[continued from previous message]
was of crucial importance and thus could not be left out or glossed
over, but Tolkien had written almost no description of the event since
1930 (long before even /The Hobbit/ was published) and the mythology
had changed drastically since then. Moreover, Tolkien was never happy
with some aspects of the story, in particular with the question of how
the Dwarves could invade Doriath despite the Girdle of Melian. The
published version was directly inspired by some of Tolkien's drafts of
the tale (those which seemed easiest to reconcile with the rest of the
story), but was essentially rewritten to be consistent with the rest of
the book and to include a few ideas from Tolkien's later writings.
That meant some major changes: for example, in Tolkien's own drafts,
the Nauglamir did not exist before it was made to hold the Silmaril
(out of raw gold from Nargothrond), and Thingol was not slain until the
full Dwarvish army attacked.
In his comments on "Of the Ruin of Doriath" (an appendix to "The
Tale of Years" in /The War of the Jewels/), Christopher Tolkien
concludes with the regret that "the undoubted difficulties could have
been, and should have been, surmounted without so far overstepping the
bounds of the editorial function." Elsewhere in that book, at the end
of the section "The Wanderings of Hurin", he speaks of other omissions
and alterations, and says,
it seems to me now, many years later, to have been an excessive
tampering with my father's actual thought and intention: thus
raising the question, whether the attempt to make a 'unified'
/Silmarillion/ should have been embarked on.
Whatever failings /The Silmarillion/ as published may have, I think
that most of its readers are grateful to have it, and would assure
Christopher Tolkien that his work was worthwhile. He undertook a great
task in bringing it to print, and despite his later misgivings I think
most would agree that he did an excellent job.
-------
4. Which are "The Two Towers"?
Tolkien was never very happy with the title. In Letters #140 and
#143 he considers many interpretations of it, each with its own
rationale, and even comments that it could be left ambiguous. It
seems, however, that he eventually settled on one interpretation.
The note at the end of /The Fellowship of the Ring/ in three-volume
editions of LotR states that
The second part is called /The Two Towers/, since the events
recounted in it are dominated by /Orthanc/, the citadel of Saruman,
and the fortress of /Minas Morgul/ that guards the secret entrance
to Mordor.
According to Wayne Hammond's /J.R.R. Tolkien: A Descriptive
Bibliography/, Tolkien submitted that note a month after his indecision
in Letter #143. And a month later, Tolkien submitted an illustration
for the dust-jacket of /The Two Towers/; as can be seen in /J.R.R.
Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator/ (plate [180]), that illustration shows
Minas Morgul and Orthanc as well. It seems clear that this was
Tolkien's final decision.
-------
5. Which books /about/ Tolkien are good, and which aren't?
A few disclaimers. First, this is a very subjective question, and
what follows is largely a matter of individual opinion. This list was
gleaned from discussions on the newsgroups and it reflects some level
of consensus, but no verdict was unanimous. Second, this list is
/very/ incomplete, but there simply isn't space to list all of the
excellent scholarship on Tolkien that has been produced. Unfortunately,
this means that only books will be included, and I will focus on only
the best known of those (and even then, I'm sure some are missing). My apologies to anyone who has been overlooked.
With that being said, these are some of the best secondary works
about Tolkien, in no particular order. I have included general
descriptions for books whose titles do not make their content clear.
* /The Complete Guide to Middle-earth/, by Robert Foster. A
detailed and very trustworthy glossary of people, places, and
things in /The Hobbit/, LotR, and /The Silmarillion/, including
page references to the original texts.
* /[J.R.R.] Tolkien: A Biography/, by Humphrey Carpenter. (The
initials are not part of the title in the USA.)
* /The Annotated Hobbit/, by J.R.R. Tolkien, annotated by Douglas A.
Anderson. Textual history and general comments (be sure to get
the recent second edition).
* /J.R.R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator/ by Wayne Hammond and
Christina Scull. Pictures by Tolkien and accompanying
discussion.
