What Does Sauron Look Like in the Books? Sauron Reveals Himself!

Have you ever asked yourself, what does Sauron look like under his armour? Or, what does Sauron look like under his helmet? In this video we will remove his mask and discover the true essence of his terrible countenance.
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[@BurningGhosts]

This man should be a narrator, voice artist, or possibly author.

[@blazejgruchala4361]

is*

[@Eevcee]

I believe a lot of channels employ narrators.

[@samwisegamgee8318]

@@Eevcee I feel like this narrator is the creator. Just the life and energy in each of those small references, pronunciations, etc. are just so conducive to someone who is really familiar with the material.

[@vergil8833]

Based on everything I think it's safe to conclude that Sauron did in fact have burning eyes, considering the fear the numenoreans had for the "light in his eyes", and the red description of his serpent eyes in Lord of the Rings, coupled with Tolkiens own painting showing Sauron with orange eyes peering out from his helmet. Burning eyes like that is a striking image, so therefore I really wonder why not more of the artists why draw Sauron include it. It is his most important feature in my opinion, the concept art Peter Jackson had for Saurons face is to this day the best depiction of it.

[@mathijnd]

Im fine with the idea of The Eye on Barad Dur for the movies. But i do wish we got at least one really short scene with a spiritlike broken human in a dark room with a palantier. The room is so dark that you cant really see him but you know its Sauron. So at least he IS there but he is watching from his tower. In the movies it seems like he isnt even there... its just a big fire eye. EDIT: OR just show a really short quick clip of a pale hand with scars and a missing finger on top of a palantir. Just tease that he is there watching.

[@snorreproductions]

there was a deleted scene/altered scene at the end where they fight outside the black gate. Aragorn was supposed to be fighting Sauron and not a giant troll

[@mathijnd]

@@snorreproductions Yeah i know. I just wish we at least got A confirmation that it’s not JUST a flaming eye. The Aragorn fight probably wouldve been too much. 😅

[@vintagesteel]

This is a good idea 👌 I wish we got a look at him in the PJ films.

[@LAVATORR]

As much as I'd love the hint of a physical Sauron, you have to have the discipline to commit 100% to "spirit Sauron", because the fact that he's so abstract and incorporeal--yet also such a constant, aggressive presence relentlessly hunting you--is what makes him so terrifying and unique. Sauron isn't just a really strong.....whatever. He's invisible. He exists according to laws you only vaguely understand, yet also commands an army large enough to steamroll Europe. And he wants YOU fucking dead.

[@coltendavison4351]

@@vintagesteelwhen Aragorn looks in the palintir we do see Sauron holding it in extended version of return of the king

[@Ryan-vl2nn]

Man even Morgoth didn’t incur the wrath of Eru Ilúvatar within the material plane of Middle Earth. Sauron must have really crossed a line.

[@morgothfromangband6082]

Probably Morgoth would sooner or later also have started a war with Valinor when he thinks his forces could have become powerful enough, if the Valar hadn't intervened in the War of Wrath.

[@poisonhemlock]

Numenor was Eru's gift to his favourite kids, but it was looking kinda doomed already.

[@forgettable8300]

He could have xD

[@Jmaurice82]

I mean Eru had to tell the Valar to go after Melkor to save the elves. I would say Melkor crossed the line during his time more than Sauron ever did lol

[@RadicalCaveman]

It was the Numenorians who triggered the wrath; Sauron only advised.

[@Egill2011]

In books Sauron has material form. He does not appear in the form of that huge lighthouse, as Peter Jackson has shown him in his films. Gollum says that Sauron has only nine fingers on his dark hands, so he is not just a spirit, craving materialization.

[@fueledbylove]

Good Call. Ive never been too fond of Peters Lighthouse as you pointed out.

