Thoughts on Sauron/Mairon
I have a sneaking suspicion I know how Tolkien would have eventually written Sauronâs fate, and that would be with post dagor dagorath Sauron being redeemed after his masterâs death. redeemed to become the new vala of darkness, one that wouldnât mess up the song of shadow Melkor was supposed to sing. After all, Tolkien tells us Sauron knows the song Melkor was supposed to sing (darkness)better than Melkor did. Thatâs the first hint Sauron would be capable of fulfilling Melkorâs true role after his demise. We also know Mairon didnât screw up his own song by following Melkorâs melody like some of the other maiar did.
Sauron only lacks two things: first heâs a maia, and thus designed to serve one of the valar. Second, he only has a maiaâs level of power, not a valaâs. This brings up what I think Tolkien was getting at with having two types of ainur; the valar represent the ainurâs upper-class, and the maiar represent the working class. Likewise, in the war the ainur were fighting, maiar would have been troops while the valar were like officers. This is why Morgoth gets the void, but I donât think Sauron would. Sauron is basically an evil Samwise to an evil Frodo. Thatâs also why his relationship to Morgoth isnât one of total fear; Morgoth knows he can count on him like Frodo knows he can count on Sam. Likewise when Sauron says he does everything in his masterâs name, he really means that. Itâs not some cover for him to lay the blame on his master while getting away with evil or power grabbing.
Now about the song of darkness Eru intended for Melkor to sing, I donât think the other valar ever really heard it. Maybe the first part, but I donât think Melkor sang the correct version long enough for most of them to understand it, which is why the valar seemed almost at war with anything dark, whether or not it was entirely evil. Darkness was meant for rest and concealment/revelation, but Morgothâs refusing to rest turned it into strife and confusion. Mairon heard it because of his apparent nature, which seems to involve excellence, industry, and ingenuity. He would have to have understood at least some of all the songs for his own song to be sung. That kinda makes Sauron the maia you want to hang around when you need to, say, build a civilization.
This takes us to Sauronâs original/non-evil name Mairon, which Tolkien decided on after LOTR was published. This appeared in the Parma Eldalamberon collection. And here it is:
Mairon, masc. name âthe Admirableâ (cf. adj. maira), said to be the original name of Sauron, changed when he was suborned by Melkor, âbut he continued to call himself Mairon the Admirable, or Tar-mairon âKing Excellentâ, until after the downfall of NĂșmenorâ (PE17:183). Since Sauron had joined Melkor before the Elves came to Valinor and developed the Quenya language, we are perhaps to understand that Mairon is a translation by sense of Sauronâs original Valarin name, though Sauron himself may seem to have used the Elvish form in Middle-earth and on NĂșmenor.
And hereâs the feminine root:
maira noun âadmirable, excellent, preciousâ, âadmirable, splendid, sublime. only of great, august or splendid thingsâ (PE17:163, 172)
 Take a minute to appreciate that Precious really is Sauronâs name, just as Gollum called it. His evil name is an exact reversal of that. So as others have pointed out, Mairon is a sort of walking embodiment of perfection and adoration.
Finally Sauron fell into evil because he loved the world and wanted to fix it, but he came to value perfection more than the world. I think this was probably a result of frustration with trying to fix the world, something that would have been hopeless after evil existed. Interestingly enough, Eru wants the same thing Mairon does, but Sauron didnât understand that. Which is why he had to fall and learn that Eruâs way is best, and itâs that same desire for perfection that would end up being his salvation. But he had to see Morgothâs mistakes upclose to prepare him for what was coming and to prevent him from making the same mistakes Morgoth did for the second song, when Middle Earth is recreated.
With Morgoth dead, Mairon is up for promotion. At least, thatâs my story, and Iâm sticking with it!
