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The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of the work might consist solely of the title character's name – such as Michael Collins or Othello – or be a longer phrase or sentence – such as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or The Adventures of Tom Sawyer . The title character is commonly – but not necessarily – the protagonist of the story. Narrative works routinely do not have a title character and there is some ambiguity in what qualifies as one.

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73-553: Sauron (pronounced [ˈsaʊrɔn] ) is the title character and the main antagonist of J. R. R. Tolkien 's The Lord of the Rings , where he rules the land of Mordor . He has the ambition of ruling the whole of Middle-earth , using the power of the One Ring , which he has lost and seeks to recapture. In the same work, he is identified as the " Necromancer " of Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit . The Silmarillion describes him as

146-528: A Nazgûl, and Celebrimbor is defeated when forced out of Eltariel and is quickly absorbed by Sauron trapping both of them in the form of a large flaming eye on top of Barad-dûr . Celebrimbor remains trapped as part of the Dark Lord until the One Ring is destroyed, freeing the spirit as Sauron dies. Celebrimbor's Secret is the title of an expansion, part of "The Ring-maker Cycle" series, for The Lord of

219-652: A character in The Lord of the Rings and then had to be inserted into The Silmarillion , leading to multiple changes to his descent. In a c. 1968 version of the story, included in the essay Eldarin Hands, Fingers and Numerals , Celebrimbor was one of the Teleri of Aman, one of the three companions of Galadriel and Celeborn (here made into a Telerin prince Teleporno or Telporno ). Christopher Tolkien noted that his father had mentioned Celebrimbor's descent from Fëanor in

292-569: A god-hero, a ring, dwarves, and a silver hand. The J. R. R. Tolkien Encyclopedia states that Mathew Lyons noted the "Hobbit-like appearance of [Dwarf's Hill]'s mine-shaft holes", and that Tolkien was, according to the Lydney curator Sylvia Jones, extremely interested in the hill's folklore on his stay there. It adds that Helen Armstrong commented that the place inspired "Celebrimbor and the fallen realms of Moria and Eregion ". The scholar of English literature John M. Bowers notes that Celebrimbor

365-568: A new Ring of Power that appears to be free of Sauron's influence and is stated to be equal in power to the nine Rings of the Nazgûl without their corrupting influence. They use their new Ring to take the fight to Sauron with an army of Uruks, with Talion noticing Celebrimbor becoming more aggressive and worn out. Eventually revealed to fully intend to overthrow Sauron rather than destroy him, Celebrimbor ends his bond with Talion and possesses Eltariel to use her to defeat Sauron. Talion survives by becoming

438-503: A pit, a window into nothing. Later, Tolkien writes as if Frodo and Sam really glimpse the Eye directly. The mists surrounding Barad-dûr are briefly withdrawn, and: one moment only it stared out ... as from some great window immeasurably high there stabbed northward a flame of red, the flicker of a piercing Eye ... The Eye was not turned on them, it was gazing north ... but Frodo at that dreadful glimpse fell as one stricken mortally. This raises

511-567: A ring and has donated one-half [its worth] to Nodens. Among those who are called Senicianus do not allow health until he brings it to the temple of Nodens." An old name for the place was Dwarf's Hill, and in 1932 Tolkien, a professional philologist , traced Nodens to the Irish hero Nuada Airgetlám , "Nuada of the Silver-Hand". The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey thought this "a pivotal influence" on Tolkien's Middle-earth, combining as it did

584-460: A seeing stone from Númenor. The White Council of Wizards discovered Sauron, and drove him from Mirkwood. He returned to Mordor, openly declared himself, rebuilt Barad-dûr, and bred armies of large orcs, Uruks . The One Ring, lost in the Anduin, was found by the hobbit Sméagol. The Ring corrupted him. He shunned sunlight and took on the personality of Gollum . He retreated into caves, obsessed with

657-683: A shapeless evil. Sauron eventually reembodied. He concealed himself in Mirkwood as the Necromancer , in the stronghold of Dol Guldur , "Hill of Sorcery". The chief of the Nazgûl, the Witch-king of Angmar , destroyed the northern realm of Arnor. When attacked by Gondor, the Witch-king retreated to Mordor. The Nazgûl captured Minas Ithil, renamed Minas Morgul , and seized its palantír ,