* /The Road to Middle-earth/ and /J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the
Century/, by Tom Shippey. Literary analysis and criticism.
* /Splintered Light/ and /A Question of Time/, by Verlyn Flieger.
Literary analysis and criticism.
* /Tolkien's Legendarium/, ed. Verlyn Flieger and Carl F. Hostetter.
Literary analysis and criticism related to the "History of
Middle-earth" series (and Tolkien's other works). Some find
parts of this book to be a good introduction to that series.
* /The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion/, by Wayne Hammond
and Christina Scull. Page by page annotation of LotR with
comments of interest to everyone from second-time readers to
seasoned experts. Contains material from some previously
unpublished letters and essays by Tolkien, as well as summaries
of textual history and general observations.
A notable book whose status is ambiguous is /The Atlas of
Middle-earth/, by Karen Wynn Fonstad. It is the best general Tolkien
atlas available, covering the full history of Middle-earth, and in most
cases Fonstad has done well in extrapolating detailed topographic maps
from Tolkien's texts and rougher originals. However, there are a fair
number of minor errors in her research, and it can sometimes be
difficult to tell what level of justification exists for each of her
maps' details.
Finally, what follow are a few books that many Tolkien scholars
avoid. All of them can be enjoyable to read when taken on their own,
but they are not entirely trustworthy guides to Tolkien's Middle-earth
and are generally ignored in scholarly debates. Because I am not
comfortable speaking poorly of others' work without justification, I
have provided links to further discussion for each of these titles.
* /A Tolkien Bestiary/, and other books by David Day.
http://tolkien.slimy.com/essays/DayBooks.html
* /The Tolkien Companion/, by J.E.A. Tyler.
http://tolkien.slimy.com/essays/TylerBook.html
* /The Languages of Tolkien's Middle-earth/, by Ruth Noel.
http://www.elvish.org/articles/LRH.html
-------
6. Is Middle-earth Medieval?
Tolkien's works draw from quite a few periods of human history, and
many aspects of Middle-earth distinctly resemble their real-world
counterparts in the Middle Ages. However, there are substantial
discrepancies in society and culture that indicate that other periods
in history also made large contributions (as one example, in Letter
#211 Tolkien compared several significant aspects of the society of
Gondor to that of ancient Egypt). The relative influence of Medieval
and other periods has been hotly contested in the past, though this has
not been a major issue in recent years.
-------
7. Was Tolkien racist? Were his works?
A full discussion of this issue is beyond the scope of this FAQ.
Some people find what they consider to be clear indications of racist
attitudes in Tolkien's works. It is certainly possible that they are
right: racism is notoriously difficult to recognize accurately, and
most people harbor at least some level of racial mistrust.
On the other hand, most people who make such accusations seem to do
so primarily to stir up controversy and inspire flame wars. In fact,
much of the "evidence" presented to demonstrate Tolkien's racism is
flawed, and there is reason to believe that Tolkien was less racist
than many people of his day. For the sake of diffusing the issue a
little, I will mention a few of those mistaken arguments.
One occasional charge is that Tolkien was anti-semitic, presumably
because he occasionally compared his Dwarves to Jews. Those
comparisons seem to focus on history and language, however: in Letter
#176 he says, "I do think of the 'Dwarves' like Jews: at once native
and alien in their habitations, speaking the languages of the country,
but with an accent due to their own private tongue.....". And he seems
to have had a very positive view of the Jewish people in general. For
example, when discussing the origins of the name "Tolkien" in the final footnote to Letter #325, he says, "It is not Jewish in origin, though I
should consider it an honour if it were." He made very similar comments
in a draft of a letter (#30) to a publisher in Nazi Germany who asked
about his race, and in Letter #29 he introduced that draft and told his publisher, "I should regret giving any colour to the notion that I
subscribed to the wholly pernicious and unscientific race-doctrine."
