September 11, 2006

Sauron's Goodwill Ambassador
Everett

Who did Sauron send to Dain with his offer? Let's take a look at the book.

Gloin's account at the Council of Elrond is as follows:

"Then about a year ago a messenger came to Dain, but not from Moria- from Mordor: a horseman in the night, who called Dain to his gate. The Lord Sauron the Great, so he said, wished for our friendship. Rings he would give for it, such as he gave of old.. And he asked urgently concerning hobbits, of what kind they were and where they dwelt. "For Sauron knows,' said he, 'that one of these was known to you on a time.'

"At this we were greatly troubled, and we gave no answer. And then his fell voice was lowered, and he would have sweetened it if he could. 'As a small token of your friendship Sauron asks this', he said: 'that you should find this thief,' such was his word, 'and get from him, willing or no, a little ring, the least of rings, that once he stole. It is but a trifle that Sauron fancies, and an earnest of your good will. Find it, and three rings that the Dwarf-sires possessed of old shall be returned to you, and the realm of Moria shall be yours forever. Find only news of the thief, whether he still lives and where, and you shall have great reward and lasting friendship from the Lord. Refuse, and thigs will not seem so well. Do you refuse?'

"At this, his breath came like the hiss of snakes, and all who stood by shuddered, but Dain said: 'I say neither yea nor nay. I must consider this message and what it means under its fair cloak.'

"'Consider well, but not too long," said he.

"'The time of my thought is my own to spend,' answered Dain.
"'For the present,' said he, and he rode into the darkness."

Now, here's an excerpt from Farmer Maggot's encounter with Khamul.

"'I come from yonder,' he said, slow and stiff-like, pointing back west, over my fields, if you please. 'Have you seen Baggins?' he asked in a queer voice, and bent down towards me. I could not see any face, for his hood fell down so low; and I felt a sort of shiver down my back. But I did not see why he should come riding over my land so bold. . . .

"He gave a sort of hiss. It might have been laughing, and it might not."

In each incident, the speaker hisses (or something similar) and is able to send a shudder through those to whom he is speaking with his voice. At no point does the Mouth of Sauron do either of these things in his encounter with Aragron, Gandalf, Pippin, Legolas, and Gimli. Now, correlation does not imply causality, and the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence, but Sauron's messenger to the Lonely Mountain bears greater resemblence to Khamul (the number two Ringwraith) than to the Mouth of Sauron. Thus, the only positive evidence available indicates that the messenger Sauron sent was a Ringwraith. The case is strengthened by the fact that it was at about this time that Sauron sent the Nine abroad to search for the Ring. Additionally, the Ringwraiths are Sauron's most trusted servants. There is no reason to believe that the Mouth of Sauron, should the Ring come into his possession, would not attempt to use the Ring himself and attempt to gain mastery of Middle Earth.

Simply put, it is extremely unlikely that the Mouth of Sauron was sent to the Lonely Mountain in an attempt to buy the Ring from the Dwarves. Most liekly, it was one of the Ringwraiths.