Sauron's Great Miscalculation

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Zigûr

Did they even know that their 'god' was personally directing their campaign against Gondor?

I would think so. They were submitting themselves to the overall leadership of Mordor, and traditions of their peoples would recall, I would surmise, personal appearances by Sauron in their lands long before.

Originally Posted by Zigûr

One thing I think this raises is the issue of how the Men of Darkness conceived of their 'god'. Did they think of their 'god' as a person who lived at the top of the tower in the Dark Land, or as some more nebulous force, or as something else entirely?

I think by the time of the Third Age Sauron was The Red Eye: an abstract, remote power that could not be denied, and would reward those who aided it.

[Zigûr]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I would think so. They were submitting themselves to the overall leadership of Mordor, and traditions of their peoples would recall, I would surmise, personal appearances by Sauron in their lands long before.

Yes, I suppose the "king and god" aspect covers that. Sauron wanted both temporal power and divine worship, so it would make sense for him to clearly occupy the simultaneous positions of deity and overlord in their cultures.