The Maiar, of all the characters in J.R.R. Tolkien‘s legendarium, are perhaps the most fascinating and least expanded upon. The Maiar exist throughout Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings—Gandalf the Grey (Sir Ian McKellan), Saruman (Christopher Lee), and even the Balrog are all Maia that reside in Middle-earth—but you wouldn’t be aware of this unless you’ve already thumbed through The Silmarillion, a companion and effective prequel to The Lord of the Rings. According to The Silmarillion, the Maiar were created by Eru Ilúvatar (the God of Tolkien’s Middle-earth) to help the Valar shape the world. Similar to angels in Christian theology, the Maiar were spiritual beings that could take on physical forms as needed. Though they were created as lesser than the Valar, they were still influential in their own right, and the most powerful of the Maiar was Sauron (Charlie Vickers), the Second Dark Lord and Lord of the Rings.
Though Sauron is the Big Bad in The Lord of the Rings novel, Peter Jackson‘s trilogy of films, and The Rings of Power, we’re not treated to much of his backstory in any iteration of Tolkien’s high fantasy epic. Likely owing to the influence of Tolkien’s devout Christianity, Sauron’s fall from grace as a Maiar mirrors Lucifer’s fall from heaven. Like Lucifer among the fallen angels, Sauron became the most powerful of all the Maiar, but how did this happen? How was Sauron corrupted, and what gave him the power to oppose any and all of the Maiar?
Sauron Went From Aulë’s Disciple to Morgoth’s Lieutenant
In what Tolkien describes in The Silmarillion as the Days Before Days, Sauron’s first name was Mairon. The future Lord of the Rings was described as good and noble, particularly fond of order and perfection. Known also as a great craftsman, Sauron was originally a Maia under the tutelage of Aulë, the Vala of craftsmanship, smithing, and order. This would have been all well and good for another Maia, but Sauron had an innate need to expand his power quickly, and so he turned to Morgoth, the Fallen Vala and first Dark Lord. The Silmarillion describes Morgoth, among all other Valar, as having “been given the greatest gifts of power and knowledge,” and Sauron grew his power immensely after allying with Morgoth, absorbing the Vala’s knowledge of sorcery, domination, and war on a scale that no other Maia ever achieved.
Sauron was chief spy and lieutenant to Morgoth, who sought control over all of creation so that he could remake the world in his own image. As the two waged war against the Valar and all who opposed them, Sauron learned from his master’s ability to use illusion and fear to manipulate others. Sauron became a powerful shapeshifter and master of manipulation, understanding that fear and control over minds could be just as effective as brute force, making him the greatest threat to Middle-earth after his master’s fall in the First Age.
The One Ring Was the Key to Sauron’s Power
Sauron’s training with Aulë instilled in him skills that would help him forge the One Ring and corrupt most of the Rings of Power in the Second Age, and it is the Ring that truly set Sauron apart from the other Maiar. No other Maia had possession of anything that remotely rivaled the power of the One Ring, and by forging it, Sauron granted himself the ability to exert his will across Middle-earth, allowing him to dominate the minds of others and corrupt powerful leaders. The Ring also gave Sauron control over the other Rings of Power, which is what allowed him to corrupt the Nine Kings of Men, who became the Ringwraiths we see in The Lord of the Rings.
Sauron poured his spirit into the One Ring, and bound his power to the Ring as he forged it, granting the Dark Lord another huge advantage over the Maiar. Where other Maiar could be permanently destroyed, or at least severely weakened, Sauron’s spirit could endure as long as the Ring existed. This is why, after his physical body was destroyed during the War of the Last Alliance, Sauron was able to return centuries later. Think of the Harry Potter series’ Voldemort and his horcruxes — while the One Ring existed, Sauron could never truly die.
Other Maiar—like Gandalf and Saruman—Weren’t Equipped to Rival Sauron
As Sauron recovered his strength in the Third Age, following his physical downfall in the War of the Last Alliance, the Valar sent five Maia to Middle-earth to rally its inhabitants against the Dark Lord. They became known as the Istari, and among them were some familiar faces: Gandalf (Daniel Weyman), Saruman, and Radagast the Brown (Sylvester McCoy). Though they were Maiar, as Sauron was, their abilities were vastly limited. The Istari were sent to guide the people of Middle-earth, not rule them, and so were given human bodies that were subject to age, frailty, and—in Saruman’s case—corruption. While they were skilled in magic, Sauron’s experience with Morgoth made him uniquely gifted in sorcery and shapeshifting—though he lost this power after the downfall of Númenor—and the Istari’s human bodies limited access to their full powers.
Put simply, Sauron was never like the other Maiar. Where many Maiar followed moral codes or abided by the Valar’s restrictions, Sauron’s natural love of order and perfection meant he sought control and pursued power with a pretty unwavering focus. Sauron’s superiority among the Maiar was ultimately a combination of natural talent, cunning, relentless ambition, and the eventual creation of the One Ring. Sauron’s pursuit of power made him the greatest force of evil in Middle-earth after Morgoth’s fall, which is what ultimately earned him the title of Second Dark Lord and Lord of the Rings.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
- Release Date
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September 1, 2022
- Network
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Amazon Prime Video
- Showrunner
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John D. Payne, Patrick McKay, Louise Hooper, Charlotte Brändström, Wayne Yip
- Writers
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Patrick McKay, John D. Payne, J.R.R. Tolkien, Justin Doble, Jason Cahill, Gennifer Hutchison, Stephany Folsom, Nicholas Adams
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