XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: mr@sandman.net   
      
   In article , Stan Brown wrote:   
      
   > > Barry Schwarz:   
   > > Melkor was one of the most powerful beings in Arda.  When the   
   > > Valar moved against him, it was catastrophic for the land and many   
   > > people (like open heart surgery).  I could understand the Valar   
   > > not wanting that to happen again.  By comparison, Sauron was a   
   > > pipsqueak.   
   >   
   > I don't think so. There's a passage somewhere where Tolkien writes   
   > that Sauron at the end of the Third Age was more powerful than   
   > Morgoth at the end of the First. The reason was that Morgoth   
   > dissipated much of his essence into all the material of Arda to   
   > corrupt it, but Sauron did not need to do that.   
      
   I think you meant Sauron at the end of the the second age, not at the end of   
   the   
   third - which means that Sauron at his greatest was more powerful than Morgoth   
   at   
   his weakest (end of first).   
      
   Sauron at his greatest (end of second) compared to Morgoth at his greatest   
   (Years   
   of the Trees) is no match, and Sauron is indeed a mere "pipsqueak" in   
   comparison.   
      
   In fact, much of the reason why Sauron could become so powerful at the end of   
   second is directly related to what Morgoth did in his time.   
      
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