730-726: A sleepless eye that watches and seeks the protagonists also influenced King's epic fantasy series The Dark Tower ; its villain, the Crimson King , is a similarly disembodied evil presence whose icon is also an eye. In the Marvel Comics Universe , the supervillain Sauron , an enemy of the X-Men created in 1969, names himself after the Tolkien character. In the comic series Fables , by Bill Willingham , one character

803-611: A wholly evil will as was possible. Commentators have compared Sauron to the title character of Bram Stoker 's 1897 novel Dracula , and to Balor of the Evil Eye in Irish mythology . Sauron is briefly seen in a humanoid form in Peter Jackson 's film trilogy , which otherwise shows him as a disembodied, flaming Eye. The Ainulindalë explains how the supreme being Eru began the creation with good, immortal, angelic spirits,

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876-540: Is a sort of " damnation -on-earth". Edward Lense, also writing in Mythlore , identifies a figure from Celtic mythology , Balor of the Evil Eye , as a possible source for the Eye of Sauron. Balor's evil eye, in the middle of his forehead, was able to overcome a whole army. He was a leader of the supernatural Fomorians . Lense further compares Mordor to "a Celtic hell ", just as the Undying Lands of Aman resemble

949-452: Is called "The Adversary", an ambiguous figure of immense evil and power believed to be responsible for much of the misfortune in the Fables' overall history. Willingham has stated "The Adversary", in name and in character, was inspired by Sauron. Title character Examples in various media include Figaro in the opera The Marriage of Figaro , Giselle in the ballet of the same name ,

1022-577: Is the Sindarin for "Silver Hand", and that "because the place was known locally as Dwarf's Hill and honeycombed with abandoned mines, it naturally suggested itself as background for the Lonely Mountain and the Mines of Moria." Celebrimbor appears in the 2014 video game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor where he is voiced by Alastair Duncan . In order not simply to copy Peter Jackson's films,

1095-491: Is then further described using the adjective "titular". For example, the title character of Dracula can be referred to as the book's "titular vampire", the title character of Hamlet is the "titular prince of Denmark" , and the title character of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is the "titular wizard". Celebrimbor Celebrimbor ( IPA: [ˌkɛlɛˈbrimbɔr] ) is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien 's legendarium . In Tolkien's stories, Celebrimbor

1168-723: Is voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch . Sauron appears in the form of his eye in the 2017 The Lego Batman Movie voiced by Jemaine Clement . He is one of the many classic villains the Joker frees from the Phantom Zone to run amok in Gotham City . Sauron appears in the merchandise of the Jackson films, including computer and video games. These include The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth II (where he

1241-609: The Ainur . These were the lesser Maiar including Sauron, and the greater Valar . Sauron perceived Eru directly. He was "far higher" than the Maiar who later came to Middle-earth as Wizards . The Vala Melkor rebelled against Eru, starting the evils which Sauron continued. Sauron served Aulë , the smith of the Valar, acquiring much knowledge; he was at first called Mairon ( Quenya : "The Admirable") until he joined Melkor. In Beleriand , he

1314-726: The One Ring , to rule all the others, in Mordor 's volcanic Mount Doom . The Elves detected his influence when he put on the One Ring, and removed their Rings. Enraged, Sauron made war and overran Eregion, killed Celebrimbor, and seized the Seven and the Nine Rings of Power. The Three Rings were secretly entrusted to the Elves Gil-galad , Círdan , and Galadriel . Sauron attacked them. The Elves were saved by an army from Númenor , defeating Sauron. Sauron fortified Mordor and completed

1387-708: The Valar to share his wisdom and skills in ring-craft and jewelry for the benefit of all Middle-earth; but in fact he was the Dark Lord Sauron in disguise. Annatar provided valuable and seemingly benevolent guidance and instruction to Celebrimbor and the smiths of Eregion, and they began making the Rings of Power for the rulers of Middle-earth—seven for the Dwarf-lords and nine for Men . Secretly, without Sauron's knowledge, Celebrimbor also forged three Rings for

1460-451: The Wizard of Oz is the title character, but is a minor supporting character. In the musical Bye Bye Birdie , Conrad Birdie is the title character, while Albert Peterson is the protagonist. In the video game The Legend of Zelda , the title character Princess Zelda is the damsel in distress and Link is her knight in shining armor . The title character need not be the subject of

