Few fantasy series have as much lore as The Lord of the Rings, with a host of material written by J.R.R. Tolkien, published both during his lifetime and posthumously. Detailed appendices, spinoff short stories and novels, and poems and short stories that explore backstories and side-characters – there truly is no dearth of stories, legends, and myths about Middle-earth, where the series is set. The existence of two movie trilogies, one spinoff animated movie, and a two-season prequel show with a third season in development, based on Tolkien’s works, further expand the vast lore.

Peter Jackson proved up to the task of adapting the main novels as each film in The Lord of the Rings trilogy is an action movie sequel better than the original or just as good. Of the three, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is the movie with the best action scenes, although the other two have notable fight scenes. While the climax is the best fight scene in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, its prologue has a brilliant battle, featuring Sauron and one of the few big mistakes in the movies.

Sauron’s Mace In The Lord of the Rings Movies Is Inspired By Morgoth’s Hammer, Grond

His Design Is Based On His Master’s

While The Lord of the Rings is a largely faithful adaptation of Tolkien’s novels, the writers and the director clearly took some creative liberty in the pacing, the development of plot points, and the appearance of the main villain, Sauron. Sauron’s design in The Lord of the Rings is based on Morgoth, who is canonically his master and the first Dark Lord of Middle Earth. However, barring a few mentions, Morgoth is largely absent from The Lord of the Rings movies.

Morgoth is essentially present in The Lord of the Rings in the form of Sauron, though. Not only is Sauron’s physical appearance based on Morgoth’s, the weapon he wields in The Fellowship of the Rings‘s prologue is inspired by Morgoth’s hammer. Sauron can be seen swinging a mace in the film, which loosely resembles the weapon known as Grond in the books. Grond is Morgoth’s hammer and choice of weapon.

With the mace, Sauron flings away hordes of men with each swing. He uses the mace to kill Elendil, who is Isildur’s father, too. However, the books don’t mention this scene or anything about Sauron’s preferred weapon of choice. So, while the battle scene perfectly establishes how dangerous Sauron was, and why engaging him in combat or meeting him in person could be a fatal experience for anyone opposed to him, it isn’t lore-accurate.

What Weapons Sauron Really Uses In The Lord of the Rings

There Is No Mention Of Weaponry In His Hands

The Sauron one finds mentioned in the books in The Lord of the Rings doesn’t wield any weapons. Since he went to battle, it is reasonable to ᴀssume his arsenal wasn’t empty, but the books don’t describe any weapons for him. Instead, they paint a very different picture of Sauron, one that builds up the mythology surrounding him and might make him more terrifying than when wielding a mace that’s larger than the average human.

All of Sauron’s forms in The Lord of the Rings prove one thing to be consistent about him, regardless of the era of storytelling or the body he’s occupying – he is a master of deception. His most famous form, the one that forged the ring, thus masterfully wielded deception and misdirection as his strongest weapons. The books don’t mention any weapons in his arsenal because he is known for using mind tricks to win battles. However, this might have been more difficult to depict on screen than the mace-wielding version we see in The Fellowship of the Ring.