Is Celebrimbor Sauron in The Rings of Power? (& Were They Friends)
One of the most important characters that we have seen in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is Celebrimbor. Although his importance is yet to be shown in the series, we know for a fact that he has one of the biggest roles in the history of Middle-Earth due to how he is related to the creation of the Rings of Power. Of course, we do know that Sauron’s ultimate endgame is to use the One Ring to dominate all of the Rings of Power. So, does that mean that Celebrimbor is Sauron?
It is highly unlikely that Celebrimbor is Sauron. That’s because he was already around during the Year of the Trees and well before Sauron disappeared during the Second Age. However, Celebrimbor was one of the people that Sauron was able to deceive into helping him forge the Rings of Power.
Even though Celebrimbor isn’t the evil entity that Sauron is, the fact is that he was one of the people that fell to the deceptive ways of the dark lord, and that is why he is one of the most important characters in The Rings of Power, as he is involved in the creation of the Rings of Power themselves. Now, with that said, let’s look at what we know about Celebrimbor.
Is Celebrimbor Sauron?
Ever since the first episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, the biggest mystery has always been the identity of Sauron. We don’t know where the dark lord is and who he is, as we do know that Sauron is a master of disguise and deception and has been hiding the entire time. And that means that he could be anyone at this point because we simply haven’t had any sure clues regarding his whereabouts and identity.
Of course, one of the characters that could be a suspect in terms of Sauron’s identity is Celebrimbor. Yes, at this point, even the Elves themselves could be Sauron, as we do know that the dark lord knows how to hide in plain sight and is an expert in deception. And ever since the first episode, we saw that Celebrimbor wanted to embark on a new project that could put him on par with Fëanor in terms of his abilities as a legendary craftsman among the Elves.
The project that Celebrimbor wanted to undertake was the very reason why Elrond was given the task to treat the Dwarves and ask them for help regarding the structure that the Elves were building. And this was also an excuse for High King Gil-galad to learn more about the possibility of the Dwarves discovering mithril, which could contain the power of one of the lost Silmarils.
In that regard, Celebrimbor does have his own agenda in the entire storyline, as he wants to build something that is grand. That was the very reason why the entire storyline between the Elves and the Dwarves began. But does that mean that Celebrimbor could actually be Sauron?
It is unlikely that Celebrimbor is Sauron. That’s because, based on his stories, Celebrimbor has been around even before Sauron disappeared and went into hiding. The story we are talking about concerns Elrond’s father, Eärendil, who Celebrimbor personally knew during the First Age and before Morgoth was defeated. As such, Celebrimbor couldn’t have been Sauron the entire time, as Sauron was working with Morgoth during the First Age.
As such, Celebrimbor is one of the people we can check off our lists of Sauron suspects because it is highly unlikely that he is the dark lord. But even though he isn’t Sauron, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a hand in the darkness that is to come to Middle-Earth during the Second Age.
Was Celebrimbor Friends With Sauron?
The reason why Celebrimbor is one of the people that contributed to the darkness that fell on Middle-Earth during the Second Age is the fact that, according to JRR Tolkien’s works, he was the one who created the Rings of Power. In that regard, the project he is probably undertaking in The Rings of Power could be related to the forging of the Rings of Powers themselves. Still, this doesn’t make him friends with Sauron or even an evil person.
Like a lot of different people, including us, Celebrimbor was merely deceived by Sauron during the Second Age when they became acquaintances that worked together on forging the Rings of Power. What happened was that Sauron was hiding in the form of a fair Man named Annatar, who described himself as the Lord of Gifts and as an emissary of the Valar. He offered his knowledge and guidance to Celebrimbor, who was deceived by the appearance and approach of Annatar.
Under Annatar’s guidance, Celebrimbor was able to forge a few rings that served as prototypes for the actual Rings of Power. After that, he embarked on forging the Rings of Power themselves and gave some of the Rings to Annatar, who was able to corrupt them with his malice before he gave these to the Dwarf Lords and the Kings of Men as gifts.
However, Celebrimbor actually forged three Rings himself without the knowledge and guidance of Annatar. He did so using the knowledge he gained from Annatar, as he forged the Three Rings of the Elves, as these Rings were free of Sauron’s corruption and influence. Only Celebrimbor touched these Rings before giving them to the Elves that he deemed worthy of them. Vilya and Narya were given to Gil-galad and Círdan in Lindon, while Nenya was given to Galadriel.
As such, the Rings of Power that the Elves possess were not corrupted by Sauron and were outside of his influence. That is why, when Sauron secretly forged the One Ring to Rule Them All in Mount Doom, he was able to claim dominance over all of the different Rings of Power except for the ones that the Elves had.
So, because Sauron was able to deceive Celebrimbor, the Elf had a hand in the creation of the Rings of Power, which were able to corrupt Men and Dwarves and make them thralls to Sauron’s will. That is why Celebrimbor, although not an evil Elf, made a crucial mistake that eventually led to Sauron’s rise to power during the Second Age. But just like a lot of different people during the Second Age, Celebrimbor was only one of the few that Sauron was able to successfully deceive, as the dark lord operates as a deceptive and cunning figure.