Sauron seemed to be rebuilt at the end of the first season.
“Always after a defeat and a respite, the Shadow takes another shape and grows again. […] His plans are far from ripe, I think, but they are ripening. […] The Enemy still lacks one thing to give him strength and knowledge to beat down all resistance, break the last defences, and cover all the lands in a second darkness. He lacks the One Ring.”
Gandalf, The Lord of the Rings: The Shadow of the Past
Gandalf gave a pattern by which we may discover how Sauron rebuilt himself in the Second Age. There was a defeat, there was a respite, he took another shape, and grew again. He had plans that were not yet ripe, but were ripening nonetheless.
“I’ve got my own plans, Elf” (Sauron, 1×02).
According to the pattern, he lacked something that would give him strength and knowledge to beat down all resistance. He made the One Ring with his own power, so what would have given him necessary strength and knowledge before the One Ring?
Sauron is remarkably intelligent. The complexity of his plans match that of his character, so my effort to uncover the details of his designs required upwards of 30,000 words. Nevertheless, the very existence of this post proves that it was not in vain.
The following is an attempt to unravel the mysteries of Sauron’s past. His designs begin to branch in two paths around the time of Finrod’s death, so I have created two parts: Part 1 broadly covers his intentions regarding mithril and all peoples, while Part 2 specifically relates to the dagger and Galadriel. The clearest lens through which to study Sauron’s character is, unequivocally, the tale of Beren and Lúthien.
Table of Contents
Introduction
2
Part 1: The Dam
¶ 1: A Wandering, Solitary Outlaw
3
¶ 2: Chased from His Homeland
4
¶ 3: His Southward Journey Long Was He At Work The Burden of Those Who Lead Give Them a Means of Mastering It Regroup
We ended Part 2with the answer to Sauron’s question about Finrod: “What happened to him?” Galadriel gave a perfect summary.
“He was killed in a place of darkness and despair, by servants of Sauron” (1×05).
But there was missing information. Remember, Finrod told Beren:
“I fear that [the sons of Fëanor] will show neither love nor mercy to you, if your quest be told. Yet my own oath holds; and thus we are all ensnared.”
Of Beren and Lúthien
Galadriel may not have even been aware that Finrod set out to help Beren retrieve a Silmaril. It seems their quest was told to no one as Finrod spoke before his people. However, after songs were sung in Beleriand of Beren and Lúthien, Fëanor’s son, Maedhros, knew of their deeds.
“For Maedhros and his brothers, being constrained by their oath, had before sent to Thingol and reminded him with haughty words of their claim, summoning him to yield the Silmaril, or become their enemy. […] [Thingol] sent back the messengers with scornful words. Maedhros made no answer, for he had now begun to devise the league and union of the Elves; but Celegorm and Curufin vowed openly to slay Thingol and destroy his people, if they came victorious from war, and the jewel were not surrendered of free will.
Of the Fifth Battle: Nirnaeth Arnoediad
Even so, how much would Galadriel have known of Finrod’s part in all of this? His oath was not to seek Sauron out and destroy him, but rather to aid Barahir and his kin in every need. His specific task was to help Beren, but Galadriel viewed everything inside-out. Finrod’s oath was selfless, based in friendship, not vengeance, and was fulfilled when he gave his life for Beren.
“Galadriel was sister of Finrod Felagund, Friend-of-Men, once king of Nargothrond, who gave his life to save Beren son of Barahir.“
The Lord of the Rings: Appendix B (The Second Age)
Galadriel said:
“My brother gave his life hunting Sauron. His task is now mine” (1×01).
There must be a reason Galadriel viewed things so incredibly backwards. The answer is a long one, but it changes everything.
When Sauron saw a suspicious company of twelve in his dominion, what would be his natural assumption? Upon discovering the company to consist of one Man and eleven Elves—all unidentifiable enemies—and perceiving one to be a “Noldo of great might and wisdom,” what would he automatically conclude?
One of his hypotheses would be that they sought to destroy him.
Let us briefly cover more things in the first few pages of Of Beren and Lúthien, for background.
