Sauron with One Ring vs. Morgoth

[Glaurung]

Could Sauron with the ring in his possession rival the might of Morgoth himself? Or is there no way a Maiar can defeat a Vala? Perhaps we'll never know. What do you all think?

[Eonwe]

I guess I think of it this way:

Melian by herself is able to fend off anything Morgoth sends her way. But would she be able to defeat him in person? I think not. And even all of his creatures sent against her would probably easily defeat her. Yet she held Doriath out of evil for many thousands of years with Morgoth not far away.

Eonwe with the host of Vanyar and Elendil defeats the armies and creatures of Morgoth. But again would I stand up to Morgoth? I can only say that he had stupidly sucked most of his power out into his creatures before I got to him, so putting the chains on him and "hewing his feet beneath him" was pretty easy at this point? Who knows if anything including Tulkas could have defeated him in his original strength?
I think these are the only cases where we can see any interaction between Maia and Vala on either side of good and evil. And how did Sauron escape when Tulkas wrestled Melkor into chains the first time? Hmmm Hooom...

[Eonwe]

I guess I think of it this way:

Melian by herself is able to fend off anything Morgoth sends her way. But would she be able to defeat him in person? I think not. And even all of his creatures sent against her would probably easily defeat her. Yet she held Doriath out of evil for many thousands of years with Morgoth not far away.

Eonwe with the host of Vanyar and Elendil defeats the armies and creatures of Morgoth. But again would I stand up to Morgoth? I can only say that he had stupidly sucked most of his power out into his creatures before I got to him, so putting the chains on him and "hewing his feet beneath him" was pretty easy at this point? Who knows if anything including Tulkas could have defeated him in his original strength?
I think these are the only cases where we can see any interaction between Maia and Vala on either side of good and evil. And how did Sauron escape when Tulkas wrestled Melkor into chains the first time? Hmmm Hooom...

[Beleg Strongbow]

Originally posted by Eonwe
I guess I think of it this way:

Melian by herself is able to fend off anything Morgoth sends her way. But would she be able to defeat him in person? I think not. And even all of his creatures sent against her would probably easily defeat her. Yet she held Doriath out of evil for many thousands of years with Morgoth not far away.

Eonwe with the host of Vanyar and Elendil defeats the armies and creatures of Morgoth. But again would I stand up to Morgoth? I can only say that he had stupidly sucked most of his power out into his creatures before I got to him, so putting the chains on him and "hewing his feet beneath him" was pretty easy at this point? Who knows if anything including Tulkas could have defeated him in his original strength?
I think these are the only cases where we can see any interaction between Maia and Vala on either side of good and evil. And how did Sauron escape when Tulkas wrestled Melkor into chains the first time? Hmmm Hooom...



Sauron with the put most of his strenght into the ring in its making and when it was lost he became less powerful so that says that with the ring he was the same as normal with just a few more positives (the other 19 rings)to rule. He was a maia and Melkor was a Vala he would have been crushed by the dark lord the real dark lord.

[Bucky]

Exactly.
Sauron WITH the One Ring is only as powerful as Sauron BEFORE the One Ring....

Although, Tolkien clearly states that Morgoth poured his power into his evil creatures.

[Harad]

Sauron WITH the One Ring is only as powerful as Sauron BEFORE the One Ring....

What was the point of the Ring then? Seems like an awful lot of trouble to divide his power, just so he can have the trouble of finding it periodically.

I guess the point of the RIng was to control the other Rings, thus increasing his overall power.

[Bucky]

The Ring would increase his domination over other's wills, thus increasing his power.

But, there was also some secret to the Rings of Power which may very well have supplied more 'power' than the maker of the ring himself had.

Did Celebrimbor have enough 'power' in him to make the 3 Elvin Rings be so pwerful?
He DID come from the finest line in terms of heredity when it came to 'creating' these type of things.
His Granfather was Feanor, who created the Silmarills & I believe the palantiri, or at least the secret for making them.
And, it's stated that Celebrimbor's father, Curufin, inherited the greatest part of his father's talent in this area.

[Lord Melkor]

Well Sauron is no foul and wouldn`t make The Ring without a good reason, I believe it is because of The Ring he managed to reform in 3rd Era, note that he was slain two times and reformed, yet I don`t remember any mentions of Balrogs returning after being defeated.

But he is still an eternal slave of my will!

[Tar-Elenion]

Originally posted by Bucky
Exactly.
Sauron WITH the One Ring is only as powerful as Sauron BEFORE the One Ring...

"While he [Sauron] wore it [the One Ring], his power on earth was actually enhanced."
Letter 131

[Tyaronumen]

Perhaps his power on Earth was enhanced, but I would not necessarily interpret this to mean that his native strength was increased when he had the Ring, but rather that his abilities (such as dominating the will of the holders of the other Great Rings) were increased.

[Tar-Elenion]

"The chief power (of all the rings alike) was the prevention or slowing of decay... But also they enhanced the natural powers of a possessor..."
"Sauron made the One Ring, the Ruling Ring that contained the powers of all the others..."
Letter 131