#mairon the admirable

[lieutenant-of-darkness]

Mairon in Valinor

Artwork by @drawulan, commissioned by me

[cirrdan]

Just an evening Sauron doodle

[meohme-thedorklord]

The Hot Sauron Week

DAY 4:

POV Noldorin she-elves: Mairon the Admirable leaving the forge after a busy day of work

Or…

Halbrand/Sauron’s Coachella fancy dress

[cconfusionh]

✨the admirable✨

here’s this painting that I finally finished after like, two months of work :) it’s a school project and I’m very satisfied with how it turned out. it’s painted on a wooden panel of like 50 by 50 centimeters, and I took inspiration from the art nouveau style because it’s my favorite

[urwendii]

Related to this post. Mairon gets a pet

[edensrose]

Do you think Mairon likes the fact that he was dubbed Sauron or like, do you think he has a personal vendetta on all who call him that

[darkredmage]

Mairon my beloved

[sauronpilled]

He continued to call himself Mairon the Admirable, or Tar-mairon ("King Excellent"), until after Númenor's downfall, although he could not use that name in Númenor, as it was a Quenya name with royal implications. There he was called Zigûr, meaning "Wizard" in Adûnaic.

[cilil]

I think Melkor's dating problems mostly boil down to him getting the order of operations wrong due to his impatience.

He proposed to Varda before they were even dating

He told Arien that he's chosen her as his spouse before even properly introducing himself to her (thought he could short-cut the process by removing the part where he asks for permission...)

He informed Lúthien about Valinorean orgies sex crimes and slavery instead of flirting

He wanted to get his hands all over Fëanor's crown jewels before Fëanor even agreed to be in his presence

This also explains why Mairon out of all people fell for it. Melkor totally started out with promising him power and other cool stuff and Mairon is the kind of person to talk business first, before accepting various compliments about his beautiful fána, charming intelligence and general admirability

[tackletofset]

Dark Rise theories I disagree with and why:

Sarcean r*ped Anharion: I find it perplexing that many people still believe in this lie. It's canon that Anharion "had GIVEN himself" to Sarcean, and "the feeling of being taken, melting heat, and the fall of hair around him like black silk" is a very poor way to describe a noncon situation.

The on-and-off Collar switch: What makes you think that Sarcean wouldn't be dead by Anharion's hands the second he "switched off" the Collar, if it was as coercive as they thought?

Will and James will "dissolve" after getting their memories back and morph fully into their past selves: The memories serve as key to make decisions about their present and future. In order for Will and James to decide for themselves, they must understand the full truth of Sarcean and Anharion without the biases, prejudices, and agendas of those around them. Pacat has made it clear that Will and Sarcean will ultimately choose different paths, despite being two incarnations of the same person. The former chooses to rule, while the latter prefers freedom, and both choices are valid given their respective situations. The endgame should be putting Sarcean and Anharion to rest so that Will and James can move forward: Will must reconcile with his past in order to navigate his future.

Anharion's real name was a deadname: I say this as a person under the trans* umbrella. "Anharion" wasn't a name he had chosen for himself; it was an insult coined by the Light side. Perhaps he had come to embrace it out of spite. Just as Melkor (Mighty Arising) was dubbed "Morgoth" (black foe) by his enemies, and Mairon (The Admirable) was later called "Sauron" (the Abhorred), I believe Anharion's real name will be revealed in Book 3, with a positive meaning. I can't wait to call him "Queen (Real name)."

Will or James having to k*ll the other/k*ll themselves: Pacat intended to break the pattern where queer protagonists always met tragic ends. It was one of her motivations for writing Captive Prince and also emphasized a lot during Dark Rise interviews.

We will have a sad ending: Pacat stated in a December 2021 Q&A that a "happy ending [was] guaranteed" for the aforementioned reason.

James has no agency: James has plenty of agency, even amidst his complicated situations, with many people constantly attempting to violate his boundaries. James has consistently made his choices and desires clear. The unconventional nature of his choices, which may not always make sense to others, does not diminish their validity.

Sarcean was fully evil: "The Dark King did Nothing Wrong" nuff said.

[thewitchkingiscool-ace]

Omg guys the LotR tag is trending :DDD

New tag game: tag all of the lotr/the hobbit mutuals you have

LOTR FANS I SUMMON YOU

@bilbo-baggins-is-a-fcking-vibe @unethicallypleistocene @hobbitwrangler @horsewithaface @local-pirate-king @solidorange69 @kylobith @am0o5 @frodothefair @raccooninmycabbages @lowopacityelrondpussy @friendofthefellowship @bookworm-with-coffee @deadlymistletoe @unicornslayerofd000m @spookylolbit @mairon-the-admirable @goblincoreinfp @melkor-the-first-dark-lord @mrfrodosstuff @bambino1294 @brigwife

[cirrdan]

Mairon, working at the Aule's forge.