[@Uncle_Fred]

I think there's even more we can infer from understanding Sauron's nature. As a student of Aulë that preferred order, he probably gravitated to more refined and structured clothing and armor designs. A lot of the imagery we see of the classic "dark lord" design is more suited to Morgoth's vistage rather than Sauron's. Morgoth was nihilistic and wished to mock, warp, destroy and terrorize. We know that Sauron did emulate his old master, but we don't know exactly how much he might have emulated his form and style. Another counterpoint is Sauron's desire to hoard Arda's supply of Mithril. He must have known of Mithril's protective properties. We also know that Sauron chiefly fears bodily destruction by the end of the Third Age. What is the likelihood that Sauron crafted a Mithril set of armor? If he were to gain the ring again, a full-body suit of Mithril would all but ensure he would be untouchable. Mithril's dazzling mirror-like properties would also render him an object of worship, something I'm sure he would appreciate.

[@Uncle_Fred]

@@olerocker3470 I'd guess that Sauron assumed he'd recover the mithril coat once his forces defeated Aragorn's expedition. The psychological value of returning it was worth the risk. It was a brilliant move. Aragorn's defeat was assured and his forces surrounded. There was no escape.

[@olerocker3470]

@@Uncle_Fred woulda, shoulda, coulda

[@melizeche]

Do you recall where in the books is described Sauron's desire to hoard all the mithril? It seems I missed that part

[@DamonNomad82]

@@melizeche It's in Book 2 of Volume 1, in the chapter "A Journey in the Dark". As the Fellowship travels through Moria, Gandalf tells the others about mithril, and mentions that when the orcs took over Moria, they sent the mithril they plundered from the Dwarves' treasuries there "as tribute to Sauron, who covets it."

[@melizeche]

@@DamonNomad82 THANK YOU! 🙌🏻

[@Sionnach1601]

These are the best of their kind. The narration, the script, the spoken English, the artwork, the editing, all absolutely fantastic. Thank you and well done.

[@russellthechemist8291]

The research, thought and time taken to make these videos shows real commitment. Hugely impressed and subscribed.

[@cerberus6654]

This was a gripping, gorgeous post! Thank you.

[@TarMody]

As they await the arrival of the Children of Ilúvatar, it seems possible that they look close to an elf because they sense that they have a humanoid form, as far as they perceive from the vision created with music, but it cannot be said that they have an elf or human form in appearance. This also applies to Mairon, who spent some time in Almaren.

[@neil999ish]

To me that the Ainur and Mair could take any form they wanted wether Elven, Man or Natural element. Sauron 'appeared' in a fair form and decieved the Elves when the Rings were forged. Yet in the Silmarrilion he took form as a Werewolf and Bat (Fingol and Beren's quest for a Silmaril). When Sauron corrupted Ar Pharazon and Numenor was drowned he lost his mortal body and could not take a 'fair' form again. When the One ring was destroyed he could not take any form, but remained as spirit gnawing in the darkness.

[@johns1625]

"Now the Ainur took to themselves shape and hue; and because they were drawn into the world by their love for the Children of Illuvatar, they took shape after that manner which they had beheld in the vision of Illuvatar, save only in majesty and splendour. Moreover their shape comes from the knowledge of the visible world, rather than that of the world it's self, and they need it not; save only as we need raiment, and yet we may be naked and suffer no loss of our being. Therefore, the Valar may walk, if they would, unclad. And then even the Eldar cannot clearly perceive them, though they may be present, but when they desire to cloth themselves the Valar take upon them forms some as of male and some as of female; for that difference of temper they had even in their beginning, and it is but budded forth in that choice, yet not made by that choice, even as with us male and female may be shown by the raiment but is not made thereby. But the shapes wherein the great ones array themselves are not at all times like to the shapes of the kings and queens of the Children of Illuvatar; for at times they may clothe themselves in their own thought, made visible in forms of majesty and dread."

[@guatobean2869]

Wow, a masterful storyteller. Great channel

[@brocklawer7635]

Tolkien did do a watercolor illustration of Sauron and it looks a lot like him from the movies.