1533-912: The wholly evil will as is possible ." He explained that, like "all tyrants", Sauron had started out with good intentions but was corrupted by power, and that he "went further than human tyrants in pride and the lust for domination", being in origin an immortal (angelic) spirit. He began as Morgoth's servant; became his representative, in his absence in the Second Age; and at the end of the Third Age actually claimed to be 'Morgoth returned ' ". The classicist J. K. Newman comments that "Sauron's Greek name" makes him "the Lizard", from Ancient Greek σαῦρος (sauros)  'lizard or reptile', and that in turn places Frodo (whose quest destroys Sauron) as "a version of Praxiteles ' Apollo Sauroktonos ", Apollo

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1606-576: The "Eye" because he did not allow his name to be written or spoken, according to Aragorn. The Lord of the Nazgûl threatened Éowyn with torture before the "Lidless Eye" at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Frodo had a vision of the Eye in the Mirror of Galadriel: The Eye was rimmed with fire, but was itself glazed, yellow as a cat's, watchful and intent, and the black slit of its pupil opened on

1679-469: The 1938 novel Rebecca , or Jason Bourne in the 2012 film The Bourne Legacy . Status as the title character has been attributed to named objects, such as the bus in the film and musical Priscilla, Queen of the Desert , or the imaginary 6-foot rabbit Harvey in the play and film of the same name . The general noun phrase "title character" can be replaced with a descriptive noun or phrase which

1752-527: The 2014 video game Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and its 2017 sequel , where he is voiced by Alastair Duncan . In the 2022 television show The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power , he is played by Charles Edwards . Celebrimbor was the son of Curufin, fifth son of Fëanor and Nerdanel, and Fëanor's only known grandchild. Fëanor was the most skilful craftsman of the First Age , forging

1825-690: The Amazon series. The prequel adopts Tolkien's use of both Augustinian and Manichean attitudes to evil. The Eye of Sauron is mentioned in The Stand , a 1978 post-apocalyptic novel written by Stephen King . The villain Randall Flagg possesses an astral body in the form of an "Eye" akin to the Lidless Eye. The novel itself was conceived by King as a "fantasy epic like The Lord of the Rings , only with an American setting". The idea of Sauron as

1898-555: The Celtic Earthly Paradise of Tír na nÓg in the furthest (Atlantic) West; and Balor "ruled the dead from a tower of glass". The Tolkien scholar Verlyn Flieger writes that if there was an opposite to Sauron in The Lord of the Rings , it would not be Aragorn, his political opponent, nor Gandalf, his spiritual enemy, but Tom Bombadil , the earthly Master who is entirely free of the desire to dominate and hence cannot be dominated. In film versions of The Lord of

1971-550: The Dark Tower of Barad-dûr . He distributed the Seven and the Nine Rings to lords of Dwarves and Men. Dwarves would not submit, but he enslaved Men as the feared Nazgûl . Orcs, Trolls , Easterlings and men of Harad became his servants. Toward the end of the Second Age, Númenor sought to colonize Middle-earth. Led by Ar-Pharazôn, a massive army sailed to Middle-earth to battle Sauron. Dismayed by Númenor's might, Sauron surrendered, hoping to corrupt Númenor from within. With

2044-521: The Doctor in the TV series Doctor Who , Dr. Gregory House of the TV series House , Harry Potter in the series of novels and films , and Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet in the play Romeo and Juliet . There is no formal, prescriptive definition of a title character or title role , but there are general standards accepted by tradition. The title character need not be literally named in

2117-826: The Downfall ; they founded the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor in Middle-earth. Sauron returned to Mordor and made war on these Exiles. He captured Minas Ithil; Elendil's son Isildur escaped down the Anduin. Anárion defended Osgiliath and drove Sauron's forces back to the mountains. Elendil, Isildur and Anárion formed the Last Alliance with the Elves and defeated Sauron at Dagorlad . They invaded Mordor and besieged Barad-dûr for seven years. Finally, Sauron came out to fight face-to-face, killing Elendil and Gil-galad; Elendil's sword Narsil broke beneath him. Isildur took up

2190-554: The Downfall of Númenor was hideous, "an image of malice and hatred made visible". Isildur recorded that Sauron's hand "was black, and yet burned like fire". Throughout The Lord of the Rings , "the Eye" (known by other names, including the Red Eye, the Evil Eye, the Lidless Eye, the Great Eye) is the image most often associated with Sauron. Sauron's Orcs bore the symbol of the Eye on their helmets and shields, and referred to him as

