The Sauron Strategies: Footsteps into Failure - Page 3
© Michael Martinez
We can infer from the settlement of Mordor that Sauron had no permanent secure base in the east. He must have had one or more fortresses from which he directed his growing empire, but he apparently believed that he needed to be closer to the westlands in order to devise and implement a new strategy. This strategy was founded upon Sauron's hope of inducing the Eldar to accept him as a teacher and guide. Hence, either he initially populated Mordor with servants not likely to instill alarm in the Eldar, or else he suppressed knowledge of his presence in the region.
Sauron's diplomatic missions to the Eldar appear to have occurred in the brief period of a single year. The entry for 1200 in the Second Age of "The Tale of Years" (Appendix B in The Lord of the Rings) reads: "Sauron endeavors to seduce the Eldar. Gil-galad refuses to treat with him; but the smiths of Eregion are won over." He probably never visited the other Elven realms, where the Eldar were few or had adopted the ways of the less sophisticated Silvan Elves. Clearly, Sauron was going after the heart of Elven power.
Since his objective was to impose an order upon the world (presumably to repair the hurts done by the war in Beleriand, and to eliminate or reduce the chaos which had replaced Morgoth's regime at the end of the First Age), Sauron had to appeal to the Eldar's own innate desire to bring order to the world about them. The Elves, in Tolkien's view, "wanted to have their cake without eating it." Or, more precisely, the Eldar "wanted the peace and bliss and perfect memory of 'The West', and yet to remain on the ordinary earth where their prestige as the highest people, above wild Elves, dwarves, and Men, was greater than at the bottom of the hierarchy of Valinor." (Letter 131)
So, early on, Sauron's own desire to dominate Middle-earth was rivalled by the Eldar's (growing) desire to achieve a similar status. Both Sauron and the Eldar were seeking control, and influence. Rather than pursue an outright war, however, Sauron elected to bring the Eldar into his community through subtrefuge. By appealing to their strengths, he believed he would take advantage of a vulnerability he perceived. Yet, was that vulnerability really there? Could Sauron have succeeded with the Elves?
Probably no more than he did. That is, Sauron seems to have underestimated the Elves' powers of perception and understanding. He did not anticipate the Elven-smiths' awareness of his actions, when he created the One Ring and placed it upon his finger. At that moment, the Elves were aware of him, his true nature and designs, and they removed their Rings. Sauron never had the opportunity to begin influencing them as he had hoped to.
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