February 9, 2004

Re: Sauron Vs Valinor
Danny

Who knows if Sauron would have attacked Valinor had he claimed the ring and conqured Middle Earth. I suppose the matter depends on one thing. To my knowledge, we don't know if Sauron held any loyaltie or allegiance to his once master Morgoth. If Sauron was enjoying his time on top so to speak, and wasn't too anxious to be under the rule of Morgoth than I think the answer is a definate no. If Sauron felt as though he was under the mandate of Morgoth still than yes I think he would likely attack Valinor once he conquered Middle earth.

Here is why I think he wouldn't if he felt no allegiance to Morgoth. Sauron was always a clear second in command to Morgoth who was defeated handily in the final battle when Valinor went after him fully. Morgoth was the most powerful Valar, but in the end the combined strength of the other Valar did defeat him. So Sauron would have to know that he was not a match for Valinor. If nothing else, the Valar had shown their ability to handily crush any fleet bearing an army, and Sauron certainly wouldn't have been fool enough to try and take on Valinor without an uncounted host of orcs to help(a host that he knew from personal experience would never have been allowed to sail to Valinor).

The other thing is that Sauron at one time did have the Ring. The Ring did add to his strength, but he was defeated by Elves and Men. Recall that Elves and Men had never succeeded in defeating Morgoth. So to say that Sauron (who even at the peak of his power with the ring was defeated by a weaker alliance of elves and men than ever attacked his master) would have stood a chance against Valinor is crazy. I beleive that Sauron would have been wise enough to know that he couldn't win. The last point in this issue is that Sauron was a Maiar. It is imposible to beleive that one Maiar could overthrow mulitple Valar. It is like saying one tarantula could take on multiple eagles. So I beleive that assuming that Sauron felt no loyalties to Morgoth, he would have left Valinor alone knowing that the conquest would have been beyond him.

If Sauron felt any loyalty to Morgoth still, which I personally doubt, then yes he would have gone on a suicide campaign to free his master and been crushed. In that case the Shadow on Middle Earth would have had an end sooner than had Sauron not done so. Tolkien always talks about Sauron threatening to consume Middle Earth in a darkness that would be unending, so that influences my opinion on what Sauron would have done. I personally beleive that Sauron would be inclined to enjoy his time on top and not been anxious to have a master again, and that he would have been wise enough not to commit suicide by assailing Valinor.