The Sauron Strategies: Footsteps into Failure - Page 4
© Michael Martinez
I have often wondered why it took almost 100 years from that point (Second Age 1600) for Sauron to launch the war with the Eldar. It would seem he just sort of waited around, allowing the Eldar and Numenoreans to build up their defenses. But most likely Sauron himself lacked the power to launch a massive campaign against the West. He knew fully well the capabilities of the Eldar. He had fought them in Beleriand, and had witnessed more than one Elven victory against overwhelming numbers.
The 90 years of preparation for war with the Elves would have afforded Sauron time to increase the ranks of his Orc-soldiery, but it would also have provided him with time to learn how to use his Ring to gain better control over his servants. Sauron must have used the One Ring to extend his influence over many peoples at that time, but it is apparent from the aftermath of the war that he did not fully control eastern Middle-earth. He was working with limited resources.
The Orcs had been driven from the northern lands by an alliance of dwarves and Men early in the Second Age. If Mordor was the only region where the Orcs dwelt in the year 1500, they could not have been very numerous. Sauron's preoccupation with the Eldar in Eregion from circa 1200 to 1500 suggests he paid little attention to the Orcs. They may have sustained their numbers but were not permitted to increase to a point where they would become unmanageable. That is, Sauron's strategy at the time did not call for unleashing hordes of Orcs upon the world. We can be reasonably certain of this because he did not launch an immediate invasion of the north in 1600.
If the Orcs required 90 years in which to increase their numbers, would Sauron have utilized that time to make inroads with other peoples? For example, how did he gain the trust of the Gwathuirim, especially those living in Enedwaith and Minhiriath? These Men helped Sauron during the war, but did they simply flock to his banner when he showed up with an army of Orcs, or did he perhaps spend time among them, winning their trust and playing to their fears and resentments. The Gwathuirim felt threatened by the Numenorean settlements and timber industries. The had been raiding Numenorean lands since Anardil (Tar-Aldarion) first built Vinyalonde in the late 800s.
90 years would also have provided Sauron time to scout out the lands east of the Misty Mountains. In The Peoples of Middle-earth, we are told that Sauron overran the lands of the Edainic peoples who dwelt in the Vales of Anduin and east of Greenwood the Great, bringing down their ancient alliance with the Longbeard Dwarves. His objective in launching the war therefore appears to have been to destroy all possible resistance to his rule in Middle-earth. It would not have been sufficient for Sauron to seize Eregion and the Rings of Power. He wanted to eliminate all possible rival powers.
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