[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Kuruharan

Orcs were his primary servants, though. They would have had to have been permitted in his presence. Not vast crowds of them, of course, but leaders would almost certainly have had to have some kind of interaction with him. Also note that Shagrat and Gorbag discussed the possibility of Sauron coming to visit them in person. Grishnákh, to name another example, seems to be familiar with several matters of extreme sensitivity to Sauron. Grishnákh might have been present at Gollum's torture, where we know Sauron was present.

All good points which I overlooked. There were, of course, orcs and Orcs - Snagas, Uruks and Boldogs, some strong enough to stand in Sauron's presence, others maybe not so.

Originally Posted by Zigûr

I can picture this terrible figure, perhaps nine or ten feet tall and burning with heat, smashing Shagrat aside with a single monstrous backhanded blow.

Or with a purely mental blast of wrath communicated through flaming eyes - staring him to death. That would be how I'd picture it.

Originally Posted by Zigûr

Sauron as a kind of illegitimate aristocrat is interesting, because like many modern tyrants he was no king but acted and was treated like one - yet at the same time he was a very "great person" in his own way; but among his own people, while somewhat high of stature, he was not of the highest rank (even among the Maiar alone, it would seem).

By the standard of his peers Sauron was an impostor, as there was but one rightful king among the Ainur - Manwë, the Elder King under Ilúvatar. But by his mortal subjects he was (and aspired to be) regarded as far more than a king - a god, or god-king. Theocracy as a form of government isn't particularly medieval but has occurred throughout history from antiquity even to the modern Middle East, and watching news of the murdering hordes of Daesh it's hard not to feel reminded of Orcs propagating Sauron-worship.