LotR--Does Sauron have a body?

[toadspittle]

I know that Sauron has been disembodied once or twice in his day (after the downfall of Numenor; after Isildur cut the ring from his finger), but I had always assumed that, by the time he takes possession of Barad Dur again in Frodo's day, he's got his body back.

Lately though, I seem to be reading more and more that people think he has no body during the events of LotR. --Exacerbated, I think, by Peter Jackson's focus on the Eye of Sauron ... people seem to think he's just a big, fiery eye. Me, I always assumed he had a body (doesn't Gollum, in reference to his torment at Sauron's hands, mention something like, "there are only four fingers on the black hand ... but they are enough"?) but that his piercing lidless Eye was just a notable feature, and one that a ringbearer, fearing exposure and discovery, would be aware of.

So... body or no body?

[Eran]

He lost his body:
1. In the First Age, when Huan fought him in werewolf form and Luthien sent him back, disembodied, to Morgoth
2. When he drowned in the destruction of Numenor
3. When Isildur cut the ring off of his hand
He regained bodily form sometime after this (I don't remember the cite) and had it when he was in disguise as the Necromancer in Mirkwood, when he captured Gollum, and lost it when the Ring was destroyed.

[Sauron]

[channelling David Lee Roth]
Oh IIIIIIIIII ... ain't got no booooooody ...
[/channelling DLR]

[king of spain]

If he were still disembodied, what would he do with the Ring? I mean, you only get the Ring's full power by wearing it, right?

[toadspittle]

Originally posted by Eran
He lost his body:
1. In the First Age, when Huan fought him in werewolf form and Luthien sent him back, disembodied, to Morgoth

Actually, Luthien only threatened to let Huan destroy his body. She let him "live" in exchange for mastery of the tower where Beren was held captive. After Huan released Sauron, Sauron turned into a vampire bat and flew off to lick his wounds and muck up some other place.

[Chronos]

Actually, Luthien only threatened to let Huan destroy his body.Not only that, but she very strongly implied that if she had let Huan finish him off, it would have been permanent. The daughter of Melian does not use words like "forever" lightly.

I do seem to recall that he was re-embodied by the time of the War of the Ring, but I can't remember where it was said explicitly.

[Jeremy's Evil Twin]

Originally posted by Sauron
[channelling David Lee Roth]
Oh IIIIIIIIII ... ain't got no booooooody ...
[/channelling DLR]

Oh God, that was awful. Funny as hell, but awful. :D

[Dijon Warlock]

Originally posted by Jeremy's Evil Twin


Oh God, that was awful. Funny as hell, but awful. :D I always thought that was Marty Feldman...

[Johanna]

It was Louis Prima's song. DLR copied it note for note.

[Sauron]

Originally posted by Jeremy's Evil Twin


Oh God, that was awful. Funny as hell, but awful. :D

Thank you! I'm here all week! Be kind to your waitstaff!

[toadspittle]

Originally posted by Sauron


Thank you! I'm here all week! Be kind to your waitstaff!

I always forget to go straight to the source ...