2263-476: The Elves, the greatest and fairest of the Rings of Power. The three Rings were thus free of Sauron's corrupting influence. At the same time, Sauron secretly forged a ring: the One Ring which would enable him to rule Middle-earth. Later Sauron reassumed his role as the Dark Lord and placed the One Ring on his finger, claiming dominion over all the Rings of Power and their bearers. Before this, Celebrimbor believed Sauron to be what he had claimed to be, but realising

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2336-536: The Lizard-killer. Gwenyth Hood, writing in Mythlore , compares Sauron to Count Dracula from Bram Stoker 's 1897 novel Dracula . In her view, both of these monstrous antagonists seek to destroy, are linked to powers of darkness, are parasitical on created life, and are undead . Both control others psychologically and have "hypnotic eyes". Control by either of them represents "high spiritual terror" as it

2409-477: The Nine and the Seven were held, but he would not reveal the whereabouts of the three Elvish Rings. Sauron captured the lesser rings and used them as instruments of evil in later years, particularly against Men. Celebrimbor died from his torment; his body, shot with arrows, was then hung upon a pole and used by Sauron's forces like a banner on the battlefield. Like Galadriel and Gil-galad, Celebrimbor first appeared as

2482-469: The One Ring, Sauron soon dominated the Númenóreans, undermining Númenor's religion, and inciting the island to worship Melkor with human sacrifice . Sauron convinced Ar-Pharazôn to attack Aman by sea to steal immortality from the Valar. The Valar appealed to Eru, who destroyed Númenor . Sauron's body was destroyed and he lost the ability to appear beautiful. Led by Elendil , nine ships escaped from

2555-672: The Ring was. Sauron sent the Nazgûl to pursue Frodo, but he escaped to Rivendell , where Elrond convened a council. It determined that the Ring should be destroyed in Mount Doom by the Company of the Ring . Saruman attempted to capture the Ring, but he was defeated. The palantír of Orthanc fell into the hands of the Company; Aragorn , Isildur's descendant and heir to the throne of Gondor, used it to show himself to Sauron as if he held

2628-462: The Ring, his "Precious". The Ring slipped from him and was picked up by Bilbo Baggins . Gollum attempted to murder Bilbo and reclaim the Ring, but Bilbo escaped when the Ring slipped onto his finger. Many years later, Gandalf identified Bilbo's ring, now passed down to his cousin Frodo , as Sauron's One Ring. He tasked Frodo with taking the Ring to Rivendell. Sauron tortured Gollum and discovered where

2701-608: The Ring. Sauron, troubled, attacked Minas Tirith prematurely. His army was destroyed at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields . Frodo entered Mordor through the pass of Cirith Ungol . Aragorn diverted Sauron's attention with an attack on the Black Gate of Mordor. Frodo reached Mount Doom, but claimed the Ring for himself, revealing the Ring to Sauron. Gollum seized the Ring and fell into the Cracks of Doom, destroying it and himself. Sauron

2774-632: The Rings , Sauron has been left off-screen as "an invisible and unvisualizable antagonist" as in Ralph Bakshi 's 1978 animated version , or as a disembodied Eye, as in Rankin/Bass 's 1980 animated adaptation of The Return of the King . In the 2001–2003 film trilogy directed by Peter Jackson , Sauron is voiced by Alan Howard . He is briefly shown as a large humanoid figure clad in spiky black armour, portrayed by Sala Baker , but appears only as

2847-536: The Terrible few could endure" even before his body was lost in the War of the Last Alliance. In the draft text of the climactic moments of The Lord of the Rings , "the Eye" stands for Sauron's very person, with emotions and thoughts: The Dark Lord was suddenly aware of him [Frodo], the Eye piercing all shadows ... Its wrath blazed like a sudden flame and its fear was like a great black smoke, for it knew its deadly peril,

2920-503: The actions of its subordinates", with the result that he becomes "truly unforgettable ... vaster, bolder and more terrifying through his absence than he could ever have been through his presence". He was initially able to change his appearance at will, but when he became Morgoth's servant, he took a sinister shape. In the First Age, the outlaw Gorlim was ensnared and brought into "the dreadful presence of Sauron", who had daunting eyes. In

