Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to Mythic Mind, where we pursue wisdom
Speaker 1: on the path between primary secondary worlds. I'm doctor Andrew Snyder,
Speaker 1: and I'm glad that you're here. Hello, Welcome back. As
Speaker 1: we continue through the Lord of the Ring series that
Speaker 1: I ran in the beginning of twenty twenty five, today
Speaker 1: we're going to be taking a focused look on the
Speaker 1: character of Suron, and so I hope you enjoy it.
Speaker 1: Many casual fans of Tolkien assume that Saluron is the
Speaker 1: greatest villain a Tolkien story, but that title actually goes
Speaker 1: to his former master, Morgoth, although, aside from brief references,
Speaker 1: more god does not appear in the Lord of the Rings. However,
Speaker 1: understanding a bit about this original villain will shed some
Speaker 1: light on the nature of evil in the character of Sauran.
Speaker 1: Before he was known as Morgoth, which means something like
Speaker 1: dark enemy, he was Melchor the Vala. The Valar are
Speaker 1: the angelic like figures that were created to serve the
Speaker 1: good designs of Eru Alluvatar, the monotheistic god of Tolkien's mythos.
Speaker 1: The original form of the material world was framed through
Speaker 1: the singing of the Valar. Or perhaps the einor more broadly,
Speaker 1: who harmonize in recognition of Alluvatar's goodness. In their recognition
Speaker 1: of divine honor, beauty abounded, and all things flourished around
Speaker 1: the goodness, the truth, and the beauty of Eru Alluvatar. However,
Speaker 1: Melcor was not content with his station, and instead decided
Speaker 1: to introduce his own themes into the song, attempting to
Speaker 1: bend the music toward himself rather than toward Alluvatar. Thus,
Speaker 1: the first disharmony in the story the first Evil is
Speaker 1: explicitly portrayed as an attempt to seize divine honor.
Speaker 2: From that point forward, Melkor, later named Morgoth by the Elves,
Speaker 2: would continue to so disharmony in suffering throughout the otherwise
Speaker 2: good world. Sauran or Myron, as he was originally named,
Speaker 2: belongs to a class of beings that Tolkien calls the Mayar,
Speaker 2: which are something like lesser angels that serve the Valar.
Speaker 2: The Mayar include countless other superhuman characters, including wizards such
Speaker 2: as Gandolf and Saraman, and even the Balrons, the most
Speaker 2: famous of which pulled Gandalf off the bridge of Kasadum
Speaker 2: along with other creative beings. Sauron was originally good, and
Speaker 2: he served a lay the vala most concerned with craftsmanship. This,
Speaker 2: of course, will be important when it comes time for
Speaker 2: Suron to do some crafting of his own. Early in
Speaker 2: this prehistory, Sauron was seduced into the service of Morgoth
Speaker 2: and became one of his chief lieutenants. Despite this cosmic rebellion,
Speaker 2: he was not wholly without virtue, as Tolkien tells us
Speaker 2: that in all the deeds of Melkor and Morgoth upon Arda,
Speaker 2: in his vast works, and in the deceits of his cunning,
Speaker 2: Saron had a part, and was only less evil than
Speaker 2: his master, in that for long he served another and
Speaker 2: not himself. Serving the villainous Morgoth was not a great move,
Speaker 2: but surn was at least willing to humble himself beneath something,
Speaker 2: and that is better than nothing. Service always has the
Speaker 2: potential to be re ordered, but rejecting service altogether leaves
Speaker 2: you with nothing but isolation and out of harmony with
Speaker 2: the great dance of the cosmos. Furthermore, Suron had a
Speaker 2: desire for order, which continued even after the defeat of Morgoth.
Speaker 2: Service and order are good things, but as with all
Speaker 2: good things, they become bad things when they are removed
Speaker 2: from the proper context. Without an understanding as to what
Speaker 2: makes order good, such a desire, even if well intended,
Speaker 2: can easily turn into tyranny that at best mimics true peace.
Speaker 2: The First Age of Middle Earth came to a close
Speaker 2: when elves, men, and even the val are assembled to
Speaker 2: defeat Morgoth and cast him into the void. Sauran escaped
Speaker 2: the fate of his master, and for a time he
Speaker 2: appeared to be repentant, at the very least out of fear. However,
Speaker 2: he was too ashamed to turn himself over for judgment,
Speaker 2: and so instead he slipped back into the rebellion of
Speaker 2: his former master by isolating himself from the goodness that
Speaker 2: could have secured his redemption. Desiring freedom, he rejected the
Speaker 2: very means of gaining freedom to live in harmony with
Speaker 2: his design, which is another way of saying that he
Speaker 2: refused the hard path of virtue. Taking up Morgoth's mantle.
Speaker 2: Sauron would become the great villain from this point until
Speaker 2: the conclusion of the Lord of the Rings. During the
Speaker 2: Second Age, Sauron was moved by the desolation of the
Speaker 2: world that had taken place in the Great War against Morgoth.
