Quote:
Originally Posted by Zigûr
2. Middle-earth under the absolute domination of Sauron would have been a world without freedom, of slavery and misery as punishment for all creatures in the West that had defied his will for so long. In Rhûn and Harad he was already held in dread and reverence as a god.
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To that end, I would add that to Sauron, it was not enough to have "evil" (or at least, inimical toward goodness) slaves like the Mouth of Sauron, or rank and file orcs. He would have derived much more satisfaction to see an enslaved West in thrall to him
against their will.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zigûr
Regarding the Music we are afforded further information in "Notes on Motives in the Silmarillion", which really is the essential and definitive text for understanding Sauron: "Sauron could not, of course, be a 'sincere' atheist. Though one of the minor spirit created before the world, he knew Eru, according to his measure. He probably deluded himself with the notion that the Valar (including Melkor) having failed, Eru had simply abandoned Eä, or at any rate Arda, and would not concern himself with it anymore." He also "regarded the motives of Manwë as precisely the same as his own" regarding Saruman, so he must have given some serious thought to the Valar as late as the Third Age.
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That might touch on another
recent thread dealing with Sauron's inability to understand the strategy of the Istari, and Gandalf in particular.
If Sauron knew, or surmised the Istari had been sent by the Valar, considering Manwë's motives in doing so could easily have added to his conviction that if any of them found his Ring, they would be unable to resist its lure for long, if at all.