Another seemingly prejudiced statement comes in Letter #210, where
Tolkien describes the Orcs as "degraded and repulsive versions of the
(to Europeans) least lovely Mongol-types". At first glance this looks blatantly racist, but the qualifier "to Europeans" casts it in a very
different light: Tolkien explicitly recognized that different cultures
have different standards of beauty, and that his impressions did not
reflect any underlying superiority. Moreover, he made it clear that
the Orcs were not in any sense actual "Mongol-types", but "degraded and repulsive versions" of humanoid stock. (Nevertheless, his comment
certainly falls short of modern standards of sensitivity.)
Many point to the "hierarchy" of the various groups of humans in the
books as clear evidence of cultural elitism or racism, but they seem to
forget that most of the Numenoreans (the "highest" humans) fell into
deepest evil and were destroyed by God, while the Woses (the "Wild Men"
of Druadan forest, who certainly would not represent "civilized"
Europeans) were among the most wise and resistant to evil of all
peoples (as well as having a complex culture and many skills other Men
lacked), to take two of many examples.
Finally, a few people have mistaken the symbolic conflict between
"darkness" and "light" in the books for a conflict between "black" and
"white", which they then interpret racially (which is already a
stretch). They seem to overlook the ghastly white corpse-light of
Minas Morgul, the White Hand of Saruman, and Isildur's black Stone of
Erech, to name a few exceptions.
As for specific claims that Tolkien linked skin color to good and
evil, there are simply too many exceptions for that to hold up. Light
skinned characters who did evil things include Saruman, Grima, Gollum,
Boromir, Denethor, and the Numenoreans as mentioned above. And it is
notable that Tolkien described Forlong's people of Gondor and even the
men of Bree as "swarthy", the same term he used for example of the
Southrons who were ambushed by Faramir (though to be fair, he may have
imagined different degrees of "swarthiness" for those groups). For
that matter, Sam's flash of empathy for the fallen Southron he saw
during the ambush indicates that many of Sauron's soldiers were likely unwilling slaves, not evil at heart.
In short, while there are racially "suspicious" elements to be found
in Tolkien's writings if one hunts for them, closer examination
typically reveals the attitude behind them to be benign. That doesn't
mean that he was perfect, but it certainly doesn't seem that he should
be condemned for intolerance.
-------
8. Are there electronic versions of Tolkien's books?
At long last, authorized electronic editions of several of Tolkien's
books are available: at this time, they include /The Hobbit/, /The Lord
of the Rings/, and /The Children of Hurin/. Links to purchase these
editions can be found in the Tolkien section of the HarperCollins
website:
http://www.harpercollins.com/authors/11538/index.aspx
There are of course limitations on these texts. All of the formats
currently available (there are quite a few) are protected by various
types of "Digital Rights Management" software to limit printing and
copying, so you should make sure your hardware is compatible before
buying.
-------
9. Where can I report copyright violations that I observe?
If you find an unauthorized copy of any of Tolkien's works on the
Internet, you may want to take some action to support the rights of the
Tolkien Estate. It is generally best to begin with a polite request
that the texts be taken offline, and only if that fails to take more
drastic action such as contacting the hosting Internet service
provider. If all else fails, you can send a brief letter to the
Estate's legal representative informing her of the situation, although
this should be considered a last resort:
Mrs. Cathleen Blackburn
Manches & Co.
3 Worcester Street
Oxford OX1 2PZ
U.K.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
III.B. STORY INTERNAL QUESTIONS: CREATURES AND CHARACTERS
1. Did Balrogs have wings?
[Conrad Dunkerson has written a much more detailed essay on this
question as part of his "The Truth About Balrogs" series, on the web
at:
http://tolkien.slimy.com/essays/TAB6.html. That page also includes
links to other discussions of the issue.]
Debates on this topic have been frequent and intense, in part
because people unknowingly interpret the question in very different
ways. Most participants in these debates agree on the following:
* The Balrog in Moria had "wings" of some sort, or if you prefer, a
"shadow" shaped like wings.
