, friendless Sauron. Maybe all he needed was a hug.
Just speculation, but I wonder if perhaps Mount Doom had actually been created by Morgoth in the First Age, and that Sauron was able to tap into some kind of residual power left there by his master?
Perhaps.
Another thing is that Morgith corrupted Middle-earth, so Sauron could ne using that corruotion to control the world.
There is also te fact that he served Aule. Maybe he helped make the lava under Mordor?
Yeah
Not sure you got some of your facts right here..
Orcs were originally designed and mutated from the early Elves captured during the time of Morgoth (or Melkor) the first dark lord, where Sauron was just his servant. Here also on the Island of the Werewolves, in Utumno, he made his fortress and created/mutated a great many other creatures - some of which included: Thuringwethal (the Vampire), Drauglin (the Werewolf), Gothmog (the Balrog-Lord), Ungoliant (the Giant Spider) from the rebel Maiar (lesser Ainur spirits) that followed him into Arda (Middle-earth).
Sauron (and later Saruman the White Wizard) no doubt used his sorcery skills to develop and evolve the Orcs further into Uruk-hai (Super Orcs) and the Trolls into Olog-hai (Super Trolls), who both no longer feared or were affected by the Sun.
I just thought of a plot hole that may make poor old Jrr Tollkien turn in his grave! So back at the bridge of Kazum where Gandlaf fought the balrog the bridge was destroyed. How then was it that gollum got out of moria to harass Frodo later on. He should have been stuck down there shouldn't he
After watching lord of the rings, I never quite understood what Sauron was, and what his powers were. I was very confused about why he was to be feared. Thanks for clearing it up for me
Could you do a mystery video on what the thing was that flew over the fellowship on their way to Moria? I believe it is from the chapter (the ring goes south) Excerpt:
You have forgot that
1- Sauron can crush and destroy the very hills as it stated in the council of Elrond in the book:
*“And yet we see that Sauron can torture and destroy the very hills.* What power still remains lies with us, here in Imladris, or with Cirdan at the Havens, or in Lórien. But have they the strength, have we here the strength to withstand the Enemy, the coming of Sauron at the last, when all else is overthrown?'”
[The Fellowship of The Ring]
2-Also Sauron used to manipulate weather and clouds which he used to protect his army from the sunlight during the wars and invasions (battle of Gwatloo, battle of the pelennor fields etc).
3- And Sauron has the ability of raising the sea like a mountain despite not being a water affiliated Maiar spirit. Sauron literally raised the sea like a mountain and cast the Numenorean Armada out of the sea! Lol
"Guards were set at the haven of Moriondë in the east of the land, where the rocks are dark, watching at the king’s command without ceasing for the ships’ return. It was night, but there was a bright Moon. They descried ships far off, and they seemed to be sailing west at a speed greater than the storm, though there was little wind. *Suddenly the sea became unquiet; it rose until it became like a mountain, and it rolled upon the land. The ships were lifted up, and cast far inland, and lay in the fields.* Upon that ship which was cast highest and stood dry upon a hill there was a man, or one in man’s shape, but greater than any even of the race of Númenor in stature. ‘He stood upon the rock and said: ‘This is done as a sign of power. For I am Sauron the mighty, servant of the Strong” (wherein he spoke darkly). “I have come. Be glad, men of Númenor, for I will take thy king to be my king, and the world shall be given into his hand.” And it seemed to men that Sauron was great; though they feared the light of his eyes. To many he appeared fair, to others terrible; but to some evil.
[J.R.R Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, The Lost Road and Other Writings, p.73-74]
The version from the Lost Road is from before what is in the Silmarillion and conflicts with Sauron surrendering himself to Ar-Pharazôn and going peacefully to Númenor. So, I don't think it's accurate to give him that ability.
Err, the power of friendship, for a dark lord?
Well, it's rather obvious he didn't need that!
He'd be called Sauron the jolly good fellow.
I daresay he was at some point called Sauron the jolly good fellow. By the Núménoreans, anyway...
1. Jeweler - The Rings of Power
2. Career Advisor - guiding the Dunedain
3. Aspiring Judge - Spiked hammer/mace he smashes Elves and Men with…
or possibly from tolkeins point of view - Sauron embodied the might , 'the evil', and the power of the Industrial revolution released upon the idylic green lands
I ran by your channel on accident but im glad! Very good content! Respect from your new subscriber from Finland!
