Sauron's name

[Inziladun]

I'm not aware of any canonical reference to that name. The name Sauron, "The Abhorred", was given by the Elves obviously after his allegiance to Morgoth, and if they had a name for him in his unfallen state, I haven't seen it.

Edit: Wikipedia does cite this source for the Mairon name, said to mean "The Admirable", but again, I'm not cognizant of a canonical citation.

[Andsigil]

The Lord of the Rings wikia says that the name was in Tolkien's notes, but never in any of his published works.

I can't find a source stating that it was actually found in his notes. I would imagine that Christopher Tolkien would have included it somewhere in the later publishings. Oh, well.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Andsigil

I can't find a source stating that it was actually found in his notes. I would imagine that Christopher Tolkien would have included it somewhere in the later publishings. Oh, well.

If Tolkien did have it somewhere in notes, I still wouldn't put much stock in it. Other things in "notes" were to have Bilbo be the main character in LOTR, and for Legolas and Gimli to leave the Fellowship and head home after Boromir's death.

[Zigûr]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

If Tolkien did have it somewhere in notes, I still wouldn't put much stock in it. Other things in "notes" were to have Bilbo be the main character in LOTR, and for Legolas and Gimli to leave the Fellowship and head home after Boromir's death.

Oh I don't know, if it's not contradicted by anything written later I'm willing to give it the time of day personally. I mean, it's not like trying to say Sauron was also Tevildo the Cat-Lord or something, is it? Or even that his name was Thû.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Zigûr

Oh I don't know, if it's not contradicted by anything written later I'm willing to give it the time of day personally. I mean, it's not like trying to say Sauron was also Tevildo the Cat-Lord or something, is it? Or even that his name was Thû.

Thû for Sauron at least appears in published work as collected by Christopher Tolkien, and I'm unaware that the same could be said for Mairon.

[William Cloud Hicklin]

I'm not sure why JRRT notes in Parma should be considered of lesser canonical "rank" than similar notes published by CT, any more than we should disparage the Rateliff, Flieger, and Hammond/Scull publications of his papers.

I would place "Mairon", if I had to, alongside the elf-lord Argon.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

I'm not sure why JRRT notes in Parma should be considered of lesser canonical "rank" than similar notes published by CT, any more than we should disparage the Rateliff, Flieger, and Hammond/Scull publications of his papers.

I would place "Mairon", if I had to, alongside the elf-lord Argon.

I guess my main issue is the question of whether The Maia Soon To Be Known As Sauron would have been well-known enough to the Elves before his following of Melkor, to have been given a name meaning "the admirable". It's possible I suppose, since he was originally a follower of Aulë, and the Noldor were close to that Vala. So I guess the answer to the original question of this thread is "maybe".

[Erestor]

Tolkien Gateway has a larger article about the issue of the journal in question. I belief we can be certain it's written by Tolkien himself, and I think we can assume it's written after the LotR first came out, seeing those notes are material to study the becoming of the second edition. But I'm not sure either where to place it in the hierarchy of the canon. Good reading material when I've got enough time on my hands.