While most minions of the Dark Lord from Lord of the Rings are monstrous creatures such as orcs, trolls, and the Ringwraiths, men such as Easterlings and Haradrim were recruited by Sauron. These men opposed kingdoms from the west like Gondor and Rohan and often willingly joined the forces of Mordor.
Easterlings, known in early times as Swarthy Men, were a race of Men who eventually populated the vast, uncharted lands of Rhûn, east of Mordor and the Sea of Rhûn. Often opposed to the Free Peoples, many of them were originally in league with Morgoth and went on to serve his successor, Sauron.
Sauron served Aulë, the smith of the Valar, acquiring much knowledge; he was at first called Mairon ("The Admirable", in Tolkien's invented language of Quenya) until he joined Melkor.
The Nazgûl (Black Speech for "Ringwraiths") or Úlairi (Quenya), also known as the Black Riders or simply The Nine, were the dreaded ring-servants of the Dark Lord Sauron in Middle-earth throughout the Second and Third Ages, who in the later years of the Third Age dwelt in Minas Morgul and Dol Guldur.
Smaug could easily have cut through the armies of Mordor, and delayed the invasion of Middle-earth by years. So it wasn't in Sauron's interest to take on the dragon, but that doesn't mean he saw it as a lost cause, as he fully planned on creating an alliance.
Why Didn't Sauron Use the Balrog? Middle-Earth Lore
Is Smaug a follower of Sauron?
Near the end of the Watchful Peace, however, Smaug secretly became the ally of Sauron, who had enticed him with promises of wealth and power. As required of their pact, the Dragon would join the Dark Lord in a campaign to conquer Middle-earth.
As a Valar, Morgoth led a whole slew of Balrogs in the First Age, but because Sauron was only a Maia, the Balrog would have had no loyalty to him. He was his own master in Moria, and no Dark Lord was going to ruin that.
Isildur features briefly in voiced-over flashback sequences of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. The video game Middle-earth: Shadow of War departs from Tolkien's narrative by having Sauron make Isildur into a Nazgûl or ringwraith.
Morgoth, the first to reign terror upon Middle-earth, was more powerful than Sauron and commanded an army of dragons and Balrogs. While both Morgoth and Sauron were cunning, Morgoth's rule and terror lasted longer and his corruption spread further, making him more formidable in the Lord of the Rings universe.
As a Nazgûl, the Witch-king had a wide arsenal of powers. He was surrounded by an aura of fear, enough to make trained soldiers and horses run in terror.
Bloodlines are very important in Tolkien's stories, and it makes a lot of sense that Sauron would fear the great-grandson of the man who cut off his hand. Aragorn carried the blood of Numenor with him. His genetic connection to the heroes of the Second Age established him as a dangerous opponent of Sauron.
Melkor is the most powerful of the Valar but he turns to darkness and is renamed Morgoth, the primary antagonist of Arda. All evil in the world of Middle-earth ultimately stems from him. One of the Maiar of Aulë betrays his kind and becomes Morgoth's principal lieutenant and successor, Sauron.
Although Sauron's origins are angelic, he becomes captivated by the idea of ordering things as per his own will, which might be a possible reason behind him being lured by Morgoth, a Dark Lord who corrupted countless souls and waged wars against Elves and Men throughout the First Age.
Is Sauron a human or elf? Sauron was neither a human nor an Elf, but he could have resembled either in his fair disguise in the Second Age, particularly as Annatar.
Isildur used a broken sword to cut the Ruling Ring off Sauron's hand. Sauron was fatally wounded by Gil-galad and Elendil as Sauron killed them. Gandalf took the job of blocking the Balrog - and he was barely able to defeat the Balrog (in fact, he died in the process).
"So I think in his pitch to Galadriel, it cannot mean that he loves her or that there's any kind of romantic relationship. There should be no ambiguity around the fact that Sauron is evil — he's terrible, and he's using Galadriel to enhance his power."
In a one-on-one battle, Galadriel would likely lose to Sauron. Even though she's an Elf, both powerful and intelligent, Sauron is Maiar. Odds are, Sauron didn't fear a physical defeat — only a fellow Maia ring-bearer could physically oppose him and win, after all — but Galadriel is threatening in other ways.
Besides not having the will to destroy the Ring, pushing Isildur into Mount Doom would have had some practical consequences. In another passage from The Silmarillion, Elrond and Círdan counseled Isildur to destroy the Ring, but he refused, saying, "This I will have as weregild for my father's death, and my brother's.
Isildur, son of Elendil, cut the One Ring from Sauron's finger and claimed it. Later, the Ring betrayed him and was lost for more than two thousand years. After his defeat in the War of the Last Alliance, Sauron lost his ability to form a physical body for a great while.
Summary. Gandalf, as an Istari, was sent to Middle-earth to assist in the fight against Sauron, but he was forbidden from using his full power to interfere with the natural order. Saruman's downfall serves as a warning of the dangers of exceeding the limits placed on the Istari by the Valar.
The dwarves of Middle-Earth were notoriously strong willed, able to resist corruption and stay true to their purpose. Sauron had no means by which to corrupt them regardless of how he tried.