2993-470: The appendices to The Lord of the Rings , and had underlined it in one of his personal copies, writing in the margin a note stating that Celebrimbor was Curufin's son, and that if he had remembered this he would have felt bound to retain that version. A different version, in the late essay Of Dwarves and Men , has Celebrimbor as one of the Sindar who claimed descent from Daeron, and at one point, Celebrimbor

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3066-408: The battle with Huan , the hound of Valinor, Sauron took the form of a werewolf. Then he assumed a serpent-like form, and finally changed back "from monster to his own accustomed [human-like] form". He took on a beautiful appearance at the end of the First Age to charm Eönwë , near the beginning of the Second Age when appearing as Annatar to the Elves, and again near the end of the Second Age to corrupt

3139-539: The book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland , Robinson Crusoe in the book of the same name or Jean-Luc Picard in the TV series Star Trek: Picard ; but can be a non-fictional dramatization, such as Annie Oakley in the musical Annie Get Your Gun , Erin Brockovich in the film of the same name , or Thomas More in the play A Man for All Seasons . Although it is common for the title character to be

3212-549: The cats were changed to wolves or werewolves, with Sauron becoming the Lord of Werewolves. Before the 1977 publication of The Silmarillion , Sauron's origins and true identity were unclear to those without access to Tolkien's notes. In 1968, the poet W. H. Auden conjectured that Sauron might have been one of the Valar. Tolkien stated in his Letters that although he did not think "Absolute Evil" could exist as it would be "Zero", "in my story Sauron represents as near an approach to

3285-449: The chief lieutenant of the first Dark Lord , Morgoth . Tolkien noted that the Ainur , the " angelic " powers of his constructed myth, "were capable of many degrees of error and failing", but by far the worst was "the absolute Satanic rebellion and evil of Morgoth and his satellite Sauron". Sauron appears most often as "the Eye", as if disembodied. Tolkien, while denying that absolute evil could exist, stated that Sauron came as near to

3358-473: The defeat of Sauron's captains, Celebrimbor describes defeating Sauron himself as futile and wishes to depart for Valinor , but is convinced to stay by Talion; he then mentions his desire to forge a new Ring of Power immune to Sauron's influence. This leads to the events of the 2017 sequel Middle-earth: Shadow of War , which reviewers described as "fun, inventive, exciting—and totally non-canonical". In Shadow of War , Celebrimbor and Talion successfully forge

3431-554: The disembodied Eye throughout the rest of the storyline. In earlier versions of Jackson's script, Sauron does battle with Aragorn, as shown in the extended DVD version of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King . The scene was removed as too large a departure from Tolkien's text and was replaced with Aragorn fighting a troll. Sauron appears as the Necromancer in Jackson's The Hobbit film adaptations , where he

3504-539: The early days of Eregion, Celebrimbor fostered the relationship with Khazad-dûm (Moria), the neighbouring Dwarf -kingdom. He became friends with Narvi, a great Dwarf-craftsman, and together they made the West-gate of Khazad-dûm. Celebrimbor's special contribution was the inscriptions on the gateway. Later, someone naming himself Annatar arrived in Eregion . He appeared to be an Elf, and claimed he has been sent by

3577-523: The films Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster or Smokey and the Bandit . In the novel and TV series Shogun , the feudal lord Toranaga is the title character, but the protagonist is John Blackthorne . In the 2003 revival of August Wilson 's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom , Whoopi Goldberg had the title role of Ma Rainey, but the lead was Charles S. Dutton as Levee. In The Wonderful Wizard of Oz ,

3650-414: The game's makers Monolith Productions decided to combine a minor but significant Middle-earth character from The Silmarillion , Celebrimbor, with an original character of their own invention, Talion. The game takes place sometime between the action of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings at which time Celebrimbor survives as an amnesiac wraith. After being bonded with Talion (a ranger of Gondor )

3723-406: The hilt-shard and cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand, vanquishing Sauron. Isildur refused to destroy the Ring by casting it into Mount Doom, but kept it for his own. Isildur was ambushed by Orcs at the Gladden Fields . Isildur put on the Ring and attempted to escape by swimming across Anduin , but the Ring slipped from his finger. Isildur was killed by Orc archers. Sauron spent a thousand years as