Barahir would not leave his homeland, Dorthonion. Morgoth pursued him there, until only Barahir and twelve companions remained. They withdrew to the waters of Tarn Aeluin, and made a lair which Morgoth could not discover. Note the interesting choice of words.
“But the rumour of the deeds of Barahir and his companions went far and wide; and Morgoth commanded Sauron to find them and destroy them.“
One might say Sauron was particularly familiar with the phraseology. According to Galadriel in the prologue, Finrod vowed to do the same thing Morgoth commanded Sauron: find and destroy.
“My brother vowed to seek him out and destroy him. But Sauron found him first” (Galadriel, 1×01).
(Considering how careful the showrunners have been with word usage, I suspect this was purposeful.)
One of the companions of Barahir was Gorlim, whose wife was Eilinel. Gorlim returned from war and found that his house had been plundered, “his wife gone; whether slain or taken he knew not.” He fled to Barahir, but held onto the hope that Eilinel was still alive, for he loved her dearly. Occasionally, he would visit his house in secret, which became known to Morgoth’s servants. One day, he thought he saw a light in the window of his house.
“…coming warily he looked within. There he saw Eilinel, and her face was worn with grief and hunger, and it seemed to him that he heard her voice lamenting that he had forsaken her. But even as he cried aloud the light was blown out in the wind; wolves howled, and on his shoulders he felt suddenly the heavy hands of Sauron’s hunters.”*
*Hunt is another word used by Galadriel in reference to her pursuit of Sauron.
Gorlim was taken captive and Sauron’s servants tortured him “to learn the hidings of Barahir and all his ways.” Gorlim remained silent, but they promised to released him and restore him to Eilinel if he would yield.
“…and being at last worn with pain, and yearning for his wife, he faltered. Then straightway they brought him into the dreadful presence of Sauron; and Sauron said: ‘I hear now that thou wouldst barter with me. What is thy price?’
“And Gorlim answered that he should find Eilinel again, and with her be set free; for he thought that Eilinel also had been made captive. Then Sauron smiled, saying: ‘That is a small price for so great a treachery. So shall it surely be. Say on!’
“Now Gorlim would have drawn back, but daunted by the eyes of Sauron he told at last all that he would know. Then Sauron laughed; and he mocked Gorlim, and revealed to him that he had seen only a phantom devised by wizardry to entrap him; for Eilinel was dead. ‘Nonetheless I will grant thy prayer,’ said Sauron; ‘and thou shalt go to Eilinel, and be set free of my service.’ Then he put him cruelly to death.*
* “I think he sends her into the water to drown her. I’m not necessarily thinking that he thinks she’s going to live, although he probably has a strong idea” (Charlie Vickers).
“In this way the hiding of Barahir was revealed, and Morgoth drew his net about it; and the Orcs coming in the still hours before dawn surprised the Men of Dorthonion and slew them all, save one.”
Barahir had sent his son, Beren, on a “perilous errand to spy upon the ways of the Enemy, and he was far afield when the lair was taken.” Gorlim’s ghost appeared to Beren in a dream to tell him all that he had done, urging him to warn his father. But Beren returned too late. Barahir and his company were slaughtered, and Beren was the sole survivor.
Finrod never swore an oath of vengeance, but guess who did.
“…Beren buried his father’s bones, and raised a cairn of boulders above him, and swore upon it an oath of vengeance. First therefore he pursued the Orcs that had slain his father and his kinsmen […] and because of his woodcraft he came near to their fire unseen. There their captain made boast of his deeds, and he held up the hand of Barahir that he had cut off as a token for Sauron that their mission was fulfilled; and the ring of Felagund was on that hand.”
Beren slew their captain, took the ring, and escaped.
Think about everything from Sauron’s perspective. When he had Finrod, Beren, and their company captive, would he have expected them to tell him everything, or would he have actively tried to uncover every detail himself by doing what he is famous for: seeing?
He could not discover their names or purposes, but he did perceive some things about Finrod, and “deemed that in him lay the secret of their errand.” Could he also have perceived that one of the company (Beren) had once been sent to spy on him and his ways?
What if he also perceived a vow of some sort? There were a few oaths at work, rumbling under the surface, which Sauron might have considered.