And Melkor, watching him somewhere in the background:D

[wrath-ruin-reddawn]

Genuinely cannot get over how perfect Halbrand as a name is I would like to give the writer who came up with it a huge kiss.

Like, in the most common Sindarin interpretation, the name consists of the elements hall- "exalted, high" and brand "noble, admirable, fine." HOWEVER, hall- can also mean "veiled, hidden, or shadowed." Already, just at first pass, it's a great name for a Sauron in disguise, because it captures a duality and ambiguity that keeps you guessing, just like the character himself. It's also a callback to Sauron's first name, Mairon, which means "admirable."

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

Tolkien often took name roots with Germanic origins for his human characters, particularly the Middle Men. In Old English, hal can mean "a secret place" or "whole, undivided" and brand can mean either "torch" or "sword"--a good combination of meanings, given that the entire Southlands arc revolves around a "lost king" uniting his country, only for it to be consumed in fire by a sword being put in a secret lock. Plus, there's the combination of "torch" and "sword" in brand that evokes smithing, especially with the more Modern English use of a "brand" being a mark that is made with heated metal.

And we're not done yet!

In Old Norse, the name element hall comes from hallr "stone, slab," and much like in Old English brandr means "sword, torch." Again, "stone sword" is a very apt name given that putting the hilt in stone is the way to open the floodgates. AND, I don't think it's any coincidence that there's another famous lost king who pulls a sword from a stone... yeah, they snuck a King Arthur reference in there!

Some linguistics nerd on the team really went, "I am going to give this dude the NAMIEST NAME THAT HAS EVER NAMED. It is going to be multilayered and work in several languages and remain just ambiguous enough that even if people [read: me] are crazy enough to look up its meanings they won't get a definitive answer." And that was so sexy of them, my hat is off to them for doing a fantastic job.

Update: I'm doing more name analyses! You can find them here: Arondir | Bronwyn | Rowan | Theo | Tredwill | Waldreg

[urwendii]

There's something about Mairon being named Mairon is that it is an elvish name, in A Name for the Dark Lord by Helge Fauskanger it's debated that since Mairon is a Quenya name [based on the word Maira (Q) = “admirable, excellent, precious, splendid, sublime” ] it could have been given by the Elves when he was still in Valinor. This of course is in one of Tolkien's earlier experimentation with Sauron's earlier career in a timeline the Maia would have lived amongst the Elves in Valinor before joining Melkor. That we know was then abandoned.

If you know me, you know that's my favourite headcanon. And it makes it easier to explain his original name. The other is that Valarin and Eldarin could have been similar but Tolkien also dropped the idea when he decided that when the Elves began working on their own languages they were encouraged to come up with one that was different from Valarin. Except it definitely made it into Quenya (and even in Aidunic somehow? [iniðil "lily, or other large single flower" appears in Adûnaic (Númenórean) as inzil "flower"]).

Ainur have Valarin names: Manwë = Mânawenûz , Aulë = A3ûlêz, Ossë = Ošošai/ Ošša ¹ so it is not too far fetched to claim that Mairon would have had his own Valarin name. My point - and one of my favourite idea to toy with when writing, is this one:

if you follow canon and Elves had never met Mairon would they be aware of his original name as generations pass? if let's say Fëanor grew curious when apprenticing under Aulë - about his mysterious gifted former Maia and the Vala would have revealed that Sauron had once been called Mairon (then running with the idea that his Valarin name would have been adapted in Quenya like the rest of the Ainur dealing in Valinor for practical reasons) would it be something that would have become popular knowledge to his kids or nephews? Or even better, would the Sindarin Elves be aware? I doubt the Noldor in exile would have kept this on top of their minds when trying to stay alive - esp. when Morgoth was a bigger threat atm.

Now, Sauron was a moniker given in disdain and Mairon continued to call himself by his pretty name until Akkalabeth but I highly doubted that outside of Melkor and possibly those in his immediate entourage it was common knowledge for the average Elf trying not to end up in Mandos Halls. If someone in the First Age (or early second) would have encountered a random dude walking Middle Earth and saying his name was Mairon, how many exactly would have connected the dots?

[storiesofventure]

Galadriel and Halbrand admiring the light version of Mordor: Galador. I painted this for @elliecarina fic the “Trials of Mairon” and captured her vision.

Here’s the fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/42374703?view_full_work=true