LotR: Is Sauron just that big eye?

[Exterminas]

In the book he is mostly described as a malevolent spirit, rather than the eye itself. There are hints to the eye being present, like in the third book were it is mentioned that Sauron's tower actually has a window facing Mount Doom, so that he can watch the forge.

But in the end the Films enhanced that whole eye-thing a lot, which is understandable as film is a visual medium.

 

[SonicWaffle]

Or is there a guy/zombie/demigod type thing living in that tower the eye is on top of at the time the ring was destroyed? I'm not quite clear on that and guys I know who have read everything (and I mean everything) don't seem 100% on it either. The way some describe it, he's like the badguy in Inspector Gadget; just a claw & and eye. I know he had a bunch of forms thruout the history of Middle-earth but at the end, when the ring is destroyed, what form(s) did he have?

The Eye is his soul, sort of thing. His body is destroyed, so he's just a spirit. He builds the tower so he can sit at the top looking out.

That's my reading, anyway.

 

[ASnogarD]

One thing you pick up from the Silmarillion, is the fact Sauron was a Maiar (As Johnny Novgorod pointed out), along with the Valar these dont have a physical form and must create one to use...like clothes so none Anuir can actually see them and they can still walk 'unclothed and unseen'.

Sauron was able to look friendly and even able to trick the elves in Hollin where he taught them how to craft rings of power, where he then betrayed them and made the one ring to rule all the other rings and bind the ring bearers to his will, except the 3 the elves hid from him.
He lost the ability to use his friendlier form when he caused the downfall of Numenor (sp?) the ancestors of Aragorn, he trick the high king into attacking the land of the Valar and high elves to claim immortality for men and the whole island of Numenor was destroyed along with the form of Sauron, whose spirit flew back to his old realm in Mordor where he create the form of a dark lord.
He had poured a lot of his power into the one ring, so when he lost it he basically loses the ability to create a form but can remain as a spirit and as long as the ring was not destroyed he had enough power to interact with the world, when it was destroyed he was nothing more than a powerless spiteful spirit forced out beyond the world... like his boss, Morgoth.

 

[freaper]

Going from the movies he has no form. In the first movie Saruman says "he cannot yet takes physical form, but his spirit has lost none of its potency".

The Eye is probably just a manifestation of his power or something, just like the mouth of Sauron and the Nazgul. He's basically just an ominous evil presence rather than an actual dude.

Weren't the Nazgul human kings before they got corrupted? I guess them being a manifestation still stands insofar as the manifestation is their corrupted state.

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

The giant eye was made up by the movie because they figured that everyone would be too dumb to get it otherwise.

In the books the lidless eye is more metaphorical. It isn't a literal giant eye because that would be idiotic; its a presence that can be felt. Like the creepy feeling that something is watching you.

So to answer your question, no, Sauron is not a giant disembodied eye at all. He is more like a spirit, a shade that watches the world but is somewhat imperceptible, though he can communicate especially strongly with those who have the rings of power. Which is why Frodo can feel his corrupting presence from so far away, and why the Nazgul(who each have their own rings of power) are his chief lieutenants.

 

[BarkBarker]

It's CALLED the eye of Sauron, so I think it is safe to assume that it is a representation of his ever extending reach on middle earth or something.

 

[Kenjitsuka]

Hey, I kinda wondered this too!
Thanks for making the topic and giving all the answers all!

 

[Agayek]

Or is there a guy/zombie/demigod type thing living in that tower the eye is on top of at the time the ring was destroyed? I'm not quite clear on that and guys I know who have read everything (and I mean everything) don't seem 100% on it either. The way some describe it, he's like the badguy in Inspector Gadget; just a claw & and eye. I know he had a bunch of forms thruout the history of Middle-earth but at the end, when the ring is destroyed, what form(s) did he have?

Kinda sorta. Sauron is one of the Maiar (see also, the Istari, such as Gandalf and Saruman, and Balrogs), which are basically the Middle-Earth version of angels.

What that means is that his physical form is kinda irrelevant. It's a manifestation of his will and an exertion of power, nothing more.

Now, specifically in answer to your question, there are no physical remains of Sauron's body from when Isildur cut the ring from his finger. This includes the eye they used in the movie. That eye isn't really an eye so much as a symbolic representation of Sauron himself. It's his spirit atop Barad'dur.

Theoretically, he could make himself a new body, but it's heavily implied that he requires the Ring in order to do so. That's one of the reasons why him getting it would be so bad.

 

[Thyunda]

Or is there a guy/zombie/demigod type thing living in that tower the eye is on top of at the time the ring was destroyed? I'm not quite clear on that and guys I know who have read everything (and I mean everything) don't seem 100% on it either. The way some describe it, he's like the badguy in Inspector Gadget; just a claw & and eye. I know he had a bunch of forms thruout the history of Middle-earth but at the end, when the ring is destroyed, what form(s) did he have?

Kinda sorta. Sauron is one of the Maiar (see also, the Istari, such as Gandalf and Saruman, and Balrogs), which are basically the Middle-Earth version of angels.

What that means is that his physical form is kinda irrelevant. It's a manifestation of his will and an exertion of power, nothing more.

Now, specifically in answer to your question, there are no physical remains of Sauron's body from when Isildur cut the ring from his finger. This includes the eye they used in the movie. That eye isn't really an eye so much as a symbolic representation of Sauron himself. It's his spirit atop Barad'dur.

Theoretically, he could make himself a new body, but it's heavily implied that he requires the Ring in order to do so. That's one of the reasons why him getting it would be so bad.

Maiar can't die, they can only be banished. And I don't think Isildur had quite the power to banish a Maiar. As a result, the physical body can be destroyed but the essence of the being itself is free to rebuild elsewhere. Unless, say, you happened to be a Maiar of corrupted spirit and in control of a bit less of your own faculties...leading you to require external artefacts to regain your scattered power.