Finrod’s Oath of Friendship and Aid.
Beren’s Oath of Vengeance—made because of the death of his father. This was not the reason anyone was there, unbeknownst to Sauron.
Fëanor’s Oath of Hatred—repeated by his son Celegorm, after Finrod spoke before his people. Because of Thingol’s requirement, Finrod said to Beren: “…it seems that this doom goes beyond [Thingol’s] purpose, and that the Oath of Fëanor is again at work. For the Silmarils are cursed with an oath of hatred, and he that even names them in desire moves a great power from slumber.“
Sauron may have known the nature of each, instead of the details. So, putting some pieces together, he would think: There are oaths at work. One of friendship, one of vengeance, and one of hatred. Which one brought them here? It would mimic Galadriel’s pondering in episode 1:
“These Orcs were meddling with the powers of the unseen world. Some dark sorcery of old. But what was their purpose?” (1×01).
Thanks to Thingol naming the Silmarils in desire, there is a chance that Sauron noticed a great power being moved from slumber, yet he could not discover their secret “no matter how much blood he spilt in its pursuit.” Fëanor’s vow loomed over everything, and Beren’s oath was underneath; but Finrod’s was the reason they were there.
There was enough information and evidence for Sauron to pass on a story to someone who did not know the truth, even if he did not truly believe it himself: “The head of this company vowed to seek me out and destroy me. But I found him first.”
In Middle-earth, there is always someone watching. And the gods are watching, and [Sauron] fears the gods. […] He doesn’t know that they’re not going to send something to hurt him or defeat him.
I do not believe that in the end, Sauron thought the driving motive of that company was vengeance, but everything above certainly gave him room to corrupt the story. But why, and what for?
Again, what or who convinced Galadriel of such a twisted account? Why was it a major reason she became obsessed with finding Sauron? We saw who was able to plant certain ideas in her mind.
Galadriel: “Your task was hunting Sauron.”
Sauron as Finrod: “My task was to ensure peace. But I learned that was Sauron’s task, as well” (1×08).
The two things that fueled her obsession with finding Sauron were the mark and the vow (or its token: the dagger).
“My brother vowed to seek him out and destroy him. But Sauron found him first, and marked his flesh with a symbol. One whose meaning even our wisest could not discern. And there, in the darkness, his vow became mine” (Galadriel, 1×01).
We will expound on all of these things in due time (much is on page 12 in Sauron: The Perfect Inverse of Beren). We have more rhetorical questions to answer.
As we have said before, it seemed Sauron wanted Galadriel to figure something out in episode 5, so he tried to make her stop and think, as he did in prison. Charlie said Sauron wanted her to figure out who he was, at least in episode 8:
Do you think he wanted Galadriel to figure it out?
Yes. He’s ready for her to see him for who he is, and he thinks she’s ready to know it.
Someone might ask, “If he asked those questions in the forge to make Galadriel realize who he was, why would he express concern with that very thing, right before the interrogation?”
“You don’t know what I did before I ended up on that raft. You don’t know how I survived; how we all survived. And when these people discover it, they will cast me out. So will you” (Sauron, 1×05).
That was a warning; but Galadriel did not care. Sometimes to find the light, we must first touch the darkness. Sauron turned around, eyebrow raised, as if to say, “Interesting. Are you ready to know the truth? Let me test the waters.”
“What do you know of darkness?” Each subsequent question was an extension and answer to the first. “Whose dagger was it, Galadriel? Who is it you lost? What happened to him?”
“Oh, so this is about vengeance?”
“One cannot satisfy thirst by drinking seawater” (Galadriel, 1×05).
In other words: no. It was not about vengeance. Sauron, knowing as much, essentially asked: “Do you truly believe this obsession is because of vengeance?” He managed to make her verbalize that she was neither bound by a vow nor a task to avenge her brother, then he pushed her even more, as if to say: “Great! Now, think harder. What is it?” He even gave a hint.
Galadriel: “He was killed in a place of darkness and despair, by servants of Sauron. Is that enough for you?”
Sauron: “Oh, so this is about vengeance?”
Galadriel: “One cannot satisfy thirst by drinking seawater.”