* Those "wings" were probably not made of flesh and blood, but
rather of some sort of "dark emanation" or "palpable darkness".
Many of the most intense arguments seem to have resulted from
different uses of the word "wing". In this consensus statement, the
(quoted) word "wing" is used only as a convenient symbol for the
feature of the Balrog under discussion, without reference to any
standard definition. In particular, the statement does not specify
whether the "palpable darkness" always had a winglike shape.
So what are the different definitions that people use? The Oxford
English Dictionary divides its relevant definitions of the word "wing"
into two groups. Group I includes definitions that for the most part
refer to physical parts of a creature's body. For example, #1.a. is
"Each of the organs of flight of any flying animal" (but broadened to
include cases where similar organs are not used for flight, such as
penguins' wings and even "the enlarged fins of flying fishes").
Group II includes definitions relating primarily to a thing's shape
or position. For example, #5. is "An appliance or appendage resembling
or analagous to a wing in form or function", including #5.a. "An
artificial apparatus attached to the human arms or shoulders" and
#5.d.(a) "one of the planes of an aeroplane". Even broader, #6 is "A
lateral part or appendage: in various connexions."
With a "Group II" definition of "wing", the question "Do Balrogs
have wings?" is more or less trivial: Tolkien's description clearly
fits (at least at the time described in the quotes below), as does the consensus statement above. With a "Group I" definition of "wing", the
question is more interesting and the answer less obvious: it depends on
the specific definition, and even then not everyone will agree.
The consensus statement above was not reached quickly, and even with
a "Group I" definition some newcomers believe that a simple "yes" or
"no" is clear from the description of the Balrog in "The Bridge of
Khazad-dum". The debates generally begin as follows:
* "Pro-wingers" point out that when the Balrog steps onto the
Bridge, "its wings were spread from wall to wall".
* "No-wingers" point out that the word "wings" was first used in the
phrase "the shadow about it reached out like two vast wings", and
deduce that the word "wings" refers to the "shadow" itself rather
than to a part of the Balrog's solid central body. (The "shadow"
was seen when the Balrog first appeared: "it was like a great
shadow, in the middle of which was a dark form", and it is likely
the "cloud" in the phrase "It came to the edge of the fire and
the light faded as if a cloud had bent over it".)
* "Pro-wingers" claim that as the Balrog came closer to the
Fellowship its uncertain appearance became clearer, so what first
looked like a "shadow" or "cloud" and later "like wings" was
finally recognized as "wings" once the Balrog was nearby.
"No-wingers" do not agree with this interpretation.
Progress beyond this point is difficult, but again, most of those on
both sides of the debate agree with the consensus statement. One
substantial remaining point of disagreement is whether the "wings"
always had a winglike shape (supported in part by Tolkien's use of the
direct phrase "its wings") or if their form was variable (supported in
part by the "cloud" description), and there is no firm evidence known
for either position.
-------
2. Could Balrogs fly?
[Conrad Dunkerson has written a much more detailed essay on this
question as part of his "The Truth About Balrogs" series, on the web
at:
http://tolkien.slimy.com/essays/TAB6.html. That page also includes
links to other discussions of the issue.]
There is considerable disagreement on this point. Most agree that
the Moria passage does not provide convincing evidence for or against
Balrogs' ability to fly. (For example, while the Balrog does not fly
out of the chasm, it may not have had enough room to use its wings, or
its highest priority may have been the destruction of a rival Maia in
its domain.) Most also agree that as Maiar, Balrogs could conceivably
be able to fly even if they had no wings, or that they could have had
wings but remained flightless. Still, the two issues are certainly
related to some degree.
A number of facts have been taken as indirect evidence that Balrogs
could not fly (e.g. they never flew over the mountains to discover
Gondolin; at least two died falling from cliffs), but counterarguments
have always been found (the eagles defended Gondolin; the Balrogs fell
only after great injuries). Clearer evidence comes from "Of Tuor and
his Coming to Gondolin" in /Unfinished Tales/, when Voronwe says, "as
yet no servant of the Enemy has dared to fly into the high airs". Even
if Voronwe's information was complete, however, this still leaves room
for Balrogs to be able to fly at low altitudes.