Speaker 2: So his desire for order again moved him to action
Speaker 2: as he developed a plan to bring Middle Earth into harmony,
Speaker 2: with himself at the center. Disguising himself as the good
Speaker 2: natured Anotar, the Lord of Gifts, he worked with the
Speaker 2: elb to create and distribute great rings of power that
Speaker 2: he would distribute to peace of significance throughout Middle Earth. These
Speaker 2: rings had various effects on those who wore them. The
Speaker 2: three rings for the elves provided the power to preserve nature.
Speaker 2: The seven rings for the dwarfs stoked their desire for wealth.
Speaker 2: The nine rings for men provided power and visibility and
Speaker 2: a version of immortality. The one ring for Sauron was
Speaker 2: meant to control all the others. Now is worth noting
Speaker 2: that Sauran as the Ring Lord is surely based on
Speaker 2: the Old Germanic tradition of lords giving rings their nobles
Speaker 2: as a means of securing their loyalty. By uniting the
Speaker 2: great forces of the world within his will, Sauron believed
Speaker 2: that he could finally bring order and healing to the
Speaker 2: fractured Middle Earth. Fortunately, things did not go quite as
Speaker 2: he planned. When Sauran forged his ruling ring, the elves
Speaker 2: felt his presence and hid their own rings. At the
Speaker 2: end of the Second Age, a host of elves and
Speaker 2: men allied in a calm desire to purge Middle Earth
Speaker 2: of his counterfeit order by meeting Sauron in battle. With
Speaker 2: great sacrifice inclusion of a lendel ankle galad, the free
Speaker 2: peoples gained victory as a sil Door cut the ring
Speaker 2: bearing finger from Saran's hand and brought it back as
Speaker 2: a trophy for his people. With this artifact of power removed,
Speaker 2: Sauron was.
Speaker 1: Defeated, but his will still whispered through the ring. The
Speaker 1: silver story will be told another time, But of course
Speaker 1: he did not choose to destroy the ring, which allowed
Speaker 1: Taurn's evil to continue brooding and till it again haunted
Speaker 1: Middle Earth in a more tangible form in the Third Age.
Speaker 1: But with his defeat and the loss of his ring
Speaker 1: by the hand of a sil door, Suron was reduced
Speaker 1: to the shadow that he had in fact already been
Speaker 1: for quite some time. By abandoning virtue in the broader
Speaker 1: context of reality beyond himself, he lost something of his personhood.
Speaker 1: He was reduced to an obscured image of what he
Speaker 1: was meant to be, an agent of glory that reflected
Speaker 1: divine honor above him. Augustine states this well in his
Speaker 1: City of God. By aiming at more, a man is
Speaker 1: diminished when he elects to be self sufficient and defects
Speaker 1: from the one who is really sufficient for him. This,
Speaker 1: then is the original evil. Man regards himself as his
Speaker 1: own light and turns away from that light which would
Speaker 1: make man himself a light if he has set his
Speaker 1: heart on it. This evil came first in secret, and
Speaker 1: the result was the other evil, which was committed in
Speaker 1: the open. In his secret evil, Sauron turned away from
Speaker 1: the light of God that gives life to the soul, and,
Speaker 1: desiring to be his own light, he became a mere
Speaker 1: shadow alongside Morgad before him. With the loss of his ring,
Speaker 1: Sauron's inner reality was exposed. Throughout the story of the
Speaker 1: Lord of the Rings, the once great and powerful Sauron
Speaker 1: is reduced to a whisper. By nature, he was greater
Speaker 1: than any of his would be servants, but by consequence
Speaker 1: of his lust for self sufficiency, he became nearly nothing.
Speaker 1: He has an influence he plots and he wages war,
Speaker 1: but he does not make a physical appearance in the
Speaker 1: third age, at the very least in the actual narrative
Speaker 1: of the story, even if there are rumors that such
Speaker 1: an appearance was beginning to take place. The shadow may
Speaker 1: have been growing, but it could only ever become but
Speaker 1: so strong as long as it attempted to hold on
Speaker 1: to its own strength. Real strength comes through the humble
Speaker 1: path of virtue that surrenders power only to receive it
Speaker 1: anew in the right way. This is something that Salon
Speaker 1: can no longer understand, and this is something that would
Speaker 1: bring his final doom as lowly hobbits of the shire
Speaker 1: escaped the vision of his great eye. All right, I
Speaker 1: hope that you appreciated that presentation, and if you did,
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Speaker 1: of the Advent Children Final Fantasy film to Mythic Mind
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Speaker 1: here on Thursday, we'll be continuing with the Lord of
Speaker 1: the Ring study, looking at the rest of book three
Speaker 1: of the Lord of the Rings. But I will talk
Speaker 1: to you next time.