Sauron: “Then, what is it? Why do you keep fighting?“
What is it?
“You told me once that we were brought together for a purpose. This is it” (Sauron, 1×08).
Galadriel’s arc in first season revolved around her task.
[Sauron] sees Galadriel, and knows that what she needs more than anything else is to find the evil that has plagued her for so long, and save Middle-earth.
According to Patrick McKay, “character after character in the show” told Galadriel that her obsession was not a good thing, and we know that vengeance could not satisfy it.
“One cannot satisfy thirst by drinking seawater” (Galadriel, 1×05).
Her task was directly associated with two things: the dagger and the mark that Sauron carved into Finrod’s flesh.
Everything already made sense on the surface, but when I looked deeper into the reason for Finrod’s death, I found there was much more than met the eye. From Galadriel’s perspective, the dagger was special because it was Finrod’s, and she viewed it as a symbol of his task—now hers. However, on the boat, we saw a peculiar attachment as she struggled to let it go.
The reason behind this is simple. “The most important truths often are,” said Finrod, but we must learn to discern them for ourselves; J.D. and Patrick will not always be there to speak them to us.
First, we must trace this back to the source.
“Sometimes to find the light, we must first touch the darkness” (Galadriel, 1×05).
Sauron responded to Galadriel here by posing excellent questions, with which we may begin our examination. He knew the answers to each one by this point, which means they were all rhetorical. It would not be the first time he interrogated in this manner.
What did he try to accomplish in the forge, specifically? —He tried to make Galadriel think, which is also what he did in prison.
Referring to the season finale, Charlie Vickers revealed that Sauron wanted Galadriel to discover who he was.
Do you think he wanted Galadriel to figure it out?
Yes. He’s ready for her to see him for who he is, and he thinks she’s ready to know it.
We will return to this idea later. Now that we have established all of Sauron’s questions as rhetorical, let us thoroughly answer each one:
“What do you know of darkness?”
Galadriel first touched the darkness as she mourned over her dead brother, but for her, “touching the darkness” was more than figurative.
“And there, in the darkness, his vow became mine” (Galadriel, 1×01).
Somehow, Sauron already knew about this moment. He prompted the memory for a purpose: to make her stop galloping, and give herself a moment to think. He tried to tell her something in a way that would allow her to discover it for herself.
“Whose dagger was it, Galadriel?”
Sauron knew who first possessed the dagger, but to mention it as a follow-up to, “What do you know of darkness?” is as if to say, “This is what you know of darkness.”
“Who is it you lost?”
Her brother, Finrod Felagund, who was the King of Nargothrond at the time of his death.
“What happened to him?”
“He was killed in a place of darkness and despair, by servants of Sauron. Is that enough for you?” (1×05).
What a wonderful summary, but even Galadriel asked if it was enough. She knew (as well as we), how long it would take to explain. But Sauron requested an explanation, so let us make an attempt.
This is one of the most crucial pieces of information. A gander in The Silmarillion answers Sauron’s question more fully (and oh boy, is it a long one). Let us begin a bit before Beren’s arrival in Nargothrond, for a little background, from Of Beren and Lúthien.
King Thingol loved and cherished his daughter, Lúthien, above all things. When she brought Beren before him, he said in scorn and anger:
“Who are you, that come hither as a thief, and unbidden dare to approach my throne?”
Insults were exchanged, lives were threatened, and at length, Thingol said to Beren:
“Bring to me in your hand a Silmaril from Morgoth’s crown; and then, if she will, Lúthien may set her hand in yours. Then you shall have my jewel; and though the fate of Arda lie within the Silmarils, yet you shall hold me generous.”
Beren laughed and responded:
“For little price do Elven-kings sell their daughters: for gems, and things made by craft. But if this be your will, Thingol, I will perform it. And when we meet again my hand shall hold a Silmaril from the Iron Crown; for you have not looked the last upon Beren son of Barahir.”
Thus, Beren undertook a daunting task, indeed. A while after his departure, he saw Nargothrond afar off, and “being destitute, without hope or counsel, he turned his feet thither.” The Elves of Nargothrond were aware of Beren as he traveled through.
