The Nameless Enemy [Published Conference Paper]
How Do You Solve a Problem Like “Mairon”?
[Note: this post was updated on 6 January 2025 to include new publication information]
Publication
Bourquein, Cameron (2024) "The Nameless Enemy: How Do You Solve a Problem Like “Mairon”?," Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 20: Iss. 2, Article 3.
Available at: https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol20/iss2/3
This paper has been presented at:
April 1st, 2023 | Tolkien at UVM
May 12th 2023 | GIFCon
Aug 31st 2024 | Oxonmoot 51
Abstract
This paper analyzes Sauron’s “original” name, “Mairon,” in its various contexts (textual, temporal, and linguistic) and then applies it to a reading of the character in order to produce a “capsule characterization” or “minimyth” for the Lord of the Rings himself. The name “Mairon” appears only in a note to a single entry in a list of Eldarin roots, not published until 2007 in the journal Parma Eldalamberon. This niche location suggests one of the many ways in which this name is marginal: typographically, linguistically, narratively, and historically (as in the Secondary World). The name appears to have been conceived during a flurry of revision to the Legendarium following the publication of The Lord of the Rings, revision that elsewhere included additional work on Sauron. Apparently derived from maira (“admirable, excellent, precious”), the name is situated within a broader complex of entries expressing notions of greatness, art-making, service, usefulness, and value. Both “Maia” and “Mairon” are ultimately derived from the same root, suggesting a possible understanding of the pre-corrupted Sauron as in some way exemplary of his own order. The name is notably distinct from the names of most of the other Ainur, the majority of whom are named for particular domains of Creation with which they are associated (weeping, weaving, invention, birds, etc.); “Mairon” (“The Admirable”) is more closely aligned with Melian’s Quenya name “Melyanna” (“Dear Gift”) as both names suggest an implied “other.” Ultimately, the name “Mairon” is meaningful to a reading of Sauron and fits smoothly into a larger pattern of associations of the character with the notions of seeing (or not), being seen (or not), and how one is seen (or how one sees the self).
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