The Eye of Sauron Painting

"The Eye of Sauron the Terrible few could endure." -from The Silmarillion The Eye of Sauron, or Great Eye, was a symbol adopted by the Dark Lord in the Third Age. It was said that few could endure its terrible gaze. The Eye was used as a symbol on armor and banners of Mordor, representing Sauron's quasi-omnipotence. With it, Sauron searched for and tracked the paths of the Ring-bearer Frodo Baggins at the end of the Third Age. It is unknown when the Eye of Sauron was formed. At the apex of Barad-dûr, the Eye was a flaming, visible, though perhaps not tangible presence during the events of The Lord of the Rings, made clear when it appeared through a window when clouds parted in Mordor. "Far off the shadows of Sauron hung; but torn by some gust of wind out of the world, or else moved by some great disquiet within, the mantling clouds swirled, and for a moment drew aside; and then he saw, rising black, blacker and darker than the vast shades amid which it stood, the cruel pinnacles and iron crown of the topmost tower of Barad-dûr. One moment only it stared out, but as from some great window immeasurably high there stabbed northward a flame of red, the flicker of a piercing Eye; and then the shadows were furled again and the terrible vision was removed." —The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King, Book Six, Chapter II "The Land of Shadow” In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, the Great Eye is a gigantic eyeball composed of energy that sits atop Barad-dûr. In Monolith's sequel to Shadow of Mordor, Middle-earth: Shadow of War the Eye depicted in Jackson's trilogy is the actual manifestation of Sauron and the wraith of Celebrimbor, the Elf who forged the rings of power, in a state of perpetual combat. When the ring is destroyed and Barad-dûr falls, the Eye implodes and Celebrimbor is presumed free. Source: The One Wiki To Rule Them All Sauron (pronounced /ˈsaʊrɒn) is the title character and the main antagonist, through the forging of the One Ring, of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, where he rules the land of Mordor and has the ambition of ruling the whole of Middle-earth. In the same work, he is identified as the "Necromancer" of Tolkien's earlier novel The Hobbit. In The Silmarillion, he is also described as the chief lieutenant of the first Dark Lord, Morgoth. Tolkien noted that the Ainur, the "angelic" powers of his constructed myth, "were capable of many degrees of error and failing", but by far the worst was "the absolute Satanic rebellion and evil of Morgoth and his satellite Sauron". Sauron appears most often as "the Eye", as if disembodied. Tolkien, while denying that absolute evil could exist, stated that Sauron came as near to a wholly evil will as was possible. Commentators have compared Sauron to the title character of Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula, and to Balor of the Evil Eye in Celtic mythology. He is depicted as a humanoid figure in animated films of The Lord of the Rings. Sauron is briefly seen in a similar form in Peter Jackson's film trilogy, which otherwise show him as a disembodied, flaming Eye. Before the world's creation The Ainulindalë, the cosmological myth prefixed to The Silmarillion, explains how the supreme being Eru initiated his creation by bringing into being innumerable good, immortal, angelic spirits, the Ainur, including Sauron, one of the lesser Ainur, the Maiar. In his origin, Sauron therefore perceived the Creator directly. He was of a "far higher order" than the Maiar who later came to Middle-earth as the Wizards, such as Gandalf and Saruman. The Vala Melkor (later called Morgoth) rebelled against Eru, breaking the cosmic Music that Eru had used in the world's creation with discord. So began "the evils of the world", which Sauron continued. Sauron's fall in the First Age Servant of Aulë Sauron served Aulë the Vala Smith, acquiring much knowledge; he was at first called Mairon ("The Admirable", in Tolkien's invented language of Quenya) until he joined Melkor. In Beleriand, he was called Gorthu "Mist of Fear" and Gorthaur "The Cruel" in Sindarin, another of Tolkien's invented languages. Sauron was drawn to the power of Melkor, who attracted him by seeming to have power to "effect his designs quickly and masterfully", as Sauron hated disorder. Sauron became