“But knowing his danger he held ever aloft the ring of Felagund; and though he saw no living thing, because of the stealth of the hunters, he felt that he was watched, and cried often aloud: ‘I am Beren son of Barahir, friend of Felagund. Take me to the King!’”
The Elves surrounded him, but spared his life, and bowed to him upon seeing this ring. They led him by night “lest their paths should be revealed […] to the dark gates of their hidden halls.”
Now that the stage has been set, we will momentarily switch gears. In the prologue, Galadriel explained what she thought was Finrod’s vow.
“My brother vowed to seek [Sauron] out and destroy him” (1×01).
This was not Finrod’s true vow, but considering that Galadriel had a habit of assuming things and jumping to conclusions in the first half of season 1, and that she was stricken with intense grief,* it is understandable that her judgment was somewhat clouded at the time of the prologue.
* Sauron had a habit of using these things to his advantage, but we will discuss that later.
Finrod did make a vow, though, which came upon him for his death… just not for the reason that Galadriel thought. But her belief had to come from somewhere.
This part of the story was not changed for the show. It had a purpose. (I do not believe the Tolkien Estate would have allowed something like this for no reason.)
We must rewind to the events of Dagor Bragollach: The Battle of Sudden Flame.
“…King Finrod Felagund, hastening from the south, was cut off from his people and surrounded with small company in the Fen of Serech; and he would have been slain or taken […] but Barahir came up with the bravest of his men and rescued him, and made a wall of spears about him; and they cut their way out of the battle with great loss.
“Thus Felagund escaped, and returned to his deep fortress of Nargothrond; but he swore an oath of abiding friendship and aid in every need to Barahir and all his kin, and in token of his vow he gave to Barahir his ring.”
Of the Ruin of Beleriand and the Fall of Fingolfin
Finrod’s true oath was one of abiding friendship and aid in every need to Barahir and all his kin. The token of his oath was not the dagger, but the ring he gave to Barahir, which was eventually passed down to Aragorn.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the RingThe Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Knowing Finrod’s true vow, let us return to Beren’s arrival in Nargothrond (again, taken from Of Beren and Lúthien).
“Thus Beren came before King Finrod Felagund; and Felagund knew him, needing no ring to remind him of the kin of Bëor and of Barahir. Behind closed doors they sat, and Beren told of the death of Barahir, and of all that had befallen him in Doriath; and he wept, recalling Lúthien and their joy together. But Felagund heard his tale in wonder and disquiet; and he knew that the oath he had sworn was come upon him for his death, as long before he had foretold to Galadriel.”
Finrod: “I won’t always be here to speak them to you.”
Galadriel: “You won’t?” (1×01).
“Behind closed doors they sat.” Finrod’s conversation with Beren was in secret.
Beren, being the son of Barahir, fell under the “kin” category of Finrod’s oath to provide aid in every time of need. Beren’s task was to retrieve a Silmaril from the Iron Crown of Morgoth, and bring it to Thingol, which Finrod knew would spell his (Finrod’s) own death.
“He spoke then to Beren in heaviness of heart. ‘It is plain that Thingol desires your death; but it seems that this doom goes beyond his purpose, and that the Oath of Fëanor is again at work. For the Silmarils are cursed with an oath of hatred, and he that even names them in desire moves a great power from slumber; and the sons of Fëanor would lay all the Elf-kingdoms in ruin rather than suffer any other than themselves to win or possess a Silmaril, for the Oath drives them. And now Celegorm and Curufin are dwelling in my halls; and though I, Finarfin’s son, am King, they have won a strong power in the realm, and lead many of their own people.’”
This next statement is the key.
“‘They have shown friendship to me in every need, but I fear that they will show neither love nor mercy to you, if your quest be told. Yet my own oath holds; and thus we are all ensnared.’”
Finrod essentially said, “If we tell anyone about your task, your life is in jeopardy. If your life is in jeopardy, I must protect you. Revealing the details of your quest would start a war.”
It is interesting that the scene cuts from Finrod’s statement straight to this:
“Then King Felagund spoke before his people, recalling the deeds of Barahir, and his vow; and he declared that it was laid upon him to aid the son of Barahir in his need, and he sought the help of his chieftains.”
