“For nothing is evil in the beginning. Even Sauron was not so.”
- JRR Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring
This design was inspired by the idea of a repentant Sauron, the Maia once called Mairon (“the Admirable”).
The three flowers adorning the crown are meant to be a subversion of the three Silmarils on Morgoth’s Iron Crown; I chose daffodils because they are are symbolic of new life sprouting up amidst death, blooming in the earliest days of Spring, and their shape reminded me of the “Elanor” flowers which grow in Lórien.
The vines growing up the spikes of his crown, similarly, allude to an attempt at healing which will ultimately be forsaken, like ivy covering an abandoned building. These leaves are reminiscent of the mallorn-leaf design which appears in Peter Jackson’s films, once again subtly bringing us back to the gardens of Lórien.
There is so much sorrow written between the lines in this character’s story as each of his choices brings him one step farther from Mairon, ultimately losing this name and earning himself the name of Sauron (“the Abhorred”).
Tolkien writes that Sauron repented for a time at the beginning of the Second Age, explaining in Letter 131:
“[Sauron] repents in fear when the First Enemy is utterly defeated, but in the end does not do as was commanded, return to the judgement of the gods. He lingers in Middle-earth. Very slowly, beginning with fair motives: the reorganising and rehabilitation of the ruin of Middle-earth, ‘neglected by the gods’, he becomes a reincarnation of Evil, and a thing lusting for Complete Power – and so consumed ever more fiercely with hate (especially of gods and Elves). Sauron was of course not 'evil' in origin. He was a 'spirit' corrupted by the Prime Dark Lord (the Prime sub-creative Rebel) Morgoth. He was given an opportunity of repentance, when Morgoth was overcome, but could not face the humiliation of recantation, and suing for pardon; and so his temporary turn to good and 'benevolence' ended in a greater relapse, until he became the main representative of Evil of later ages.
I’m also fascinated by the dynamic between Sauron and Galadriel which was highlighted in season one of The Rings of Power, so this piece is an exploration of what might’ve been had everything been different.
The words paired with this design are the title of an Underoath song, “Some will Seek Forgiveness, Others Escape”, a reference to his ultimate unwillingness to humble himself before the Valar in order to be redeemed. We all know where Sauron’s choices will ultimately bring him, but I think the themes of pride, despair, and hope for redemption are feelings we all encounter at one time or another in our lives.
It was also inspired by this quote from The Silmarillion: “[B]ut after the coming of the Sun rich grass arose there, and while Angband was besieged and its gates shut there were green things even among the pits and broken rocks before the doors of hell.”
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