Thus befell the contest of Sauron and Felegund which is renowned. For Felegund strove with Sauron in songs of power and the power of the king was very great, but Sauron held the mastery. As is told in the ley of Lathien.
He chanted a song of wizardry
Of piercing, opening
Of Treachery
Revealing, uncovering, betraying
Then sudden Felegund there swaying
Sang in answer a song of staying
Resisting, battling against power
Of secrets kept
Strength like a tower
And trust unbroken
Freedom, escape
Of changing and shifting shapes
Of snares eluded, broken traps
The prison opening
The chain that snaps
Backwards and forwards swayed their song
Reeling and foundering
As ever more strong
The chanting swelled
Felegund fought
And all of the magic and might he brought
Of elveness into his words
Softly in the gloom they heard the birds
Singing afar in Nargothrond
The sighing of the sea beyond
Beyond the western world on sand
On sand of pearls in elven land
Then the gloom gathered
Darkness growing
In Valanor the red blood flowing
Beside The sea where the Nuldor slew
The foam riders and stealing drew
Their white ships with their white sails
From laplit heavens
The wind wails
The wolf howls
The ravens flee
The ice mutters in the mouths of the sea
The captives sad in Angband mourn
The thunder rumbles
The fires burn.
(Sorry for any mistakes but I think I got it. It's my favorite poem/song in all of the books.)
Great video!
Sauron's other powers were 1) Really Bendy Thumbs. 2) Magnetic Colon. 3)Super Spelling.
*All in all, a perfect villain!*
When God himself strikes you with lightning and you walk it off, that's not someone I'd pick a fight with lol.
7:27 Ehm...the eye literally fixated on Frodo who was wearing the ring which was visible so...can you explain that?! What the hell happened then? Does he have myopia?
Great video 👍🏻
1:24 Misshaping isn't "miss happing", it's "mis shaping".
Sauron’s most powerful ability is to reincarnate himself into the form of Amazon in the year 2022 of our time
🤣
Given his skills, how would Sauron have responded if one of the Free Peoples asked for his aid building a machine or magic device (say for pumping water, or automating a repetitive task like forging nails)?
He would be happy to instruct them. That is how he was corrupted in the first place.
Darth Gandalf sounds like a terrifying character i gotta admit
Sauron’s power is that he knows what the One Piece is.
Aren't u mixing up melkor and Sauron powers and action from the Silmarillion? All this stuff happened to melkor (I though, though has been some years since I read it)
Lol we love you Sauron. Ty for this will be looking for the Morgoth one
It's worth saying that when Sauron fought Gil-Galad and Elendil, he hadn't completed his "bodily rehabilitation" as Tolkien writes. He was half of what he was, which was less (even if he was 100%) than the indomitable being which could only be destroyed by God himself on Numenor.
The takeaway is that at half strength, Sauron was able to defeat the mightiest elf and the mightiest man in existence at once (in a 2 vs 1) and was only felled when another approached his ruined form and severed from him a portion of his power (invested in the Ring).
Huron was the mightiest Man. Fingolfin ir Feanor was the mightiest elf.
@@pyktukasplays4945 Fair. I meant the mightiest elf and man in existence at the time.
Either of those would've given Sauron trouble ... he'd probably kill them in a personal confrontation, but he'd need to reembody himself afterwards.
Very good work!!
Sauron, the Builder! Can we dominate it? Sauron, the Builder! Yes, we can!
this is funny
Apparently able to make elvish maids go weak at the knees.
1:59 technically speaking everyone in middle earth possesses some degree of telepathy see the Ósanwe-kenta
You’d think a powerful, godlike master craftsman could build a fortress that didn’t need to be magically held together at all times
Gravity. 😄
Really big shoes, trousers with a hoop waist held up by braces, and a lapel flower with built in water pistol.
Interesting thing: Voldemort and his Horcruxes mirrored Sauron and his Ring. Locking part of your soul into a physical object so you can prolong your existence and control others.
@Siberian Funnily enough many of his things were done before him. There was a similar fantasy story with a journey to destroy a thing in a fantasy world. It had many things that Middle-earth had. And it was written in 1800s. Long before Tolkien was even more.
Most of what inspired Harry Power came from way before even that.
Although, since J. K. Rowling is from an English-soekaing world, it could be argued she was inspired by Tolkien a bit.
Except one is a mere mortal,and the other is divinity putting most of thier power in,he didn't die,just dispelled,unlike Voldy Moldy.