The only known place where Tolkien may have made a direct statement
on Balrogs' ability to fly can be found in "The Later Quenta
Silmarillion (II)" in /Morgoth's Ring/:
Far beneath the halls of Angband... the Balrogs lurked still....
Swiftly they arose, and they passed with winged speed over Hithlum,
and they came to Lammoth as a tempest of fire.
Some believe that this passage clearly describes Balrogs flying, others
believe it just uses imagery of flight to indicate speed, and still
others believe it to be ambiguous.
-------
3. What was Tom Bombadil?
[This supplements question V.G.1 of the Tolkien FAQ.]
[I have written a much more detailed analysis of this question; it is
on the web at:
http://tolkien.slimy.com/essays/Bombadil.html]
Theories on Bombadil's nature abound. Many people believe that Tom
was a Maia: if we assume he is one of the types of entities we know of
from the Silmarillion, this seems to be the best fit. (A closely
related suggestion is that Tom was an Ainu who never took a place in
the usual hierarchy of Arda). Other popular views make Tom a nature
spirit of a kind never explicitly described, either one of many, or the incarnation of Arda itself. These theories are inspired by comments at
the Council of Elrond and in /Letters/.
Many other possibilities still arise regularly (for example, that he
is some particular Vala or even Eru himself), but there are fairly
strong arguments against them. (For example, Tolkien said in several
Letters that Eru did not physically inhabit Middle-earth.) Some people
argue that Tolkien intentionally left Bombadil an enigma even to
himself, and that therefore any attempt to find out what he was is
doomed to fail. A truly satisfying explanation of Bombadil's nature
would explain Goldberry as well.
-------
4. Did Elves have pointed ears?
[This supplements question V.C.1 of the Tolkien FAQ.]
[Conrad Dunkerson has written a more detailed discussion of this
question, on the web at:
http://tolkien.slimy.com/essays/Ears.html.]
There is no known text in which Tolkien makes a final, unambiguous
statement about the shape of Elvish ears. Those who argue in favor of
pointed ears generally cite a remark which seems to support that
position found in the "Etymologies" (part of /The Lost Road/). That
document was written in the period immediately before the composition
of LotR and revised sporadically while LotR was being written, so it is
unclear to what extent it should be treated as a canonical source.
Those who argue against pointed ears focus on Tolkien's statements that
Elves and humans were sufficiently similar that they could be mistaken
for each other. There is no consensus on this issue.
-------
5. Did Elves have beards?
Most of Tolkien's writings imply that Elves were generally
beardless. This is stated clearly in a note written late in Tolkien's
life which is summarized in the section "Amroth and Nimrodel" in "The
History of Galadriel and Celeborn" in /Unfinished Tales/. In the note,
there is a discussion of the Elvish strain in Men, as to its being
observable in the beardlessness of those who were so descended (it
was a characteristic of all Elves to be beardless).
At first glance, this would seem to settle the issue.
However, this ignores a crucial exception. In "The Grey Havens",
when Cirdan the Shipwright greets Frodo and the Elves, we read "Very
tall he was, and his beard was long". This canonical evidence makes it
clear that some Elves do have beards. A very incomplete explanation of
this apparent discrepancy appears in a note associated with "The
Shibboleth of Feanor" which was published in the journal /Vinyar
Tengwar/ #41, which reads
Elves did not have beards until they entered their third cycle of
life. Nerdanel's father was exceptional, being only early in his
second.
(Nerdanel was Feanor's wife.) No other mention of Elvish "cycles of
life" is known. Even without a full understanding, however, this helps
to reconcile these statements: Cirdan was one of the oldest Elves in Middle-earth and could easily be in his "third cycle of life", and
humans descended from Elves might never live long enough to reach the
bearded state.
