[The Saucepan Man]

I have never understood this "Sauron as a flaming eyeball" thing. Maybe it is the films.

When I first read the book, it seemed pretty clear to me that the red eye was symbolic (in the sense of being borne by the Orcs of Morgul) and figurative (in the references to Frodo seeing the eye and to the eye being on one particular place or another).

I always imagined Sauron simply as a dark presence in Barad-Dur, all the more terrifying for the fact that he is never actually described in person. I had no real conception of whether he was a physical being or not, although earlier posts here clearly prove that he was. The idea of a dark, brooding presence was enough for me.

But physically manifested in the shape of a flaiming eyeball? Give me a break! [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]