Who is Sauron? - The History of the Dark Lord from LotR in Tolkien's Lore (Spoilers)

Who is Sauron? What's his story? Today we have a look at the antagonist of Lord of the Rings and his history in middle-earth. This ancient evil entity is in fact the Lord of the Rings and has troubled elves, men and dwarves for over 6500 years.

He is the servant of Morgoth (Melkor) in Tolkien's Universe. In the Hobbit or the Lord of the Rings, you don't learn too much about him, but in the Appendices and the Silmarillion we find a lot of small background story about the Dark Lord and learn about his lore from the LotR books and the Silmarillion, which explains why he gave Aragorn, Gandalf, Fordo, Sam, Gimli and the others so much trouble with his One Ring.


Notes:
- I pronounce names as Tolkien described it (so a rolled R)
- This video contains spoilers
- The main books (The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings & the Silmarillion) are my main source
- There are some mistakes in the video

Mistakes:
- Fréaláf Hildeson was Helm's nephew, not his son.

- Morgoth is Sindarin (which is strange) and means "Dark Enemy". He was also called Morgoth Bauglir (Bauglir as some kind of title) and Bauglir means "constrainer" or "tyrant". The name Morgoth and its translation also went through some iterations, which probably results in Morgoth being a Sindarin name instead of a Quenya. AfaIk Tolkien never finally decided on this.

- Arrow placement and text mistake: Ungoliant tries to kill Morgoth near Angband (in Lammoth to be precise) not Ûdun.

- When I say the First Age is short, I mean the First Age during the Years of the Sun. The term First Age is imo very confusing for the Years of the Trees when you use it to express an actual date. As a result (for simplicity) First Age in my videos always mean First Age of the Years of the Sun and for the time prior I simply use the term Years of the Trees (where Valian Years are used, which makes using First Age for this time actually confusing). This is consistent throughout my videos and is also corresponding with e.g. how TolkienGateway.net uses dates.

- Eärendil as son of Tuor (of the Edain) was also a hero for the Dúnedain (and for Men in general) too, though he decided to be an Elf and was not a Dúnedain himself. I worded this a bit wrong in the video though. It must be noted that Eärendil (as halfelven) decided to be counted as Elf for his wife's sake.

- The term "Years of the Lamps" was never used by Tolkien in his books, it's more an "internet term", which I like to use, due to it explaining what it means by itself. So it's very efficient. Tolkien called the time the (first) "Spring of Arda". The "Years of the Sun" are also called "Second Spring of Arda" in the Silamrillion.

I recommend my following videos:

- The long Story of Aragorn, Minas Ithil and Númenor
   • The long Story of Aragorn, Minas Ithi...  

- The History of Rohan
   • History of Rohan - Helm Hammerhand, L...  

Cirdan and the History of the Elves:
   • Círdan - History and Lore of the Elve...  

Who is Haleth and the Haladin?
   • Who is Haleth? - Edain (Haladin) in t...  

####### Sources and Links ######

Books:

Main Sources:
Lord of The Rings (1954-1955) by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Silmarillion (1977) by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Hobbit (1937) by J. R. R. Tolkien
Unfinished Tales (1980) by J. R. R. Tolkien
The Letters of J. R. R. Tolkien (1981) by Humphrey Carpenter and Christopher Tolkien

Secondary Sources:
Morgoth's Ring (1993) by J. R. R. Tolkien; Editor: Christopher Tolkien
The Peoples of Middle-earth (1996) by J. R. R. Tolkien; Editor: Christopher Tolkien
Parma Eldalamberon XVII

Sites:
http://lotrproject.com
http://tolkiengateway.net

Pictures from:
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (2013)
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

► Playlists:

If you are interested in Tolkien's legendary #fantasy Epic The Lord of the Rings and his related works, here some recommendations:

➥Book/Film Differences Series -    • LotR Prologue Explained - Films expla...  

➥Recommended Lore Videos -    • Who are Tolkien's Wizards? The Lore o...  


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I usually make analytical gaming and Tolkien & LotR lore content. Feel free to check my channel (ThePhilosophersGames) for more:
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