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3796-518: The late Roman temple of Nodens at Lydney Park in Gloucestershire . The inscription recorded a curse upon a ring; the place was named "Dwarf's Hill"; and he traced Nodens to an Irish hero, Nuada Airgetlám , "Nuada of the Silver-Hand". This combination inspired him to create Celebrimbor (whose name means "Silver-Hand" in Tolkien's invented language of Sindarin ), dangerous Rings, and Dwarves skilled in craftsmanship and friendly to Celebrimbor as elements in his fantasy. Celebrimbor appears in

3869-410: The later city in Gondor) on the isle of Tol Sirion. Lúthien came there to save her lover, the imprisoned Beren , with Huan the Wolfhound. Sauron, as a werewolf , battled Huan, who took him by the throat; he was defeated and left as a huge vampire bat . Lúthien destroyed the tower and rescued Beren. Eärendil eventually sailed to Valinor, and the Valar moved against Morgoth in the War of Wrath ; he

3942-430: The men of Númenor. He appeared then "as a man, or one in man's shape, but greater than any even of the race of Númenor in stature ... 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." After the destruction of his fair form in the fall of Númenor, Sauron always took the shape of a terrible dark lord. His first incarnation after

4015-486: The passage anew." Since the earliest versions of the Silmarillion legendarium , as detailed in the History of Middle-earth series, Sauron underwent many changes. The prototype or precursor Sauron-figure was a giant monstrous cat, the Prince of Cats. Called Tevildo , Tifil and Tiberth among other names, this character played the role later taken by Sauron in the earliest version of the story of Beren and Tinúviel in The Book of Lost Tales in 1917. The Prince of Cats

4088-485: The protagonist, it is not unusual for the principal antagonist or a key secondary character to be named in the title instead. Examples of titular antagonists include Sauron in the book and film series The Lord of the Rings , Count Dracula in Bram Stoker 's Dracula , or Francisco Scaramanga and Julius No in the James Bond novels and films The Man with the Golden Gun and Dr. No ,. The protagonist and antagonist can arguably both be title characters, as in

4161-424: The question of whether an "Eye" was Sauron's actual manifestation, or whether he had a body beyond the Eye. Gollum (who was tortured by Sauron in person) tells Frodo that Sauron has, at least, a "Black Hand" with four fingers. The missing finger was cut off when Isildur took the Ring, and the finger was still missing when Sauron reappeared centuries later. Tolkien writes in The Silmarillion that "the Eye of Sauron

4234-438: The second season as Annatar (a canonical alias of Sauron), both played by Charlie Vickers . The Halbrand persona was conceived to make the audience share the feeling of being deceived by Sauron, and to ensure he would not overshadow other characters. Afterwards, he would be allowed to function like other classic TV villains (such as Walter White or Tony Soprano ), or Lucifer in John Milton 's Paradise Lost . Vickers said he

4307-426: The thread upon which hung its doom ... [I]ts thought was now bent with all its overwhelming force upon the Mountain..." Christopher Tolkien comments: "The passage is notable in showing the degree to which my father had come to identify the Eye of Barad-dûr with the mind and will of Sauron, so that he could speak of 'its wrath, its fear, its thought'. In the second text ... he shifted from 'its' to 'his' as he wrote out

4380-423: The three Silmarils to capture some of the light of the Two Trees of Valinor . Celebrimbor followed his father and grandfather to Middle-earth, leaving his mother behind in Aman with Finarfin 's people. He repudiated his father when Celegorm and Curufin were driven out of Nargothrond . During the Second Age , Celebrimbor lived in the Elvish realm of Eregion and founded a brotherhood of jewel-smiths. From

4453-449: The time Elves awoke, Sauron was Melkor's lieutenant with command over the stronghold of Angband . The Valar made war on Melkor and captured him, but Sauron escaped. He hid, repaired Angband, and bred an army of Orcs . Melkor, now called Morgoth, murdered Finwë, King of the Noldor, and escaped to Middle-earth with the Silmarils , pursued by the Noldor. Sauron directed the war against the Elves, conquering their fortress of Minas Tirith (not

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4526-511: The title in a strict grammatical sense: Uncle Tom is considered the title character of Uncle Tom's Cabin and Lee Marvin is often described as playing the title character in the film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance , as his character (Liberty Valance) is named in the title, even though the grammatical subject of the title is the person who shot him. The concept of title character may be interpreted to include unseen characters , such as Godot in Waiting for Godot , Rebecca de Winter in

