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When Sauron appears to the Jewel Smiths of Eregion as the Lord of Gifts he still had the power to appear beautiful. It appears that he could still take on a pleasing form when in Numenor and it was only after its destruction that he was "robbed now of that shape in which he had wrought so great an evil, so that he could never again appear fair to the eyes of Men" (Silm, Akallabeth)
Similarly Melkor, while in Aman spreading lies among the Noldor, had not yet taken on the form of "a dark Lord, tall and terrible" which he assumed when seeking out Ungoliant and which became his permanent form after the darkening of Valinor.
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He looked down at her in the twilight and it seemed to him that the lines of grief and cruel hardship were smoothed away. "She was not conquered," he said
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