Few fantasy series have as much lore asThe Lord of the Rings, with a host of material written by J.R.R. Tolkien, published both during his lifetime and posthumously. Detailed appendices, spinoff short stories and novels, and poems and short stories that explore backstories and side-characters – there truly is no dearth of stories, legends, and myths about Middle-earth, where the series is set. The existence of two movie trilogies, one spinoff animated movie, and a two-season prequel show with a third season in development, based on Tolkien’s works, further expand the vast lore.
Peter Jackson proved up to the task of adapting the main novels as each film inTheLord of the Ringstrilogy isan action movie sequel better than the originalor just as good. Of the three,TheLord of the Rings: The Two Towersis themovie with the best action scenes, although the other two have notable fight scenes. While the climax is the best fight scene inThe Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,its prologue has a brilliant battle, featuring Sauronand one of the fewbig mistakes in the movies.
Sauron’s Mace In The Lord of the Rings Movies Is Inspired By Morgoth’s Hammer, Grond
His Design Is Based On His Master’s
WhileThe Lord of the Ringsis a largely faithful adaptation of Tolkien’s novels, the writers and the director clearly took some creative liberty in the pacing, the development of plot points, and the appearance of the main villain, Sauron.Sauron’s design inThe Lord of the Ringsis based on Morgoth, who is canonically his master and the first Dark Lord of Middle Earth. However, barring a few mentions, Morgoth is largely absent fromThe Lord of the Ringsmovies.
Morgoth is essentially present inThe Lord of the Ringsin the form of Sauron, though. Not only is Sauron’s physical appearance based on Morgoth’s, the weapon he wields inThe Fellowship of the Rings’s prologue is inspired by Morgoth’s hammer. Sauron can be seen swinging a mace in the film, whichloosely resembles the weapon known as Grondin the books. Grond is Morgoth’s hammer and choice of weapon.
While the books mention that Sauron has a body, they never describe it, and the Sauron we see in the movies is based on the books' description of Morgoth.
With the mace, Sauron flings away hordes of men with each swing. He uses the mace to kill Elendil, who is Isildur’s father, too. However, the books don’t mention this scene or anything about Sauron’s preferred weapon of choice. So, while the battle scene perfectly establishes how dangerous Sauron was, and why engaging him in combat or meeting him in person could be a fatal experience for anyone opposed to him, it isn’t lore-accurate.
What Weapons Sauron Really Uses In The Lord of the Rings
There Is No Mention Of Weaponry In His Hands
The Sauron one finds mentioned in the books inThe Lord of the Ringsdoesn’t wield any weapons. Since he went to battle, it is reasonable to assume his arsenal wasn’t empty, but the books don’t describe any weapons for him. Instead, they paint a very different picture of Sauron, one that builds up the mythology surrounding him andmight make him more terrifying than when wielding a macethat’s larger than the average human.
The books don’t mention any weapons in his arsenal because he is known for using mind tricks.
All of Sauron’s forms inThe Lord of the Ringsprove one thing to be consistent about him, regardless of the era of storytelling or the body he’s occupying – he is a master of deception. His most famous form, the one that forged the ring, thus masterfully wielded deception and misdirection as his strongest weapons. The books don’t mention any weapons in his arsenal because he is known for using mind tricks to win battles. However, this might have been more difficult to depict on screen than the mace-wielding version we see inThe Fellowship of the Ring.
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a multimedia franchise consisting of several movies and a TV show released by Amazon titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The franchise is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s book series that began in 1954 with The Fellowship of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings saw mainstream popularity with Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.