-------
6. What happened to Elves after they died?
[This updates question V.D.1 of the Tolkien LessFAQ.]
A great deal of information on this topic can be found in /Morgoth's
Ring/ (HoMe X). Tolkien's latest thoughts on the issue can be found in
"Note 3" to the "Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth" and in the Appendix to
that text. In brief, when Elves died, they were summoned to Mandos.
Once the Valar deemed them to be ready, they could (if they wished) be
directly re-embodied (with the aid of the Valar) in a body identical to
the one they had lost. Tolkien clearly abandoned the idea that the
Elves could be re-born as children.
"Note 3" says that Elven spirits "could refuse the summons [to
Mandos], but this would imply that they were in some way tainted".
Details of such refusals are not given in the text above, but are
discussed in an earlier essay: "Laws and Customs among the Eldar", part
of "The Later Quenta Silmarillion (II)" in /Morgoth's Ring/. Those who
refused "then had little power to resist the counter-summons of
Morgoth." The reason for this "counter-summons" is not explained, nor
is it clear what became of them after Morgoth's defeat, but the text
mentions that some of the living sought to speak with the "Unbodied" or
even to control them, and that "Such practices are of Morgoth; and the necromancers are of the host of Sauron his servant."
-------
7. Was Glorfindel of Rivendell the same as Glorfindel of Gondolin?
[This updates question V.D.2 of the Tolkien LessFAQ.]
Yes. With the publication of /The Peoples of Middle-earth/,
certainty has become possible: the first essays in the section "Last
Writings" of that book discuss Glorfindel and his history. Those texts
make it very clear that after his death in the flight from Gondolin,
Glorfindel was re-embodied in Aman (see question III.B.6) and was later
sent back to Middle-earth as an aid or an emissary. Tolkien seems to
have been uncertain as to whether he returned in the Second Age by way
of Numenor or in the Third Age as a companion of Gandalf.
-------
8. Who was Gil-galad's father?
/The Silmarillion/ states many times that Gil-galad was the son of
Fingon, son of Fingolfin. However, in /The Peoples of Middle-earth/
(in comments on the essay "The Shibboleth of Feanor"), Christopher
Tolkien explains that this was an editorial error due to the complexity
of the source material: "Gil-galad as the son of Fingon... was an
ephemeral idea."
Tolkien changed his mind about Gil-galad's ancestry several times,
but it seems that his latest decision was to make Gil-galad the son of Orodreth, son of Angrod, son of Finarfin (making him the brother of
Finduilas and nephew of Finrod). Christopher says that "There can be
no doubt that this was my father's last word on the subject", but that
because the change was never incorporated into other texts,
"it was obviously impossible to introduce it into the published
/Silmarillion/. It would nonetheless have been very much better to
have left Gil-galad's parentage obscure."
Whether one agrees with that assessment or not, it is at least clear
that /The Silmarillion/ is not entirely trustworthy here.
-------
9. Did Dwarf women have beards?
[This updates question V.D.1 of the Tolkien FAQ.]
Yes. The most canonical evidence for this comes in Appendix A,
where it is said of Dwarf women that
They are in voice and appearance, and in garb if they must go on a
journey, so like to the dwarf-men that the eyes and ears of other
peoples cannot tell them apart.
It seems that (male) Dwarves in Middle-earth all have beards: among
other evidence, as Bilbo sets out on his adventure in /The Hobbit/, we
read that "His only comfort was that he couldn't be mistaken for a
dwarf, as he had no beard." Given that, the quote above must imply
that Dwarf women were bearded as well.
However, we do not need to rely on such implications: Tolkien
answered this question explicitly in other texts. In /The War of the
Jewels/ ("The Later /Quenta Silmarillion/: Of the Naugrim and the
Edain", written ~1951), Tolkien wrote that
no Man nor Elf has ever seen a beardless Dwarf - unless he were
shaven in mockery, and would then be more like to die of shame...
For the Naugrim have beards from the beginning of their lives, male
and female alike...
