Despite not making too many full-bodied appearances in the Lord of the Rings movies, Sauron and his iconic black armor leave a lasting impression, but that doesn’t mean his look stems from J.R.R. Tolkien’s books. Before becoming the eponymous Lord of the Rings, Sauron was the most trusted lieutenant of Morgoth, the original Dark Lord who tried to conquer the known world during the First Age. Much of Sauron’s backstory derives from the lore in The Silmarillion, which recounts the supreme deity, Eru Ilúvatar’s creation of Eä, Tolkien’s universe, as well as Arda, the author’s Earth stand-in. Understanding this lore is crucial to grasping how Sauron rose to power.
The all-powerful creator fashioned primordial beings called Ainur to help guide the growth of Arda. Fifteen Ainur were more powerful than the rest and, while most became known as Valar, one rebelled against their divine mission. Called Melkor, this fallen Valar was the original source of evil in Arda. The lesser Ainur, called Maiar, generally supported the Valar, but a subversive Maia, Sauron, took to aiding Melkor (a.k.a. the newly minted Dark Lord Morgoth). When it comes to Sauron versus Morgoth, the former took quite a bit of inspiration from his villainous liege. In turn, the Lord of the Rings films use that relationship to flesh out Sauron’s iconic look.
Sauron’s Black Armor Is Not Mentioned In Lord Of The Rings
J.R.R. Tolkien never describes Sauron as wearing black armor in the books. In the Second Age, a disguised Sauron commissions the Rings of Power. Later bestowed upon Men, Elves, and Dwarves, these rings have a fatal flaw: they can be controlled by the bearer of the One Ring — the Dark Lord Sauron. In The Fellowship of the Ring‘s prologue, Isildur cuts the One Ring from Sauron, ridding the Dark Lord of his all-powerful corporeal form. This sequence also marks one of the few times viewers glimpse Sauron at the height of his power, which is funny given how many forms Sauron takes in the Lord of the Rings.
During the First and Second Ages, Sauron is a shape-shifting being, though he settles on a form that is “of a man of more than human stature, but not gigantic.” At one point in the books, Gollum describes Sauron as having a “black hand” (and missing finger), though little else is written about the second Dark Lord’s physical appearance. That said, there’s no indication in Tolkien’s writing that Sauron wears the black armor that’s so synonymous with his on-screen appearance. During the Third Age, he’s a shadow of his former self, another instance of Sauron’s Lord of the Rings movie appearance differing from Tolkien’s description.
Why Sauron’s Black Armor Makes Sense In Tolkien’s LOTR Canon
Although Sauron is never described as armored or wearing a spiky, full-face helm, his former liege, Morgoth, is detailed in somewhat similar terms. While viewers have yet to glimpse the height-of-power Sauron in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, his look is clearly borrowed from Morgoth’s canonical appearance. In a canto from the Elvish The Lay of Leithian, J.R.R. Tolkien provides a brief description of Morgoth: “Black-armoured, towering, [and] iron-crowned.” Artist renditions of Morgoth, including some by Tolkien himself, also depict the first Dark Lord in barbed, black armor. These descriptions of Morgoth likely inspired Sauron’s now-definitive look in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Sources: The Lay of Leithian
