ANNATAR, “LORD OF GIFTS”

In the beginning, Sauron was not numbered among the rebel Maiar. His name was Mairon, meaning “the Admirable”, and was a Maia of Aulë, the Smith of the Valar, who has an exact counterpart in the Greek god Hephaestos the Smith – the Roman Vulcan. As an apprentice to Aulë the Smith, Sauron gained such deep knowledge of fire and forge that in the Second Age, as the new Dark Lord of Middle-earth, he is able to forge Rings of Power. Appearing in the fair and “admirable” form of Annatar, “Lord of Gifts”, Sauron is also able to seduce and corrupt the Elves of Eriador with his knowledge.

In Tibetan mythology, there is a sorcerer-smith comparable to Sauron the Ring Lord who dwelt in a mountain kingdom akin to that of Mordor. This was Kurkar the Ring Lord, of the mountain kingdom of Hor. Like Sauron, this sorcerer’s power over his hellish mountain kingdom was reliant on the supernatural power of a ring. However, Kurkar’s ring was a massive iron mandala ring, which, we are told, contained the “life” or “soul” of Kurkar and all his ancestors. So long as it was kept within his mountain stronghold, Kurkar believed that his power and his life were safe, especially as the massive iron ring could not be melted or forged by any known means. In this, it appears to share many of the properties of Sauron’s One Ring, for even the fierce fire of the furnace cannot redden this ring. Kurkar the Ring Lord gathered demons and human allies about him in the mountain kingdom of Hor, just as Sauron the Ring Lord gathers Orcs and human allies about him in the mountain-guarded kingdom of Mordor.

The most famous ring legend in the Judeo-Christian tradition is linked with King Solomon. Tradition tells us that Solomon was not only considered a powerful king and a wise man, but also the most powerful magician of his age. These powers were attributed largely to his possession of a magic ring.

There can be little doubt that Tolkien was familiar with this ancient biblical tale of a sorcerer-king who, like Sauron, used a magic ring to command all the demons of the earth and bend them to his purpose. Of all the biblical ring stories, Solomon’s Ring most resembles the One Ring.

Solomon’s Ring was a small gold ring marked with the seal of God: the five-pointed star of the pentalpha and the four letters of the name of Yahweh (YHWH). Sauron’s Ring is also a small gold ring but engraved with an evil spell of command, written in the Black Speech of the Orcs: “One Ring to rule them all …”

The story of Solomon’s magicring is bound up with the tale of the building of the Great Temple of Yahweh on Mount Moriah. For by this ring’s power, Solomon was able to pacify all the demons of the earth and command them to build the Great Temple. Similarly, but for his terrible and evil purposes, Sauron used the power of the One Ring to command all the dark forces of Middle-earth and to build his dreaded Dark Tower, Barad-dûr, on a spur of the Ash Mountains in Mordo.