When Isildur defeated Sauron, his body was destroyed, right? And Gandalf mentions in the LOTR trilogy that “Soon Sauron will be able to take physical shape/form”. So he’s not really there?
What’s in the tower of Barad-dur then? There’s torches and stuff, and lights in the windows in the movie adaptation- I assume there are things milling about inside. And of course the Eye of Sauron which is searching for the ring. So is Sauron then some kind of ‘invisible presence’? How does he tell his underlings what to do? Does he appear to them in dreams maybe?
If Sauron has no physical form, then what good does the ring do for him? How can he wear it if he doesn’t have any hands? How can he use it without any kind of physical presence?
Someone had asked about the beasts that the Nazgul ride on- that Sauron had nurtured them with ‘fell meats’ (what constitutes fell meat?). Did he raise these monsters before he was destroyed?
When Saruman is talking to Sauron via the Palantir, we see the Eye of Sauron in the Palantir. This doesn’t make any sense, though- the palantir wasn’t on the top of Barad-Dur as far as I could see in the movie. How are we seeing the Eye of Sauron through it if the eye doesn’t even have a line of sight to its own palantir?!
Finally, for those who saw the first Lord of the Rings film, were you satisfied/dissatsfied with the way Sauron looked? When I read about Sauron, I was thinking of something a little more monster-like. I don’t recall much description of his(its?) appearance. Though it was cool to see how tall he was. If he wasn’t such a horrible dresser he might not look half bad
It was also really neat to see how soldiers near Sauron just stood there and stared at him, then he proceeds to swat like 10 of them in the air like a bunch of sticks. He used a mace, too, which I thought was interesting (a lot of fantasy films seem to be very sword-centric so it was a nice change)
Sauron is a demigod, fallen angel type being. He is Spirit, but was clothed in flesh when he came to Arda (the world). He was fair to look upon at first, but after the fall of Numenor, he was caught in the flood and could only take on the form of the evil Lord.
The Ring possesses most of his powers. He put the powers into it so that he could dominate the other ringbearers, especially the Elves. With the loss of the ring, he lost 99% of his power, but if his Spirit recovers it, then he can re-create his body and rule again. And this time, there would be no one left in Middle-Earth strong enough to oppose him.
As for the Palantir, the one that Saruman has communicates with the one in Minas Morgul (formerly Minas Ithil, Isildur’s fortress). I forget, but it might have been moved to Barad-Dur, and Sauron dominated Saruman with it.
As for the movie- I liked the look of Sauron in it. The mace was, I think, homage to Morgoth, Sauron’s master, who wielded Grond, the Hammer of the Underworld. Besides, it’s easier to CGI guys getting thrown around than getting cut into lots of little pieces.
Gollum searched far and wide for “his” ring after he lost it to Bilbo. He made it all the way to Mordor where it was forged, and was captured there. He was tortured for his knowledge of the ring by Sauron, and said two things that tipped off Sauron: “Shire” and “Baggins”. You see Gandalf relaying this to Frodo at the beginning of the first movie, just before Sam and Frodo leave Bag End.
Later (in the book), Gollum says “There are only four fingers on the Black Hand, but they are enough.” or some such. So yes, Sauron has physical form (contrary to Saruman’s assertion).
Poetgrrl, the depiction of Sauron in the movie varies from that of the book–and some of the questions and nitpicks you raise make more sense in the book. Mostly–Sauron is physical in the book. Gollum says he has 9 fingers, which means he’s seen him in the flesh, and he’s able to raise Fell Beasts, wear rings, and prowl around the corridors of Barad-Dur. But he manifests himself remotely (like, through the visions that Frodo gets from wearing the ring) as a Lidless Eye. In the book, when talking through the palantir (and he does talk), it’s not made clear how he looks–whether he’s The Eye or a whole body. And how he looks in the movie when Pippin looks into the Palantir – we’ll have to wait until next week to find out.
I think having the Flaming Eyeball on top of Barad-Dur in the movie is kinda dopey; it looks like a Frankenstein movie electrical gizmo. But it gets the point across. But I don’t take it literally, that Sauron can only see things as if he were physically on top of Barad-Dur (which would make it hard for him to use the palantir).
jsc, but don’t forget the mention in ROTK when Frodo and Sam are entering the Cracks of Doom. They see a red light on top of Barad Dur, and it’s focused on the Gates (right when Aragorn et al. are gathered there) - and not looking towards Mt. Doom. So there’s some sort of manifestation of a searching red light/eye in the books.
As for the Palantir, don’t think of them so much as a matter of line of sight. It’s not just a video phone; it more or less directly connects the minds and wills of those using them. And regardless of whether Sauron has a physical body as of LotR, he most certainly has a mind and a will.
And puglvr, I don’t think that even Sauron is that evil.
<< But I don’t take it literally, that Sauron can only see things as if he were physically on top of Barad-Dur (which would make it hard for him to use the palantir). >>
The movie, like the books, makes that pretty clear. Towards the end of FELLOWSHIP (movie), Frodo escapes from Boromir and puts on the ring, and the Seeing Eye is right there, over the hills, staring at him. He takes off the ring and falls, and we can see the same landscape, and the Dark Tower isn’t visible, not even a teeny tiny speck in the distance. So the Seeing Eye is not a telephoto-lens, it’s a magical mind-connecting kind of thing.
