Sauron's hair colour

[Morsul the Dark]

Sauron was clearly ginger. And not just redhead I'm talking Carrot Top. he did love him some props rings maces scary armor... a giant inflatable flaming eye.

Then there the evidence of his humor like when Frodo sees him on the seat of seeing and Sauron says "I've got my Eye on you..."

should probably have kept the inside thoughts inside on this one....

[Alfirin]

Originally Posted by Morsul the Dark

Sauron was clearly ginger. And not just redhead I'm talking Carrot Top. he did love him some props rings maces scary armor... a giant inflatable flaming eye.

Then there the evidence of his humor like when Frodo sees him on the seat of seeing and Sauron says "I've got my Eye on you..."

should probably have kept the inside thoughts inside on this one....

Actually you may be on to something there. Given the amount of Norse mythology Tolkein used for inspiration, and the general way Sauron behaved (especially in the First and Second ages) I've always seen a sort of Loki-ish strain in him. And a lot of depictions of Loki also give him red hair (of course I've seen a lot of blonde ones as well)
I suppose it is also possible that, in his Annatar form (since Sauron has multiple body forms, we should really be talking about his hair color on a body by body basis, with each new form, he could have had a different one.) Sauron had silver hair. Making himself look "fair" to the men of Numenor probably meant looking as Elven as possible, and silver is the only hair color that (as far as we know) Elves have and humans don't (or at least don't have often)

[Nerwen]

I can only assume Agan's sudden interest in this topic is the result of discovering her true nature.

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

I can only assume Agan's sudden interest in this topic is the result of discovering her true nature.

Ah, that must be what piqued Aganir's interest in looking up Sauron fan-art on the interwebs.

Come to think of it, I kind of imagined fair Sauron blonde, or really bright anyway. He was an angelic being, and therefore that is what he looked like to me: someone who was pretty and had light coming out of him, or something. Now that I say that aloud, I feel kind of silly.

[Aganzir]

Originally Posted by Faramir Jones

If you want to imagine the fair-looking Sauron as having dark hair, that's fine by me.

Thanks. The thing is, I first read The Silmarillion in Finnish (actually I've never read it in English, apart from the early versions in HoME) and I think the translator had opted for beautiful rather than not dark.

Originally Posted by TheGreatElvenWarrior

Ah, that must be what piqued Aganir's interest in looking up Sauron fan-art on the interwebs.

Hey hey that's what you get if you search #silmarillion on Tumblr. It's not like I exactly wanted to see erotic pictures of Sauron and Morgoth drawn by average artists.

[Morthoron]

Red is the color of Sauron's hair -
Of his coif he does not stint.
Such body and bounce for one so fair,
'Tis sure the bastard tints!

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

Originally Posted by Aganzir

Hey hey that's what you get if you search #silmarillion on Tumblr. It's not like I exactly wanted to see erotic pictures of Sauron and Morgoth drawn by average artists.

Oh ho, so that's what one finds on Tumblr. You can keep your average porn to yourself, thank you. I will continue to imagine Sauron as an asexual being.

[Faramir Jones]

TheGreatElvenWarrior, you made an interesting assumption about Sauron being an 'asexual being'. Would you think the same thing applied to the Ringwraiths, after they became wraiths? Perhaps these were actual topics of debate among loremasters in Middle-earth.

On a more down to earth level, I've thought that if Gondorian soldiers were more like those of WWI and WWII, they would have asked the Nazgul, and in particular their leader, about when they were last sexually active. Also, the Ringwraiths would be asked about their Dark Lord, about whether he had certain organs, and if he ever used them, or if they were just for decoration.

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by TheGreatElvenWarrior

Oh ho, so that's what one finds on Tumblr. You can keep your average porn to yourself, thank you. I will continue to imagine Sauron as an asexual being.

If you venture onto Tumblr bear in mind that there's an internet saying: "What has been seen cannot be unseen."



I have to say though, I've just found one called The Adventures of Mini Thorin and had some proper chuckles

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Alfirin

Actually you may be on to something there. Given the amount of Norse mythology Tolkein used for inspiration, and the general way Sauron behaved (especially in the First and Second ages) I've always seen a sort of Loki-ish strain in him. And a lot of depictions of Loki also give him red hair (of course I've seen a lot of blonde ones as well)
I suppose it is also possible that, in his Annatar form (since Sauron has multiple body forms, we should really be talking about his hair color on a body by body basis, with each new form, he could have had a different one.) Sauron had silver hair. Making himself look "fair" to the men of Numenor probably meant looking as Elven as possible, and silver is the only hair color that (as far as we know) Elves have and humans don't (or at least don't have often)

Red hair isn't really a Viking thing, it's a 'Celtic fringe' (no pun intended ) thing. The Irish referred to the Vikings who invaded them as the dubgaill and finngaill which suggests they were mostly either dark or blonde haired.

But yes, there are lots of artworks made where they portray Vikings with red hair. This is probably because even now it scares people and there's a stereotype that us redheads are a bit bad tempered. I'm not going to disabuse anyone from this myth, it's quite handy...

The Elves primarily had very dark or very fair hair, so either would seem beautiful to them, surely, and whichever way you choose to picture Sauron as Annatar is equally valid.

I always picture him as very blonde though I'm not sure he would be, thinking about Tolkien's references to blonde hair and Light or divinity - see Gimli's request for some of Galadriel's hair to use in crafting a jewel that would capture her 'Light'. Would Sauron be able to clothe himself in such a way?

[Aganzir]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

Well, Sauron certainly didn't have a beard, unlike Saruman.

Even though we can argue he probably didn't sport one in Valinor.

Originally Posted by Alfirin

Making himself look "fair" to the men of Numenor probably meant looking as Elven as possible, and silver is the only hair color that (as far as we know) Elves have and humans don't (or at least don't have often)

I'm not all that sure if 'elven' constituted 'pretty' in the later days of Númenor. But you may be right when you speak about his body by body basis... there's something for everyone.

Originally Posted by Nerwen

I can only assume Agan's sudden interest in this topic is the result of discovering her true nature.

You caught me there.

Anyway I'm happy to see I can keep imagining him dark-haired.

[Faramir Jones]

Aganzir, I don't believe (though I'm certainly open to correction) that there's been any reference in any of Tolkien's works to Sauron's hair colour, in the time, up to near the end of the Second Age, when he could put on a fair form. If you want to imagine the fair-looking Sauron as having dark hair, that's fine by me.