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Welcome to my blog: The Great Eye: Sauron's Quest for Order. 

We will examine the motivation of the major antagonist in The Lord of the Rings, going beyond the movies to explore the lore and motives of this complex and often misunderstood figure.

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Sauron's Origins and Goals

The origins of Middle-Earth Before we learn about Sauron, it's important to understand the origins of the land of The Lord of the Rings, called Middle-earth.  The deity who created everything is called Eru, the One (also called Ilúvatar).  He was alone in the beginning, so he decided to create the Ainur (the Holy Ones), who were his offspring. The Ainur sang in harmony before Eru, bringing their voices together to fashion a Great Music.  However, Melkor, the greatest of the Ainur, grew impatient with the Void and sought to increase his own power and glory. He sowed discord into his music, throwing many Ainur into despondency and creating a raging storm of warring sound. Eru fought against Melkor's discord by raising a new and beautiful, yet sorrowful model. The music, when finished, formed a new world as a physical representation of what had been sung. The name of this world was Eä. Many of the greatest and most beautiful Ainur chose to descend into Eä, and upon ente...
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Sauron's Appraisals

In psychology, appraisal theory is a cognitive perspective on emotion which states that appraisals, or mental evaluations of the meaning and personal significance of an event or stimulus to an individual's well-being, precede the experience of an emotion. The core sequence includes: Situation / Stimulus --> Appraisal --> Emotion --> Action / Action Tendency. Information is selected for attention based on personal significance, concerns, and interests. The event does not cause the emotion; it is the subjective evaluation of what it means to the person that generates the emotion. Appraisal can occur in multiple stages, as deeper evaluation during secondary and tertiary appraisals can elicit different emotions. Primary Appraisal: This initial evaluation assesses basic situational parameters and goal relevance. It determines whether an event or stimulus is beneficial, neutral, or poses a direct threat to an individual's personal goals and concerns. Secondary Appraisal: ...
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