‘The Rings of Power’: Who Is Annatar? How Sauron Deceived the Elves

To infiltrate the elves and get close to the forges of Eregion and the skills of the master craftsman Celebrimbor, and forge the titular rings of power, Sauron put on a disguise. He disguised himself as Annatar, “Lord of the Gifts,” a fair-faced emissary from the Valar.

“It began with the forging of the Great Rings. Three were given to the Elves, immortal, wisest and fairest of all beings. Seven to the Dwarf lords, great miners and craftsmen of the mountain halls. And nine, nine rings were gifted to the race of men, who, above all else, desire power. But they were, all of them, deceived.”

The iconic opening to the Lord of the Rings film trilogy will go down as one of the greatest openings of all time. The deceiver, we come to learn in the next part of the exposition, was Dark Lord Sauron, a being of extreme power, malice, and cruelty. So how in Middle Earth did he deceive the fairest and wisest beings in the land, the elves?

Sauron was originally a Maia, the same as Gandalf and all the other wizards. The Maia were angel-like primordial beings tasked with helping the Valar (powerful god-like beings) shape the world. Before he came to Middle Earth and was corrupted by greed and power, Sauron was originally known as Mairon, meaning “The Admirable.” He was swayed to darkness by a Valar who sought not to just create the world but rule it. This Valar, known formally as Melkor later becoming Morgoth, could somewhat draw parallels to Christianity’s Lucifer, the Devil.

After the fall of Morgoth, Sauron sneaked off and went into hiding for nearly five centuries before coming back out of the wormwood to amass power, building up armies of orcs, and twisting the hearts of men with promises of power and riches. Despite this, he still needed the elves, but knew they would be far harder to turn to his cause. He needed to do something different.

The deception of Sauron

And so, Annatar was born. It was written in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Unfinished Tales that he stated that his purpose as emissary was to seek out the Istari, the Maia who had come to Middle Earth in the form of wizards, including Gandalf.

Wearing his disguise, Sauron infiltrated the Elf Smiths of Eregion, befriending many such as the Gwaith-i-Mírdain, the elven Jewel-smiths. They were desperate for more knowledge and to feel closer to the light of Valinor (the land where the Valar lived and where Sauron was claiming to have been sent from). Because of this, they worked closely with “Annatar” and forged most of the Rings of Power; only the three for the elves were uncorrupted by Sauron as Celebrimbor made them with his own hands.

Despite many of the elves trusting in Annatar, some did not, such as Galadriel, Elrond, and Gil-galad, High King of the Ñoldor. They had their suspicions over the character of Annatar and they were soon proved right when they discovered that he had created the One Ring to rule over all others.

What’s happening in the show?

Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power‘s second season will focus heavily on this storyline within Tolkien’s work, with Halbrand having now been discovered to be Sauron (not cannon in the novels). he now returns with a new disguise once again. We will see as Galadriel, Elrond, and a small host of elven warriors take on the herculean task of seeking out and destroying Sauron, a task we know is doomed to fail. We thought we knew who Annatar was in the first season, but much like the Dark Lord, the series’ showrunners had us deceived too.

The Rings of Power, along with Sauron, will return to our screens via Amazon Prime Video on August 29.