Adar

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"Adar is the name I earned. Help me earn it back."

—Adar, to Galadriel

Adar was a mysterious individual of the Second Age who was referred to as Lord-father by Orcs presumably because of his status as one of the Moriondor, the first Elves to be captured and tortured by Morgoth.

The fallen Elf was once Sauron's lieutenant, but he grew disillusioned with his master's cruelty towards the Orcs and betrayed him. Believing himself free from Sauron's grasp, Adar sought to fashion a home where the Orcs could thrive. With the use of a mysterious hilt and his "children", he claimed the Southlands and turned them into Mordor. Word of Sauron's return, however, spurred Adar into action. Hoping to destroy his former master once and for all, Adar assembled an army and laid siege to Eregion. In the end, he was betrayed and slain by his own "children", who embraced Sauron as their new Dark Lord.

Biography

First Age

In the First Age, the Elf who would later become known as Adar walked alongside the river Sirion in Beleriand, which had banks covered by miles of sage blossoms.^[1]

He was one of the Moriondor, the thirteen Elves chosen to be corrupted by Morgoth in the Elder Days. Lured by the promise of power, he was led up a dark, nameless peak, chained and abandoned to hunger and thirst. Morgoth's servant, Sauron, eventually appeared and offered him red wine. He drank the wine, forever changing his nature.^[2] His nature was later perceived by Galadriel after she briefly captured him in the Second Age.^[3] Subsequent generations of the newly bred race of Orcs considered him to be their "father", and followed him willingly.

Second Age

After Morgoth's defeat, Adar entered the service of Sauron after answering his call to follow him to the fortress Dúrnost, becoming his lieutenant.^[4] At first he helped his new master in his goal to bring the lands of Middle-earth "into perfect order", but he lost faith in Sauron after sacrificing "enough of [his] children for [Sauron's] aspirations". During the coronation of Sauron in Dúrnost, Adar initially stood by his master's side and even hailed him as the new Dark Lord. Trusted with placing Morgoth's crown upon Sauron's head, Adar instead used it to stab him. Adar then looked on as his "children" joined his attack on the weakened Sauron. Wounded, the Dark Lord's body disintegrated,^[4] leading Adar to believe for centuries afterward that he had slain Sauron. For many years, Adar remained the leader of a large portion of surviving Orcs, though in secret.

Adar became known to the peoples of Middle-earth much later in the Second Age, first appearing in a large trench dug by his servant, Magrot, immediately after Arondir's failed attempt to cause a fray and escape. While Arondir is pinned down, having stabbed Magrot in the neck, Lurka orders he be brought to Adar. The "Lord-father" then emerges as the Orcs around him bow.^[1] He gently tends to the dying Magrot, who had sustained a mortal wound in the Elves' escape attempt, before suddenly ending his suffering with a dagger. As the rest of the Orcs leave, Adar speaks to Arondir, learning the Silvan Elf's birthplace to be in Beleriand. Adar reminisces about his days along the river Sirion, though he evades Arondir's own questions, before releasing Arondir to take a message to the Southlanders taking refuge in the Watchtower of Ostirith: that they may live if they forsake the territory and swear fealty to him. Later, as he watches one of the caged Wargs devouring fresh flesh, Adar is informed by Grugzûk that the Orc Sigil Hilt that they seek is in the watchtower.^[5]

Some time afterwards, Adar is told by Grugzûk that the tunnel is complete and their forces ready. The "Lord-father" asks his minion to hold his arm in the sunlight to emphasize, by burning the Orc's skin, his claim that the sun's light will soon be overshadowed. He then releases Grugzûk, ordering him to summon the legions. Later, temporarily encamped in Tirharad, Adar is approached by a group of the village's former inhabitants led by Waldreg, who seek to swear fealty in exchange for their lives and better status. Following Waldreg's suggestion that his new master was, in fact, Sauron - whom he had long awaited to pledge his undying service to - Adar expresses his frustration with the old man's mistaken belief by throwing him to the ground. He then forces Waldreg to murder Rowan with a dagger in order to seal his oath of loyalty, claiming only blood could bind.^[6]