[@LAVATORR]

He looks like Fetal Alcohol Rick Sanchez

[@mjk2588]

Your videos are my absolute favorites. I lovvve the content and have listened to many similar channels but this is by far the best. The narration and tone, the artwork, the delivery, and everything are so perfect. I have been listening every night for both information and as relaxation during a very stressful time.

[@chrgans4619]

Could you name or credit the artists who created the shown pictures in the video. They are realy good, i would love to see there other work. Realy loved to video, magnificent work!

[@josephpercy1558]

It is worth mentioning that 'zigûr' simply means 'wizard' in Adûnaic, the language of the Northmen and of Eriador, including many others of close kin affiliation. Mairon was, therefore, "the Great Wizard" for his marked skill in magic amongst the race of Men.

[@elizabethtaylor8428]

Thanks for the video. I've always found Sauron intriguing.

[@anubusx]

Him and Morgoth are the greatest villians in Fantasy literature.

[@anthonyintexas]

I recently subscribed to this channel.. I like it very much, & it is a wonderful companion to Tolkien Untangled.

[@whynot1548]

Great narration bro. Love it! 😎👍🧙‍♂️

[@djcdouble07]

Great video and artwork. Best vid i seen on what souron looked like.

[@yammt3148]

I truly, TRULY wish some of this art was official cannon.

[@Beardblade]

Thank you for the video it was great

[@LAVATORR]

12:45 Why is Gollum played by Dwight D. Eisenhower

[@Fossilsaurus1020]

It’s ironic that his most terrible appearing, and fearful form was his weakest, “most impotent form”!

[@94462]

He is over-compensating his appearance to hide 🫣 his weaknesses. Sun Tzu art of war, “appear strong 💪 when you are weak”, he knew all of these secrets of war

[@GlintzKollide]

Excellent video!

[@Heartborne7thSeeker]

personally I have always imagined him looking somewhat like the picture at 5:26 and that was also very similar to what Peter Jackson wanted him to look like in the scene that was sadly cut from The Return of the King movie,but can still be seen here on youtube.I could also see him looking like the picture at 8:05 when he takes the form of the warrior.

[@channel.3.]

What a great description! One question: Did Sauron have the One Ring when he was taken as a prisoner to Numenor? How did he get it back to Mordor if he fled as a spirit?

[@fueledbylove]

Trans-spirit airways?

[@angelalewis3645]

Very good video!

[@whynot1548]

Oh that Sauron, he's always been a caution! ☺

[@sethnaffziger1402]

The most smoothbrained take I have ever heard is that Sauron was a boring villian... Anything but, Lawful evil isn't as immediately as threatening as chaotic, however it is the most sinister, dangerous, and insidious form... the one most likely to succeed in the real world as well

[@mediocreman6323]

So he … wears a suit and a tie?

[@sethnaffziger1402]

@@mediocreman6323 Nah, he just sees a righteous cause for his actions, this justifies whatever ends he must take to achieve his designs and plans because in the end he is right and sees it no other way. Many great evils have been committed through the ages under the assumption that it was for the ultimate good. The other thing that makes it dangerous is how easy it is for otherwise good people to support such a leader. Many men were under Sauron's banner and saw the destruction Men of the West as a necessary end they would help engineer

[@AJ0223]

Yeah he's a just a typical boring dark lord and bad ass aragon is just a typical hetero normative white guy and it's all just typically boring good vs evil and I just like more complex and believable charecters I mean ffs there's hardly any incest or rape or child abuse in LOTR there's almost zero graphic gratititous depictions of gross sexyal activity in the whole text that's why asoif is top tier so what that it will never be finished at leat its not boring

[@kalebthehistorian5928]

If THAT is what you think makes a great story, then you clearly can't see what is right in front of your nose. Why does there need to be incest and rape? Tolkien was a man with a vision, his stories hailing back to times long gone, yet given life through his medium. Not every story must be filled with debauchery for it to be good.