Finrod did not say what Beren’s specific need was. Celegorm still repeated the oath of his father (perhaps because a great power was moved from slumber by Thingol mentioning the Silmarils in desire). The following statement shows that if the details of their mission were revealed, the outcome of Finrod’s announcement may have been far worse.
“Then Celegorm arose amid the throng, and drawing his sword he cried: ‘Be he friend or foe, whether demon of Morgoth, or Elf, or child of Men, or any other living thing in Arda, neither law, nor love, nor league of hell, nor might of the Valar, nor any power of wizardry, shall defend him from the pursuing hate of Fëanor’s sons, if he take or find a Silmaril and keep it. For the Silmarils we alone claim, until the world ends.’ And after Celegorm Curufin spoke, more softly but with no less power, conjuring in the minds of the Elves a vision of war and the ruin of Nargothrond.”
Their land was darkened, and the sons of Fëanor (having their hearts darkened) wanted to usurp the throne from Finrod. This may connect to the moment Finrod’s task was put into question for the first time, in the show:
Galadriel: “Your task was hunting Sauron.”
Sauron as Finrod: “My task was to ensure peace” (1×08).
All of this may entail that there was room for rumors to be spread and assumptions to be made as to why Finrod helped Beren. The oath was of abiding friendship; but Galadriel believed it was rooted in vengeance; and Sauron suggested it was to ensure peace when it actually had the potential to start a war.
Threat of treason did not sway Finrod from fulfilling his oath. “I must hold my bond,” he said. He and Beren, with ten very loyal companions set out to complete the task. They came upon a company of Orcs, slew them, and by the arts of Finrod, thoroughly disguised themselves as Orcs. They came “far upon their northward road, and ventured into the western pass, between Ered Wethrin and the highlands of Taur-nu-Fuin. But Sauron in his tower was ware of them, and doubt took him; for they went in haste, and stayed not to report their deeds, as was commanded to all the servants of Morgoth that passed that way. Therefore he sent to waylay them, and bring them before him.”
In other words, Sauron noticed some suspicious activity from these twelve supposed Orcs, and had them brought to him. The contest of the songs of power took place between Finrod and Sauron at this time, and “the King was very great; but Sauron had the mastery.” Finrod lost, Sauron stripped them of their disguises, and “they stood before him naked and afraid.”
What happened to Finrod will be revealed in a few moments. As you read the following, consider why he died.
“But though their kinds were revealed, Sauron could not discover their names or their purposes. He cast them therefore into a deep pit, dark and silent, and threatened to slay them cruelly, unless one would betray the truth to him. From time to time they saw two eyes kindled in the dark, and a werewolf devoured one of the companions; but none betrayed their lord.”
Sauron knew of the existence of Finrod, but he did not know that this particular Elf was the Finrod. One might say that Finrod’s task was one of the most important things in the show, considering Sauron tortured and killed to know it, as well as Finrod’s identity. Even though he never discovered those things, he did see/perceive something.
“In the pits of Sauron Beren and Felagund lay, and all their companions were now dead; but Sauron purposed to keep Felagund to the last, for he perceived that he was a Noldo of great might and wisdom, and he deemed that in him lay the secret of their errand.”
Unfortunately for Sauron, saving Finrod for last meant that Beren would have to go first. This brings us to Finrod’s end.
Finrod died because his identity and the secret of his task were concealed from Sauron. Then, he was bound by an oath.
Here is the long answer to Sauron’s question:
“But when the wolf came for Beren, Felagund put forth all his power, and burst his bonds; and he wrestled with the werewolf, and slew it with his hands and teeth; yet he himself was wounded to the death. Then he spoke to Beren, saying: ‘I go now to my long rest in the timeless halls beyond the seas and the Mountains of Aman. It will be long ere I am seen among the Noldor again; and it may be that we shall not meet a second time in death or life, for the fates of our kindreds are apart. Farewell!’ He died then in the dark, in Tol-in-Gaurhoth, whose great tower he himself had built. Thus King Finrod Felagund, fairest and most beloved of the house of Finwë, redeemed his oath; but Beren mourned beside him in despair.”