Adar leads his army to Ostirith to destroy those who refused to obey him, and finds the tower empty. He is then surprised by Arondir, who triggers a mechanism rigged to destroy the tower, which kills a number of Orcs and forces Adar's army to regroup. His attack comes after nightfall on Tirharad, where the townspeople have returned to; the inhabitants defeat the initial force after much exertion, only to become horrified when they found the majority of those they slew were their kinsmen who had followed Waldreg. Adar's main force then easily occupies the village, and begins murdering villagers in an attempt to force Arondir to reveal the location of the Orc Sigil Hilt. Only when the Orcs threaten to kill Bronwyn does her son Theo hand over the Hilt. Just then, a company of Númenórean cavalry commanded by Queen Regent Míriel arrive and make short work of the Orcs. Adar gives the Hilt to Waldreg and escapes on a brown horse; Galadriel and Halbrand, believing Adar to still have the Hilt, pursue and capture him. Galadriel tries to interrogate Adar, and learns that he claims that he killed Sauron for his cruelty to the Orcs. She states her intent to purge all Orcs and nearly kills him, before Halbrand distracts her, an act she is later grateful for.

In the meantime, Waldreg has returned to Ostirith and uses the Orc Sigil Hilt to unlock the dam holding back the lake behind the ruined watchtower. The waters run through trenches in the earth into the caverns of magma below Orodruin, creating such a reaction that the volcano is reawakened, covering the Southlands in ash.^[3] Adar's prison is destroyed by the volcano's eruption, though through unknown means he had escaped just before. He takes over the village as a home for the Orcs because the newly formed ash clouds shield the country against the sunlight. Adar is proclaimed by Waldreg and the Orcs as "Lord of the Southlands", though he changes the name of the country to Mordor ("dark land"),^[7] thereby changing his title to "Lord of Mordor".

Adar's army quickly sets about enslaving those Southlander Men who failed to escape, and killing those who refuse to acknowledge Adar as their lord. Sauron, forced to leave Eregion after Galadriel saw through his disguise, comes to Mordor in the same form as "Halbrand", turning himself in to Adar. Sauron attempts to negotiate for his release by giving Adar false information about his own whereabouts, and eventually succeeds in being released after time in prison, though Adar remains skeptical of the information offered.

Some time after Halbrand's release, he decides to lead his orc legions out of Mordor toward Eregion, which he has heard is where Sauron has appeared.^[8] Arriving in the lands surrounding Celebrimbor's city, his army discovers and captures Galadriel, who has led a reconnaissance team to discover the truth of what is occurring there.

Adar keeps Galadriel a prisoner, but soon hosts her for supper and speaks to her regarding their shared experiences with Sauron, and shared desire to destroy him. At length he describes to Galadriel a plan to do this, revealing he still possesses Morgoth's iron crown, with which he once killed Sauron's bodily form. He expresses the belief that with this and with Galadriel's ring Nenya, they will be able to replicate the feat. However, once Adar discerns the location of Nenya from Galadriel, he makes clear that he will enact his plans alone and besiege Ost-in-Edhil to get at Sauron, despite Galadriel's protest.

This Adar does, commanding his vast army of Orcs to bombard the city by trebuchet at nightfall. Eventually, he turns the siege engines towards the river canyon above the city and causes a landslide, cutting off the river's flow. Adar prepares for a now-possible ground assault, but is forestalled by the arrival of Gil-galad and Elrond, leading a regiment of Elven cavalry. To prevent a costly engagement, Galadriel is revealed to the Elves, forcing Elrond to come to Adar's tent for negotiations. Adar demands Nenya in exchange for Galadriel's life, and despite Elrond's pleas to prevent mass slaughter, Adar refuses to compromise, and Elrond refuses the deal, instead discreetly passing Galadriel a means to pick the lock of her manacles.