[@AJ0223]

@@kalebthehistorian5928 sarcasm bro

[@anadmirer8789]

I wish with all my heart that I could write epic stories as great as this.

[@Disappointment42]

Best you get started then

[@anadmirer8789]

I started years ago. My story ideas just don’t match Tolkien’s scope and brilliance.

[@Disappointment42]

@@anadmirer8789 Well keep at it, you have your own brilliance :)

[@dimoslaros724]

Exceptional content. Fantastic work! Congrats to you and the team!

[@tomwinston6758]

Very good, enjoyable

[@sith014]

Please tell me you are also selling digital wallpapers of these artworks. That first wallpaper of Sauron is amazing!

[@STMukr]

Melkor is brutal. But Sauron is so cunning....overcunning his master. In someway its so horrible if you think about everything that from psychological side. It's really scary

[@sourstuff]

17:02 this visual reminds a lot of the visual of the outstretched black hand of the shadow of Nosferatu. I think the visual is used in both the 1922 version and the new one from 2024.

[@capt.tripps]

Wonderful video.

[@GCJACK83]

When I think about the book version of Sauron, for some reason I can't help but think of a shadow-looking creature, roughly humanoid but taller, and it's face has nothing except a massive eye dead center.

[@Neenerella333]

So in the second age, he looked like Pete Steele?

[@JonathanG94]

9:42 The Kurgan from Highlander?

[@ChrisWizzerd]

Sauron is a skin walker!? 😳

[@LlejaSwordsinger]

An interesting and well presented channel with exceptionally beautiful artwork. It is a shame that a bot is used to voice it as it has American pronunciations but that's a minor detail. It would be nice to have more information about the author of this channel and insight into person or team behind it. I have subscribed and shall see how it goes.

[@dyroth]

Wtf I couldn’t even tell it was a bot, we’re so fucked

[@LlejaSwordsinger]

@@dyroth lol yeah it's creepy that they're so good now. The new robots are incredible too. Brave new world is here.

[@forgettable8300]

Imagine thinking you are super op and then getting your ass handed to you by a hound xD

[@jackolantern147]

In his defense, that hound has written in plot armor.

[@CybeleCotter]

Myron Maia, Dark Tower Butchers, 666 Mordor Blvd., Brooklyn, NY

[@Nikanoru]

His two names are related too, with the "thau" in gorthaur being the "sau" in sauron. They're just from different elven languages.

[@shannonpincombe8485]

Brilliant!

[@Kakaragi]

So, would Annatar look like Sephiroth?

[@mrblank-zh1xy]

Sexier

[@CausticLemons7]

Sauron is a jerk!

[@55tranquility]

Have you thought of not using background music or make it much quieter? Your videos are great but the loud music really spoils them

[@backgroundnoise9310]

Great vid.

[@beerasaurus]

That was some amazing art on display. Just when I thought I was done hearing the same lore over again there's a new way to listen.

[@saladinbob]

You presume Sauron _wore_ Armour. I think it's more likely that the armour was an aspect of the form he sheathed himself in making it far more durable than we mortals might don.

[@Crafty_Spirit]

Turtle Sauron sounds like a very uncomfortable shape to take though, a Smith and Artisan needs to have free mobility in his arms and legs

[@KjMiller420]

Whu do you presume based on others presumptions?

[@DigitalSystematic]

No I think it is you who presume too much

[@sartanko]

wtf, a youtube video explaining a book character have no right being this damn good.

[@RealmsUnravelled]

😂👍

[@Chilltehome437]

You may never know but Sauron is known to take forms that reflects his ideals and values maybe even his feelings. He’s also known to rebuild a new body for himself after one is destroyed. It all depends who he is dealing with. He wouldn’t look the same towards the race of men the way he looked when he was in Eregion during the forging of the rings of power and vice versa. I would say the same with dwarves and wizards. But in the end they all knew him as the shadow. Personally I never quite liked the armoured version he is in Peter Jackson’s movies because he just comes off like a puppet at times.