In /The Peoples of Middle-earth/, Christopher Tolkien says that a
similar statement was present in an earlier draft of Appendix A as
well. As these statements are entirely in agreement with the canonical evidence cited above, the conclusion that Dwarf women had beards seems inescapable.
-------
10. Was there "telepathy" in Middle-earth?
Although it is not emphasized in the books, direct communication of
thought from mind to mind was certainly part of Middle-earth. This is
stated directly in the chapter "Many Partings" of LotR, when Celeborn, Galadriel, Gandalf, and Elrond lingered before parting:
...they did not move or speak with mouth, looking from mind to mind;
and only their shining eyes stirred and kindled as their thoughts
went to and fro.
Another example is the voice Frodo hears in his mind on Amon Hen,
saying, "Take off the Ring!", which was that of Gandalf as he "sat in a
high place, and... strove with the Dark Tower" ("The White Rider").
("The Black Gate is Closed" confirms that this was Gandalf, when it
suggests that Frodo felt Gandalf's thought on him, "as he had upon Amon
Hen".)
Tolkien discusses the details of this "telepathy" at length in the
essay "/Osanwe-kenta/: Enquiry into the Communication of Thought",
which was published in the journal /Vinyar Tengwar/ #39 (available from
http://www.elvish.org/). It seems that all minds had this ability, but
that it was "dimmed" whenever it passed through a physical body. Elves
could therefore use it more easily than humans, as their wills had
greater control over their bodies. The essay contains many more
fascinating details, but there is not space even to summarize them
here.
-------
11. Did Sauron have a physical form during /The Lord of the Rings/?
There is strong evidence that Sauron did have a humanoid physical
body at the time of LotR. In "The Black Gate is Closed" we read, "'He
has only four [fingers] on the Black Hand, but they are enough', said
Gollum shuddering." Gollum was tortured in Barad-dur, and this
statement sounds as if it comes from personal experience. Some have
objected that Gollum's memory of his torture might not be accurate for
various reasons, but this is still the only fully "canonical" evidence
on either side of the issue, so it should be taken seriously.
It need not be taken alone, however. Tolkien makes multiple
unambiguous statements that Sauron did have a physical form during the
LotR era in /Letters/. For example, he describes Sauron's use of a
humanoid shape in Letter #200:
It is mythologically supposed that when this shape was 'real', that
is a physical actuality in the physical world and not a vision
transferred from mind to mind, it took some time to build up. It
was then destructible like other physical organisms. ... After the
battle with Gilgalad and Elendil, Sauron took a long while to
re-build, longer than he had done after the Downfall of Numenor (I
suppose because each building-up used up some of the inherent energy
of the spirit...)
Because it took time for Sauron to "re-build" after his body was slain
by Gil-galad and Elendil, it is clear that it was more than just a
"vision". As there is no suggestion that Sauron was ever "slain"
between that time and the destruction of the Ring (he was merely
"driven out" of Dol Guldur), this re-built body presumably still
existed during LotR. Another clear statement can be found near the end
of Letter #246, where Tolkien discusses the possibility of a direct confrontation between Sauron and a Ring-wielder at the time of LotR (he considers both Aragorn and Gandalf). He says,
in a tale which allows the incarnation of great spirits in a
physical and destructible form their power must be far greater when
actually physically present. ... The form that he took was that of a
man of more than human stature, but not gigantic.
No statements by Tolkien conflicting with these descriptions are known.
Some have objected that the many references to the "Eye" of Sauron
must refer to his physical shape. However, Tolkien used that term even
when referring to the period before the war of the Last Alliance, when
it is well known that Sauron had a physical form: for example, the
Akallabeth says that after Sauron "came back to Middle-earth and to
Mordor... the Eye of Sauron the Terrible few could endure."
So what does "the Eye" refer to if not Sauron's physical form?
Frodo's perception of it is described in "The Passage of the Marshes":
But far more he was troubled by the Eye: so he called it to himself.
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