I heard Sauron made an excellent cuppa, that's a top power in my books
Mis- SHAPING or shaping amiss what he touched. Like in mis-HANDLING, mis-TAKEN, mis-BEGOTTEN, etc. But, great vid on Sauron!
Though he did have his fair share* of mishaps.
* See we all can, as I just demonstrated by misspelling a word....
Me no English good sometime
@@DarthGandalfYT You make good content though. I especially enjoy the jokes that often end your videos. An example would be: "and always remember: if you do not speak English very well then maybe do not make videos where all you do is speak English" I can hear you saying in your distinct accent.
* Oh yeah: and when you said "if Morgoth is your favorite character you have issues" or something to that effect.... I took that personally. Fellow content creator "The Red Book" might have something to say about that as well. You two should collaborate
What word of command did Durin's Bane utter? He doesn't speak at all in the movie or book
We don't know. We do know that he broke Gandalf's spell in Moria which was a word of command.
Does anyone know if Sauron is capable of lying? Does Sauron inteend to marry Galadriel in the way he describes it, if she had accepted? I can't recall any of the maia lie in the movies (don't remember in the books) Sarumann is pretty close when he doesn't revael where the shire is to the ringwraiths.
He was a powerful Nen user, it seems. His En is frightful.
Did Sauron create the Morgul blades as well? Seems like his kind of thing.
Wasn't it the witch king ?
Sauron taught The Witch King some of the morgul arts. How to create barrow wights, command fell spirits, morgul blades etc. I believe the Morgul blades were made during the Angmar wars when Sauron was still diminished.
Superman wears his underwear over his suit. Sauron wears his ring over his gloves 9:01
There is a saying that beauty can be a curse, but in Sauron's case, it cursed others. Masses of people followed beautiful Sauron no matter how extreme his ideas were. It's like people can look past almost anything to catch a glimpse of the charming and the fair. Sauron well understood this weakness, especially in men, and could just take his pick of anyone that he wanted in his service.
Imagine what Sauron could have done if he hadn’t been corrupted…
To be very honest, he probably would have been far less powerful. In the beginning, he was said to be 'equal and coëval' with Gandalf, and Morgoth's gifts as well as the Ring of Power (Letter 131 & Morgoth's Ring) made him as strong as he was in time.
i think theirs corruption in wanting status. we see this all over the real world. if you want to be in control, even if your intent is good, it will come with baggage.
@@Count.Saruman
Could be. But then, Melkor was by far the strongest of the Valar in the beginning. But he used his power to corrupt and destroy, and by the end of the first age this had made him much weaker. Same with Sauron - he got weaker, not stronger, over time, like losing his power to change his form after it was destroyed with Númenor.
@@kardy12 Actually, Sauron was said not to have diminished until the Númenor episode.
"Sauron with the ring in the second age was effectively greater than Morgoth at the end of the first"- HoME vol.10, Morgoth's Ring.
Note that it says Sauron in the Second Age, by which time he had done a lot more corrupting, than Sauron in the First. Letter 131 also says the Ring enhanced Sauron's powers to never-before seen heights.
Only after the downfall of Númenor is Sauron said to have been weakened, in that he could no longer assume fair form, and this is attributed as the direct judgment of Ilúvatar. Sauron was extremely resilient to this form of decay, demonstrating perhaps that he had learned from Morgoth's errors.
@@Count.Saruman
That may well be so, but it does not mean that he was stronger by virtue of having been corrupted by Melkor than he would have been if he had not.
Comments on the series now that it's done? I thought the last 2 episodes were a bit weak, direction-wise. Curious how many changes were made to the Sauron lore.
I thought episode 7 was one of the worst of the season. They invented a lot of new events for Sauron, but his character in the show is somewhat accurate Sauron's short attempt at redemption.
I think that Sauron has an ability (by using the Morgoth Ingredient as a prerequisite for his "magic") to nullify the powers of his enemies:
a) Sauron captures Minas Tirith on Tol Sirion: (...) when the power of Ulmo was in that water (...);
b) Sauron tanked and repelled lightning bolts sent by Manwë on the temple of Melkor in Númenor;
c) Samwise Gamgee at Sammath Naur in his great need drew out the phial of Galadriel (with the light of Earendil) but it was pale and cold, because all other powers were here subdued;
d) And Galadriel's power in Lothlorien. Dol Guldur's armies could not conquer the elven realm unless Sauron himself had arrived. Remembering that Lórien is (in my opinion) a "dimension/pocket" where the time (forest, river, the air. Not for people) and space are different from the other places of Middle Earth:
"Anyone would think that time did not count there.