[@mikedeck8381]

It doesn't matter what he looked like. After he betrayed the elves in the middle of the second age he could never fool them again. However he could still fool dwarves and me. After the whole thing with Numenor he was unable to fool them, they saw him for what he was. He still had human followers but they served out of greed, fear or hatred. He could've been perfectly handsome under that helmet but I think people sort of miss the point.

[@blueturtle-vb7jd]

Hi. I have a question maybe one of you can answer. During the time Sauron was searching for his lost ring it was said that if he were to find it that he would cover the land on a second darkness and that no one would be able to defeat him. So, why wasn't he that powerful when he did have the ring? Why, when he was at his full power and wore his ruling ring was he able to be defeated by an elf and a man. Let alone that he was a myar, he had the one ring. It just seems like a plot hole that is there because the story needs it to be. I know, people will be angry that it is suggested Tolkien's mast work is in any way not perfect but I don't get this. Wasn't Sauron more powerful in the past with the ring than he was during his search for the ring?

[@CarterBlackburn]

He was more powerful before he was originally defeated, but so were the the Elves and Men - this isn't exactly a plot hole, you haven't read enough of the lore. By the time of the events of the LOTR, the Elf kingdoms had dwindled - many Elves had been leaving Middle-Earth to sail to Valinor among other things. Arnor had been destroyed. Gondor was seriously weakened. Sauron had been slowly taking various steps to covertly diminish it. Not only were most of the forces that would have opposed him significantly weaker, but they were also not nearly as unified as they had previously been. Remember, the only reason he was defeated before was because the entire continent unified and created a gigantic army to assault Mordor directly.

[@danieldeclue1466]

So greater in stature would be about a head taller than most men at least

[@Mentallect]

8 feet tall, long blonde hair, bright blue eyes, thinnish.

[@TheHoveHeretic]

I see Sir .... and does the gentleman in question have any distinguishing marks? 👮

[@benjammin9471]

I knew there was something odd about Finland

[@josephgarnett5201]

18 minute video, interrupted 6 minutes in for a 43 minute ad, 6 mins later a 22 minute ad, 6 minutes later end of video a 36 minute ad, while i enjoyed some of the content but after trying to watch a 2nd video ya right

[@jeremievivianagriffin9458]

What did Melkor look like?

[@Canario_27]

So basically an even more handsomeHerny calvin

[@skytyme7721]

Melcor was originally called Melco

[@fueledbylove]

But it was speeled Melkor with a K

[@JeffRebornNow]

Wrong wrong wrong wrong wrong. It says in the lore that he could not take physical shape without regaining the one. What Gollum saw was a shadow -- something akin to the barrow wights. It had the outline of Sauron -- including the missing finger -- but it was much more of a hologram than it was a physical flesh and bone presence. How can you not see this?

[@mattharrison2330]

so fucking awesome pleasse doo moooreee!

[@keyboarddancers7751]

Unparalleled grandiloquence.

[@uriustosh]

He looks like Whoopi Goldberg.

[@odeleon24]

Blasphemy!!

[@MM22966]

It is Dark LORD, not Dark Lard.

[@jamesmacleod671]

Amazon's ring's of power agrees 😂

[@LTPottenger]

The lord who favors the color durple

[@amfa42]

what's the background song name?! it's amaIng

[@joefarrow1599]

Sauron denies black body emission laws. The power to stand against the laws of thermodynamics really is truly terrible

[@michaelh5720]

Incredible channel 👍🏻👍🏻

[@Sixteensamples]

Does someone know the music that was used for this short? Would be stoked to have this information 😊

[@EchoHawk1862]

👍

[@jamesmckinney2666]

He was described as haveing black burning skin.

