J. R. R. Tolkien‘s greatest achievement is arguably the fact that he made us believe that tiny hobbits could be the ones to destroy Sauron, the most evil and powerful being on Middle-earth. Sauron is easily one of the most terrifying creations of all literature, and he doesn’t even need to appear in physical form in either book or film to elicit fear from the audience or heroes. In fact, seeing him in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has been so shocking because of how terrifying Charlie Vickers has been able to portray the character, giving the villain an unhinged self-righteousness that makes his power feel unyielding to restraint or reason. However, despite Sauron’s overwhelming power, perhaps his most embarrassing defeat is also his least-known.
Huan is One of the Great Heroes Featured in Tolkien’s ‘The Silmarillion’
Huan was the hound of Celegorm, one of the elves who left Valinor, and was given a prophecy that was similar to the doom all Noldor elves would face. The Silmarillion explained that Huan was told he wouldn’t die “until he encountered the mightiest wolf that had ever walked the world.” Huan ended up fulfilling this prophecy during the tale of Beren and Lúthien, when Huan and the elf-maiden Lúthien traveled to Sauron’s Isle of Werewolves to save her human lover, Beren. Sauron, a shapeshifter himself, turned into a massive wolf and attacked the two, but Lúthien cast a spell that gave Huan the chance to grip Sauron’s neck with his fangs until Sauron was forced into submission. Despite the small amount of assistance Huan was given, Sauron surely should have been too overwhelming for Huan, so why wasn’t he?
Well, Huan has a rather mysterious power scale compared to other characters throughout the lore of Tolkien. He could arguably be on the same level as Sauron, a Maia as Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen) and Saruman (Christopher Lee) also are. This is because he was a gift from Oromë, one of the 15 Valar, and was said to be imbued with certain powers befitting the companion of a Valar. However, Sauron’s power is arguably closer to Valar than Maia, so Huan’s victory is still a shock. This is due to Sauron’s obsession with perfection as well as his violation of the natural order, which increased his power but pushed him further away from divinity.
Huan’s Victory Fits Into the Wider Meaning of Tolkien’s Lore
Constantly in Tolkien’s texts, it is the underdogs who strike the greatest blow against evil, due to their persistence and kind nature, which a loyal dog personifies through and through. Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) might have vanquished Sauron forever, but Huan arguably has the more impressive feat, taking Sauron down in a 1v1 when even characters like Gandalf and Galadriel (Morfydd Clark), as shown in The Rings of Power, shiver at the thought of meeting Sauron. As previously mentioned, it is Tolkien’s ability to give us courage that we may play some great role in the narrative of our lives, and that, no matter what, committing to good over evil will always be the right thing to do.
It is unlikely we will ever see the tale of Beren and Lúthien adapted, and therefore unlikely we will see Huan’s great feat in besting Sauron in combat. However, Tolkien arguably wrote tales like this not for full-blown narratives equal to The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, but so that we can read or watch these narratives with the knowledge of all that has come before. If we know that the underdog in Huan has conquered great evil before, we can keep hope when reading about the bravery of hobbits, and therefore keep hope in the courage of ourselves.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is available to stream on Prime Video in the U.S.
