Matt DeForrest
Active Member
The question came up, last class, about the minions of Sauron not being permitted to use his name conflicting with the Mouth of Sauron using it.
I did a quick electronic search of the text and couldn’t find evidence of any of his minions using Sauron’s name. Indeed, even Saruman won’t be using it in his exchange with Ganldalf (although Gandlaf does not use it either). They always speak of the Dark Lord or the Eye or, in Saruman’s case, the Power.
I suspect that the Mouth of Sauron getting to use the Dark Lord’s name is both a sign of his power and authority, which signals how big a deal he is, and that he is different. He is, after all, a willing participant rather than a thrall like the Nazgul are. It also highlights the cost. He has gained the authority to speak the name by losing his own identity — being reduced to (literally) Sauron’s mouthpiece.
I did a quick electronic search of the text and couldn’t find evidence of any of his minions using Sauron’s name. Indeed, even Saruman won’t be using it in his exchange with Ganldalf (although Gandlaf does not use it either). They always speak of the Dark Lord or the Eye or, in Saruman’s case, the Power.
I suspect that the Mouth of Sauron getting to use the Dark Lord’s name is both a sign of his power and authority, which signals how big a deal he is, and that he is different. He is, after all, a willing participant rather than a thrall like the Nazgul are. It also highlights the cost. He has gained the authority to speak the name by losing his own identity — being reduced to (literally) Sauron’s mouthpiece.