[@patrickb1303]

Not in his fair (Annatar etc) form. But in certain forms he did.

[@Cross-xm2fr]

Lol dark lord was beaten by a dog

[@miashinbrot8388]

Note: the pictures of Sauron in which he is red-haired (rather than having black or blond hair) show him with scarlet hair, not crimson. Crimson is the dark, slightly purplish red of burgundy wine; scarlet is bright orange-red.

[@isthatjackson]

All hail #SexySauron

[@christmasham4312]

Probably not wearing a wig 🙂‍↔️

[@lordofchaosinc.261]

If you read the book it somewhere literally says he's the shape of a tall and terrible man or something like it not unlike his movie apperance at the battle of the last alliance. It is also said he can no longer take a fair shape like Annatar after the demise of his flesh in Numenor. He definitely isn't a goofy disembodied floating eyeball.

[@whynottalklikeapirat]

Sauron was an avid pirate - hence his glowing aye 👌

[@Crafty_Spirit]

7:36 Yeah well Ar-Pharazôn did not participate in the War of Elves and Sauron, you are doing a time condensation here like in Rings of Power xD

[@cally77777]

This video is ultimately accurate, in that it reveals we know very few details of Sauron's appearance, but for the most part, we are given a general impression. So we know he had an original fair form which eventually changes to a dark, terrible lord. It unveils Sauron only in this sense. But kudos for strictly sticking to the descriptions in the books, which are almost entirely impressionistic. The only real detail is the missing finger from which the Ring was cut. Tolkien has left Sauron's appearance very much to our imagination, and this has inspired a lot of fan art, some of which is nicely reproduced here. Just don't mistake it for Sauron's actual form.

[@justinah7400]

Fingolfin would have slew Sauron by himself and likely wouldn't even need to sacrifice himself for the deed

[@LTPottenger]

But he would not be able to resist the ring.

[@rrgale55]

CAN YOU REFERENCE THIS SCENE? PRIEST: "We are gathered here today to witness the turning to evil, Myron the Dark Lord of.... Myron? Your name is Myron?" SAURON: "SHUT-UP!! SHUT-UP!! Continue with the ceremony." PRIEST (trying to hold back his laughter): "OK, ....Myron."

[@kyleshurmur-dg3kq]

Sauron was not inherently evil he wanted order and control he knew the world was unstable chaotic and unpredictable so he wanted to be incharge to control eveything and eventually be worshipped he just went about it wrong 😂😂

[@Randy.Bobandy]

He was intentionally cruel and malicious though.

[@cycklist]

Why do you say 'lieutenant' the American way?

[@NickFama]

Because that is the way the artificial intelligence he uses pronounces it. This is not a real person speaking and it seems to have fooled many people.

[@Patcannistan]

Because there’s no F.

[@ardaea2529]

​@@Patcannistan The pronunciation of lieutenant predates the existence of your country. Comes from Old French, luef.

[@greywolf850]

So Sauron is Lucifer… that’s understandable… a light being who transforms and turns dark….

[@grannypunany3114]

no, melkor is the equivalent to lucifer

[@Edam-Channel]

More like Abaddon, Satan, Beelzebub, Asmodeus - one of the traditional demons serving Lucifer. Though modern Christianity (and Hollywood) tends to combine all of these into one entity.

[@siegfriedc2332]

Sauron sounds more like Loki.

[@blaze_4280]

​@@grannypunany3114exactly sauron more of the anti Christ a step down from the devil

[@Pub2k4]

Sauron didn’t look like anything in the book. There were no pictures.

[@know_not_wickedness]

So Sauron is a transgender?

[@YevinM-rn7mp]

I really wish a director would come along and make a worthy series of movies. Peter Jackson dropped the ball big time. He cut out the mouth of Sauron and kept Sauron a giant pointless eyeball that just sets there while his army is getting its ass kicked. The good byes at the end were way too long and drawn out. It’s as bad as GOT in my book.