h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Sauron, the Dark Lord of Middle-earth - PR version - A87849238
Author: Gnomon - U151503

Sauron is the main baddy of Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings". I reckon we need an entry on him, although he is already mentioned in A724961 "The Major Villains of 'The Lord of the Rings'".

This entry has been in Peer Review already. The previous conversation is at F22144677?thread=8312673. Any new comments should be made here rather than there.

Am I the only one to get the feeling of déjà vu? Great to see this back in Peer Review – is that all of them back now?

Did we get an answer to whether or not Sauron was once called Thu the Necromancer and/or was once the prince?

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In early stories Sauron was called Thû. He replaced a different character, Tevildo Prince of Cats from an even earler story.

Oh and not all of my previous entries in Peer Review have yet been submitted. You advised me to trickle feed them. And I've been mixing in new ones too.

Would it be worth mentioning that the character of Sauron evolved over time? You mentioned that 'Galadriel grew in importance in Tolkien's mind as time went on' in the entry about Galadriel and the same seems equally true of Sauron. Is it worth a brief mention that a relatively minor cat character was replaced by a Necromancer who was a dead ringer for the Sauron we all know today? Perhaps in a footnote?

I do believe you're more likely to get comments on all your entries if they drip-feed into Peer Review than the 'all at once' approach. Do you feel that it is working?

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Yes it is working. Thank you.

I've added a reference to the name Thû, and a footnote mentioning the alternative version of the story in which Tevildo, Prince of Cats, commanded the island rather than Sauron.

I've re-read this and it looks good – I've nothing further to add.

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Quick question
'Tolkien's world was inhabited by many species of intelligent creature, for example …Eagles. All of these were creatures of flesh and blood and had the power of speech'
It's been a while since I read Tolkein, but do the Eagles actually speak, or do they have their own call-based language?

Just a query - it doesn't actually involve Sauron so it isn't an important point...

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In The Hobbit, many of the birds were able speak. Bilbo spoke with the eagles and an old crow chatted with the dwarves in normal speech. This was a children's book.

In The Lord of the Rings it is not so clear. Gandalf talks with the eagles but he may be doing this using some magic. Nobody else speaks with them.

Another thorough read-through and all I noticed was that a footnote needs a full stop:
'It's not clear exactly what Tolkien means by 'werewolf' here. There are certainly no stories of men turning into wolves. They seem to be just evil wolves like the 'wargs' of The Lord of the Rings'

It's right, though. Although Beorn is a 'skin-changer' who can turn from a bear into a man in 'The Hobbit', while it isn't impossible that Tolkein's werewolves do the same, I can't remember there being any hint that anyone other than Sauron changes form to and from a .

Does it degrade or detract from 'The Lord of the Rings' to know that Sauron was once defeated by a ?

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Full stop added.

I think it is good to know that the enemy is not all-powerfull.

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Good news well done