And perhaps that was the way of it (...) in that land, maybe, we were in a time that has elsewhere long gone by."
This sets him apart from other Maiar. Sauron must also possess a pluripotency (with the use of Morgoth Element in the matter) to a lesser degree than Melkor/Morgoth.
Sauron reminds me of Hera from Hercules:tlj. She was rarely seen but behind every evil plot and you would see her eyes in the sky to show she was always watching.
Excellent Insights
Did he say gollum the unhappy? Was smeagol married,?
I learn something new with every video I watch! Tolkien's universe never ends!!!
the ability to wear the largest monocle ever created
Sauron’s principal power was the ability to avoid stabbing himself on the spiky armor fan artists insist on giving him.
It's called knowing how to wear and use plate armour.
@@pyktukasplays4945 Or having artists who don’t know how to design usable plate armor.
@@janach1305 the movie armour is usable through.
But, some are too much in the anime spectrum, defying gravity.
@@pyktukasplays4945 I was talking about the artwork shown on the video. I don’t remember what Sauron wore in the films. I don’t remember that he was ever actually shown in person. He never was in the book. I saw the films when they first came out and never set eyes on them again. For me, Lord of the Rings means the book.
@@janach1305 in the books, according to Tolkien's art, Sauron had chestplate and a helmet.
I like the part when the Ring offered Samwise Gamgee a massive garden and hobbit said “No”
He could jump really high and run really fast.
Lol the last line made the whole video more than worth watching. 🤣😂😂🤣🤣🤣😅
I think what we are seeing is something embedded in the history of science fantasy, laser like energy projections, violent telekinesis and mind control are not the sort of things that were in JRT's inspiration, which were Norse and Greek Mythology, pagan witchcraft and Biblical, bear in mind were strictly literature media at the time,.
Convincing magical cinematic physical special effects, computer game animated mechanics were decades away and it took awhile for the lexicon of spell casting in fantasy adventure movies and games to come about, and that we now take for granted. None of the Magical characters in Tolkien's works do much actual physical magic or spell casting
Huh? He even said it in this video .. their natural powers appear as magic to lesser beings. Words of power are spells...there are not many characters capable of magic but those that are use it almost all the time. What are you talking about?
@@julesbrunton1728 `i mean that the manifestations of magical power in modern fantasy has developed into very physical effects. colorful beams of energy directed at foes, enemies sent flying into walls by simple hand gestures, where as JRT characters don't do any of that. as you say "words of power" inspiration, terror, craft. terrible mythical creatures, Peter jackson grafts some of that (modern) style of effects into the movies, but even so is restrained. I'm not disagreeing with the content of the video, just noting that sci fi and fantasy effects have become more physical and visceral as the Media of delivery and possibilities have expanded with the technology.
@@logtothebase2 But you actually make an interesting point there. Visual Media has shaped the way younger people, myself included, think about magic quite a bit, even if mythological or even just older literary magic is often more... esoteric and less tangible.
I have not read a lot of contemporary fantasy or science fantasy literature, but what I'd like to know now is this:
Has magic become more visceral in literature, too, with the advent of special effects and especially CGI?
I have to admit that I sometimes write in ways that would be more suited to a visual medium. I deem it to be in poor taste, but my tiny audience of my friends and family seem to like this style. (Alas, it is meaningless as my works shall be left unpublished, as the intended target audience consists of myself.
(Sorry, kind-of derailed here.))
Sauron could mix a martini like no other, and he was always holding.
1:26 misshape?
Misshaping is pronounced 'miss-shaping'. The second syllable rhymes with ape, not sap. It refers to shape.
yeah i would say he mixed it up with 'mishap', which would be an easy mistake. unless he actually intended to say mishap, yet i have never heard of mishapping lol. anyhow not a big deal.
noped outta there pretty quick after that friendship power remark...
"And though he didn't make a physical appearance..."
Didn't make a physical appearance? Then how the hell did my nipples get hard when watching it in the damn theater!?! What did the rings power reach out and give em a twist? NOOOO! Bloody bastards believing in ghost stories!
There should be a TV series on sauron
The man was Vader before Vader. Or perhaps Sideous before Sideous.