Looking inside the Sauron Project
© Michael Martinez
Sauron has to be one of the most maligned bad guys in the history of modern story-telling. Tolkien wisely kept him off-stage for most of The Lord of the Rings because there is nothing more terrifying than our own greatest fears, and we cook these fears up in our imagination. If JRRT had brought Sauron directly into the story early in The Fellowship of the Ring, surrounded him with lightning bolts and clouds, had dark shadowy valkyries swooping out of the sky, dogs baying on the distant hills, armed men swooning from terror...people probably would have put the book down.
Seriously. Most of the story can be reduced to a simple act of buildup for the great nemesis who turns out to be an impotent shadow at the final confrontation. Stripped of his Ring, Sauron is still able to dominate whole countries. Armies march off to their dooms at his command. Tens of thousands of men willingly sacrifice themselves for no personal gain nor even to defend their homelands. Who is going to invade the Harad, the Riders of Tookland? I don't think so.
The first glimpse of Sauron comes in the fact that he is able to send dark messengers to the Shire to hunt for Baggins. Sadly they can't seem to catch a hobbit on foot even when they've been told explicitly where to find him. The Nazgul are scary upon first inspection, but when you stop and think about it, they really flubbed their mission.
Not to worry, the Lord of the Nazgul had a Plan B in mind just in case the boys in the Shire failed him. He traveled round the countryside between the Shire and Bree-land rousing all the evil creatures, many of which had served him (or Sauron) centuries before. Poor Tom Bombadil was off picking water-lilies instead of minding his proper business, so he missed the first clue that something was afoot. Maybe Goldberry saw the broom fall in the kitchen but Tom had to be warned by Gildor and the Elves to expect company. Then again, he admitted he wasn't master of the Black Riders from the Black Land, so Tom can perhaps be forgiven for missing nine dark guys riding along the road which bounded his country on the south.
Well, in the event, Tom saved the day and foiled Plan B. Neither the Willow nor the Barrow-wight got the Ring, though the wight came close. Very close. If it had had any sense, it wouldn't have wasted time forking up an ancient necromantic ritual but would instead have ripped the Ring from around Frodo's neck and trotted off to the Lord of the Nazgul, who was waiting nearby. This is probably why the US Army Rangers and Seals are told the details of the mission before they stick their necks on the line.
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