a spy for Melkor in Almaren. Melkor soon destroyed Almaren, and the Valar moved to the Blessed Realm of Valinor, still not perceiving Sauron's treachery. Sauron left the Blessed Realm and went to Middle-earth, the central continent of Arda, where Melkor had established his stronghold. Sauron openly joined the Valar's enemy, now renamed Morgoth. Lieutenant of Morgoth Sauron became Morgoth's capable servant, helping him in all the "deceits of his cunning". By the time Elves awoke in the world, Sauron had become Melkor's lieutenant and was given command over the new stronghold of Angband. The Valar made war on Melkor and captured him, but Sauron escaped. He hid in Middle-earth, repaired Angband, and began breeding Orcs. Melkor escaped back to Middle-earth with the Silmarils. Sauron directed the war against the Elves, conquering the Elvish fortress of Minas Tirith on the isle of Tol Sirion in Beleriand. Lúthien and Huan the Wolfhound came to this fallen stronghold to save the imprisoned Beren, Lúthien's lover. Sauron, transformed into a werewolf, battled Huan who took him by the throat; he was defeated and left as a huge vampire bat. Lúthien destroyed the tower and rescued Beren from the dungeons. Eärendil sailed to the Blessed Realm, and the Valar moved against Morgoth in the War of Wrath; he was defeated and cast into the Outer Void beyond the world, but again Sauron escaped. The Rings of Power in the Second Age About 500 years into the Second Age, Sauron reappeared, intent on taking over Middle-earth and ruling it as a God-King. To seduce the Elves into his service, Sauron assumed a fair appearance as Annatar, "Lord of Gifts”, befriended the Elven-smiths of Eregion, led by Celebrimbor, and counselled them in arts and magic. With Sauron's assistance, the Elven-smiths forged the Rings of Power. He then secretly forged the One Ring, to rule all other rings, in the volcanic Mount Doom in Mordor. The Elves detected his influence when he put on the One Ring, and removed their Rings. Enraged, Sauron initiated a great war and conquered much of the land west of Anduin. Sauron overran Eregion, killed Celebrimbor, and seized the Seven and the Nine Rings of Power. The Three Rings were saved by the Elves, specifically Gil-galad, Círdan, and Galadriel. Sauron besieged Imladris, battled Khazad-dûm and Lothlórien, and pushed further into Gil-galad's realm. The Elves were saved when a powerful army from Númenor arrived to their aid, defeating Sauron's forces and driving the remnant back to Mordor. Sauron fortified Mordor and completed the Dark Tower of Barad-dûr. He distributed the remaining rings of the Seven and the Nine to lords of Dwarves and Men, respectively. Dwarves proved too resilient to bend to his will, but he enslaved Men as the Nazgûl, his most feared servants. Orcs and Trolls became his servants, along with Easterlings and men of Harad. Downfall of Númenor Toward the end of the Second Age, Ar-Pharazôn, king of Númenor, led a massive army to Middle-earth. Sauron surrendered, to corrupt Númenor from within. With the One Ring, Sauron soon dominated the Númenóreans. He used his influence to undermine the religion of Númenor, making people worship Melkor with human sacrifice; Sauron was his high priest. Sauron convinced Ar-Pharazôn to attack Aman by sea to steal immortality from the Valar. The Valar laid down their guardianship of the world and appealed to Eru. Eru destroyed the attacking fleet and armies, but also drowned Númenor, which was removed from the physical world, and destroyed Sauron's body, with his ability to appear beautiful. War of the Last Alliance Led by Elendil, nine ships carrying faithful Númenóreans were saved from the Downfall; they founded the kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor in Middle-earth. Sauron returned to Mordor; Mount Doom again erupted. Sauron captured Minas Ithil and destroyed the White Tree; Elendil's son Isildur escaped down the Anduin. Anárion defended Osgiliathand for a time drove Sauron's forces back to the mountains. Isildur and Anárion formed an alliance and defeated Sauron at Dagorlad. They invaded Mordor and laid siege to Barad-dûr for seven years. Sauron was killed by Gil-galad and Elendil, who perished in the act. When Elendil fell, his sword Narsil broke beneath him. Isildur took up the hilt-shard of Narsil and cut the One Ring from