LotR: Is Sauron just that big eye?

[GonzoGamer]

Or is there a guy/zombie/demigod type thing living in that tower the eye is on top of at the time the ring was destroyed? I'm not quite clear on that and guys I know who have read everything (and I mean everything) don't seem 100% on it either. The way some describe it, he's like the badguy in Inspector Gadget; just a claw & and eye. I know he had a bunch of forms thruout the history of Middle-earth but at the end, when the ring is destroyed, what form(s) did he have?

 

[BathorysGraveland2]

I believe it's just his spirit. I'm not entirely sure, but from what I learned ages ago, Sauron's physical body was destroyed, but his spirit remained. He needed the Ring to regain a physical form again. Something along those lines. So the eye was his spirit, or at least his spirit was in the tower.

 

[madwarper]

Sauron is a Maiar, and was chief lieutenant of Melkor prior to him being banished for the second and final time by the other Ainur.

Over the years, Sauron took many forms as a shapeshifter. It was only after he poured so much of himself into his one ring and lost possession of said ring, that he lost the ability to maintain his physical form and could only take the form of the lidless eye.

 

[DefunctTheory]

In the movie, it is most definitely Sauron.

In the books, it seems to be part of him, at the very least. It's unclear if Sauron is nothing but a Flamed out eye, or some sort of conglomerate or parts (Including some sort of real body).

 

[Thaluikhain]

Sauron was nearly Kate Winslet. They were going to have her play Sauron and go confront Aragon in the final battle. For no reason.

 

[GonzoGamer]

I read on the Wiki that Kate Winslet was supposed to play the Mouth of Sauron. Certainly more charismatic than Bleeding Lips Ghoul who really played the character. Glad the stuck with the original idea though.

In the movie, it is most definitely Sauron.

In the books, it seems to be part of him, at the very least. It's unclear if Sauron is nothing but a Flamed out eye, or some sort of conglomerate or parts (Including some sort of real body).

Apparently (and this was on the wiki page too) Golem mentions being tortured in front of Sauron who still had the missing finger: once again the Inspector Gadget villain comes to mind. So maybe there is some sort of physical body that is so decrepit it can't leave the tower? Like the Emperor in 40K. Or is he like a ghost? Or just a hand?

 

[Asita]

...Unless I'm very much mistaken, in the books the Eye of Sauron generally isn't presented as an actual physical thing. It's his symbol and an ominous way of referring to Sauron and his attention, but rarely is it referred to as something that is present in any visible form.

 

[DefunctTheory]

...Unless I'm very much mistaken, in the books the Eye of Sauron generally isn't presented as an actual physical thing. It's his symbol and an ominous way of referring to Sauron and his attention, but rarely is it referred to as something that is present in any visible form.

Sam and Frodo see it once in Return of the King. Up until that point, it was used just for symbolism.

 

[Asita]

...Unless I'm very much mistaken, in the books the Eye of Sauron generally isn't presented as an actual physical thing. It's his symbol and an ominous way of referring to Sauron and his attention, but rarely is it referred to as something that is present in any visible form.

Sam and Frodo see it once in Return of the King. Up until that point, it was used just for symbolism.

Hence 'generally' and 'rarely' ;P

 

[Dr. Cakey]

Well there's this...

Perhaps you remember it from the opening scenes of Fellowship of the Ring. Of course, at the end of that he kind of...exploded...?

Jesus, Lord of the Rings is anime as fuck.

Uh, anyway, Sauron is a god/spirit/however you wish to define it, so he can more or less change his form however he wants, to my understanding. Based on what I've skimmed at Tolkien Gateway and the LotR wiki, Tolkien never gave Sauron a design beyond a vague shadowy figure. The armored form that appears in the movie is based on his design for Morgoth.

I don't think that actually answers your question, but...there you go. +1 post count

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

He's a corrupted Maiar in the books, and his form is very much physical. He's never described with much detail, just that he's a shapeshifter and usually dons "beautiful" guises until, not sure why or when, he loses the ability and his form is "terrible" to behold. It's also pointed out he's missing a finger, and his "eye" is given much description as well. So for all intents and purposes he has a physical presence other than a giant floating eye.

Up around LotR timeline he's never described up close or even defined how and what he looks like. The only descriptions are of his eye, when Frodo gazes into Galadriel's mirror and then once Pippin looks into the Palantir. Again, this isn't to say he's just an eye, but that's all we get.

 

[hazabaza1]

Sauron was nearly Kate Winslet. They were going to have her play Sauron and go confront Aragon in the final battle. For no reason.

According to wikipedia it was actually possible the Mouth of Sauron, so that'd be a bit less silly.
But yeah from what I get the Eye is basically the spirit of Sauron until he gets his body back.

EDIT: In the movies at least. Haven't read the books.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Sauron was nearly Kate Winslet. They were going to have her play Sauron and go confront Aragon in the final battle. For no reason.

According to wikipedia it was actually possible the Mouth of Sauron, so that'd be a bit less silly.

Ah, not what I read, but yeah, that'd make more sense.

 

[banthro]

What about when he was chased from Dol Guldur by the White Council during the events of the Hobbit (but shown in Unfinished Tales)? He must have had some kind of form then.

 

[AmrasCalmacil]

Sauron was around in some form as the Necromancer of Dol Guldur, which he remained as for nearly two thousand years, being finally driven out of the fortress sometime after Bilbo passed through, though by this point he was ready to leave and extend his control over Middle Earth.

In the meantime, the Nazgul were destroying the Numenorian Kingdoms, quite possibly under Sauron's will, though they could have been acting on their own.

 

[A Weakgeek]

Sauron was nearly Kate Winslet. They were going to have her play Sauron and go confront Aragon in the final battle. For no reason.

According to wikipedia it was actually possible the Mouth of Sauron, so that'd be a bit less silly.
But yeah from what I get the Eye is basically the spirit of Sauron until he gets his body back.

EDIT: In the movies at least. Haven't read the books.

Ive seen behind the scenes commentary by PJ from the extended edition of LOTR, and they actually DID plan a fight between sauron and aragorn.
Even the epic scene where the eye tries to seduce aragorn was actually leftovers from that original idea. Man did they dodge a bullet by discarding that scene.

 

[ASnogarD]

Should check out the Silmarillion if you are really interested, its a bit disjointed as it is a collection of tales that wasnt fully completed before Tolkien died, his son put them together mostly from Tolkiens notes and draft but did have to fill in some gaps.
Its a very epic read though not as complete as LotR or as polished, its also pretty sad.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Silmarillion)

 

[Angie7F]

I always thought we was like voldemort. He lost his body and did not have enough power to get a full version of it back, so it is just his eye

 

[GonzoGamer]

I always thought we was like voldemort. He lost his body and did not have enough power to get a full version of it back, so it is just his eye

My wife and I were discussing it and she pointed out that it's almost exactly like Voldemort: he put too much of his power in the ring so that when it was destroyed, he was just some powerless evil spirit; the way Gandalf describes a post ring Sauron, it sounds just like the thing under the bench at the astral Kings Cross station.
However it sounds like he did have physical forms between the ring getting chopped off his hand and his return(?) to the tower in Mordor - the necromancer of Mirkwood for example.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Going from the movies he has no form. In the first movie Saruman says "he cannot yet takes physical form, but his spirit has lost none of its potency".

The Eye is probably just a manifestation of his power or something, just like the mouth of Sauron and the Nazgul. He's basically just an ominous evil presence rather than an actual dude.