4599-415: The title, but may be referred to by some other identifying word or phrase, such as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit , Simba in The Lion King , Aang in Avatar: The Last Airbender , Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland or more vaguely, as in the play An Ideal Husband , which ostensibly refers to the character Sir Robert Chiltern. A title character is typically fictional, such as Alice in

4672-402: The truth he and the Elves of Eregion defied Sauron by withholding the other rings from him. He had already sent the three Rings away for safekeeping. With his scheme exposed to the Elves, Sauron retaliated by attacking Eregion, initiating the War of the Elves and Sauron, and laying waste to the realm. Celebrimbor was captured in the sack of Eregion, and was forced under torture to disclose where

4745-477: The two become an immortal fighting team unable to leave Mordor . Over the game, Celebrimbor lends his abilities as a wraith to Talion, and the two recover Celebrimbor's lost memories of Sauron and the forging of the Rings of Power: Sauron comes to Celebrimbor to give him a powerful hammer to forge the rings. Then Celebrimbor is betrayed by Sauron, forced to inscribe the incantation in the One Ring, and tortured and beaten to death by Sauron after an attempted coup. After

4818-426: Was also one of the Noldor of Gondolin . Celebrimbor was of the royal line of Finwë , high king of the Noldor , the elves especially skilled in craftwork who migrated to Valinor and lived in the blessed realm. In 1928, a 4th-century pagan cult temple was excavated at Lydney Park , Gloucestershire. Tolkien was asked to investigate a Latin inscription there: "For the god Nodens . Silvianus has lost

4891-419: Was an elven -smith who was manipulated into forging the Rings of Power by the Dark Lord Sauron , in fair disguise and named Annatar ("Lord of Gifts"). Sauron then secretly made the One Ring to gain control over all the other Rings and dominate Middle-earth , setting in motion the events of The Lord of the Rings . Tolkien, as a professional philologist , had been asked to translate an inscription at

4964-439: Was called Gorthu ("Mist of Fear") and Gorthaur ("The Cruel") in Sindarin . Sauron was drawn to Melkor's power, as he hated disorder. Sauron became a spy for Melkor on the isle of Almaren , the Valar's home. Melkor soon destroyed Almaren; the Valar moved to Valinor , not perceiving Sauron's treachery. Sauron followed Melkor to Middle-earth , and openly joined the Valar's enemy. Sauron helped Melkor in every kind of deceit. By

5037-425: Was cast into the Outer Void beyond the world, but again Sauron escaped. About 500 years into the Second Age , Sauron reappeared, intent on taking over Middle-earth. To seduce the Elves into his service, Sauron assumed a fair appearance as Annatar , "Lord of Gifts" and befriended Celebrimbor 's Elven-smiths of Eregion . He taught them arts and magic, helping them to forge the Rings of Power . Sauron secretly forged

5110-400: Was later replaced by Thû , the Necromancer. The name was then changed to Gorthû , Sûr , and finally to Sauron. Gorthû , in the form Gorthaur, remained in The Silmarillion ; both Thû and Sauron name the character in the 1925 Lay of Leithian . The story of Beren and Lúthien also features the heroic hound Huan and involved the subtext of cats versus dogs in its earliest form. Later

5183-474: Was unaware of his character's true identity until filming the third episode . He admitted he began to suspect when lines from John Milton 's Paradise Lost , a narrative poem about the biblical story of the fall of man , were used during an audition. Jack Lowden portrays the character's First Age and early Second Age form in flashback in the second season premiere . The depiction of evil in Arda as embodied in Sauron shifts both in Tolkien's writings and in

5256-484: Was utterly defeated, and vanished from Middle-earth. Tolkien never described Sauron's appearance in detail, though he painted a watercolour illustration of him. Sarah Crown, in The Guardian , wrote that "we're never ushered into his presence; we don't hear him speak. All we see is his influence". She called it "a bold move, to leave the book's central evil so undefined – an edgeless darkness given shape only through

5329-649: Was voiced by Fred Tatasciore ), The Lord of the Rings: Tactics , and The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age . In the Lord of the Rings Online game, he is featured as an enemy. Sauron's rise to power in the Second Age is portrayed in the Amazon prequel series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power . He first appears disguised as the non-canonical human character Halbrand, and then in

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