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Shhh! It's a Secret Ring! - Page 2

© Michael Martinez

That seems remarkable. Didn't even Gandalf know the full history of the Rings? Well, Gandalf didn't go in for Ring lore until Bilbo came along, so maybe he was still playing catch-up. But one gets the impression that Elrond's story was labelled "Top Secret, Need To Know, and YOU don't need to know!" except for him, Galadriel, and Cirdan (and maybe Celeborn, but everyone knows he was an outsider). When Sauron first approached the Elves in the Second Age many of them were suspicious of him, according to the discarded history of Celeborn and Galadriel published in Unfinished Tales. Galadriel didn't recognize Sauron (who called himself Aulendil in this account, although elsewhere he is said to have taken the name of Annatar). She mistrusted a Maia who suddenly appeared and claimed to be acting in the interests of the Valar. It's interesting that no attempt was made to confirm his story with Valinor. The Numenoreans returned to Middle-earth in SA 600 and Sauron began looking for a few good suckers centuries later. Heck, for that matter, the Eldar should have been able to pray to the Valar for some sort of guidance. So it seems strange to begin with that Aulendil/Annatar's credentials were never checked. Perhaps someone did try to poke around his resume, but maybe there were just so many Maiar that the older Noldor scratched their heads and said, "Well, maybe...." I can't help but think of the mayor in "The Music Man" sending the four town councilmen to find out what the Professor's credentials are, and he turns them into a barbershop quartet. Maybe Sauron was a lot like Robert Preston, especially given the Elves' propensity for song. Maybe Maglor was sent to get the credentials and Sauron asked him why he seemed so depressed and .... The point is, Sauron wiggled his way into Eregion at a time when there were a lot of Elves running around Middle-earth. Gil-galad's kingdom extended from the seashores of Lindon to the Baranduin river. Nandor, Sindar, and Noldor were apparently wandering around the rest of Eriador. Plenty of Noldor and Sindar were living happily in Eregion, trading with the Dwarves, building cities, and doing whatever it is that Elves do. Across the Misty Mountains the Sindar had established two or more kingdoms among the Silvan Elves. And Edhellond was a quiet little corner hideaway south of the Ered Nimrais. It was, all in all, a very Elvish world. Men just happened to be hanging around, but aside from the Numenoreans, Men weren't really doing much.

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