Sauron's hand, vanquishing Sauron. Elrond and Círdan, Gil-galad's lieutenants, urged Isildur to destroy the Ring by casting it into Mount Doom, but he refused and kept it for his own. Third Age Sauron spent a thousand years as a shapeless, dormant evil. A few years after the War of the Last Alliance, Isildur's army was ambushed by Orcs at the Gladden Fields. Isildur put on the Ring and attempted to escape by swimming across Anduin, but the Ring, trying to return to Sauron, slipped from his finger. Isildur was killed by Orc archers. The Necromancer of Dol Guldur Sauron concealed himself in the south of Mirkwood as the Necromancer, in the stronghold of Dol Guldur, "Hill of Sorcery”. The Valar sent five Maiar as Wizards to oppose the darkness, believing the Necromancer to be a Nazgûl rather than Sauron himself. The chief of the Nazgûl, the Witch-king of Angmar, repeatedly attacked the northern realm of Arnor, destroying it. When attacked by Gondor, the Witch-king retreated to Mordor, gathering the Nazgûl there. The Nazgûl captured Minas Ithil, which was renamed Minas Morgul, and seized its palantír, one of the seven seeing stones brought from Númenor. Around this time, a Stoorish Hobbit named Déagol found the One Ring in the River Anduin, Déagol's relative Sméagol murdered him in order to get the Ring, and was swiftly corrupted by it, degenerating into the creature Gollum. Banished, he went to hide in the Misty Mountains. The White Council of Wizards discovered Sauron in Dol Guldur, and drove him from Mirkwood; he returned to Mordor, openly declared himself, rebuilt Barad-dûr, and bred armies of specially large Orcs - the Uruks. In 2951, the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins found the One Ring while accompanying Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield in The Quest of Erebor, Gollum having lost it in the network of caves beneath the Misty Mountains. Bilbo took the Ring home with him to the Shire, despite Gandalf's misgivings. Saruman, seeking power, used Orthanc's palantír, and was corrupted by Sauron; Saruman desired the Ring for himself in the hopes that he could rule Middle-earth at the Dark Lord's side before overthrowing him. Sauron captured Gollum, who had left his cave a few years after losing the Ring in search of his "precious", and learned that the Ring had been found by a Hobbit named "Baggins". The War of the Ring In 3017, Gandalf identified Bilbo's Ring, now passed down to Bilbo's nephew Frodo, as Sauron's One Ring. He tasked Frodo and his friend Sam Gamgee with bringing the Ring to Bree, where Gandalf and Saruman would decide what to do. Soon afterward, however, Gandalf discovered Saruman's treachery. Sauron sent the Nazgûl to the Shire; they pursued Frodo, who escaped to Rivendell. There, Elrond convened a council. It determined that the Ring should be destroyed in Mount Doom, and formed the Fellowship of the Ring to achieve this. Saruman attempted to capture the Ring, but his army was destroyed and his stronghold at Isengard was overthrown. The palantír of Orthanc fell into the hands of the Fellowship; Aragorn, Isildur's descendant and heir to the throne of Gondor, used it to show himself to Sauron as if he held the Ring. Sauron, troubled by this revelation, attacked Minas Tirith sooner than he had planned. His army was destroyed at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Meanwhile, Frodo and Sam entered Mordor through the pass of Cirith Ungol. Aragorn diverted Sauron's attention with an attack on the Black Gate of Mordor. Frodo and Sam reached Mount Doom, but at the last minute Frodo was entranced by the Ring and claimed it for himself. Gollum then seized the Ring and fell into the Cracks of Doom, destroying the Ring and himself. Thus Sauron was utterly defeated, and vanished from Middle-earth. Tolkien describes Sauron's destruction: ...black against the pall of cloud, there rose a huge shape of shadow, impenetrable, lightning-crowned, filling all the sky. Enormous it reared above the world, and stretched out towards them a vast threatening hand, terrible but impotent: for even as it leaned over them, a great wind took it, and it was all blown away, and passed; and then a hush fell. Source: Wikipedia

Painting:Acrylic on Canvas

Original:One-of-a-kind Artwork

Size:60 W x 60 H x 1.5 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.