A great battle then ensues on the exposed riverbed, lasting throughout the night. After much bloodshed, Adar commands the hill-troll Damrod to go forth. Though the troll is eventually killed, he succeeds in breaching the city's stone wall, and Adar personally leads the final assault as the sun rises. The diminished Elven warriors quickly fall before the Orcs, and Arondir is gravely wounded by Adar. When the fighting has ceased, Elrond is forced to kneel before Adar, who takes from him Nenya.

As the result of Nenya's healing power, Adar's appearance again becomes that of an elf, as before he was deceived by Sauron many centuries prior. It was in this state that Galadriel is brought to him as prisoner, before Adar sends the Orcs away and reveals his healed self to her. Adar offers Galadriel Nenya, promising that if Sauron is defeated, he will withdraw his armies to Mordor and never again trouble the Free Peoples of Middle-earth. Galadriel accepts the ring, and as Adar surrenders it, his appearance reverts that of his Uruk nature.

Just then, Glûg arrives with a host of other Orcs, feigning a grave injury. Having encountered Sauron, the Orc had submitted to him and had been instructed to betray Adar. When Adar comes close, Glûg stabs him, prompting the group of Orcs to attack Adar while Sauron, who has just arrived, watches, to Galadriel's horror. Glûg looks to Sauron for approval, then finishes Adar with a strike to the head. As Adar's lifeless hand drops, Glûg requests orders from "Lord Sauron" and hails him as the new Dark Lord.

Character

As one of the Moriondor, he retained resemblance to his Elvish heritage, both physically and psychologically, that subsequent Orcs lacked. He was capable of some compassion and mercy, as demonstrated by his sympathy for his "children". He was, however, blind to the savagery and ruthlessness of the Orcs, failing to understand that they were "children no more". In spite of calling himself an "Uruk", a part of him still longed and hearkened to his past: before the battle at Tirharad, he planted seeds ("new life in defiance of death") as customary of the Elves. Adar also believed that both he and the other Orcs were more "unnamed slaves" of Morgoth and Sauron.

However, the evil that had been nurtured into him by Morgoth, and later Sauron, had taken root and left its mark on him. Despite being disgusted by the evil deeds his former masters committed against his "children", Adar himself displayed similar cruelty towards those he wished to subdue. This ranged from merely having defiant Men killed to iron-branding those that submitted with the his mark. When questioned by Galadriel, Adar spoke of Sauron in his own terms, as if the words had been long ingrained into his mind. Further evidence of the Dark Lord's leftover hold over him was in his goals: though Adar saw himself as a free agent, with "no master", his campaign to turn the Southlands into a home for the Orcs had ultimately been the by-product of Sauron's much older plan. In fact, even when he attempted to destroy his former master, he was still unwittingly doing his bidding: Adar brought his army to sack Eregion, just as Sauron had wished.

Etymology

Adar is a Sindarin word meaning "father".^[9]

Appearances

• The Rings of Power – "Adar" (first appearance)
• The Rings of Power – "The Great Wave"
• The Rings of Power – "Partings"
• The Rings of Power – "Udûn"
• The Rings of Power – "The Eye"
• The Rings of Power – "Alloyed" (indirect mention only)
• The Rings of Power – "Elven Kings Under the Sky"
• The Rings of Power – "Where the Stars are Strange" (mentioned only)
• The Rings of Power – "The Eagle and the Sceptre"
• The Rings of Power – "Eldest"
• The Rings of Power – "Halls of Stone"
• The Rings of Power – "Where Is He?"
• The Rings of Power – "Doomed to Die"
• The Rings of Power – "Shadow and Flame"

Behind the scenes

Adar was created for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and as such is non-canonical. He was portrayed by Joseph Mawle in the series' first season; after Mawle stepped away from the role, Sam Hazeldine was cast for the show's second season.

Notes

References