Quote:
Originally Posted by Andsigil
No doubt there will be people here who will point out that I'm in error, but I've always felt that, since they were all Maiar, Sauron and the Istari knew each other from their days before coming to Middle Earth.
I never got the impression that the Maia population was so big that Sauron, for example hadn't met, or at least heard of Curumo (Saruman) or Olórin (Gandalf) while they were in Valinor for a few thousand years.
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I totally agree with you on the matter that Sauron knew other Istari as Maiar in Valinor and as Ainur before, in the time of Music. The issue is that Sauron never happened to meet any of them in person in ME, where they adopted a humble identity of wizards and accepted names given by people's of ME, keeping their true origin, names and identity a grave secret. They unveiled it only to few wisest and Sauron was not one of the few.
Moreover, I am sure making Sauron aware of their nature was the last thing Istari desired. Sauron, on the other hand, must have feared the situation when The Ring comes into the hands of another Maia more than anything else (as he did not believe it could be destroyed).
Something tells me if Sauron had known Gandalf was a Maia in advance, he would not have just sent the Nine to retrieve it from 'Baggins' but, perhaps, went along with them himself. But if he came to such conclusion after his most terrible servants enjoyed Elrond's swimming class at Rivendell, it seems to me now, he could hardly do anything different.