Dates

Each of the entities given this title dated back to the making of Middle-earth, and in Sauron's case to a time even before that

Locations

Caradhras lay in the central Misty Mountains; Sauron dwelt in the far North during the First Age, but later established himself in Mordor

Origins

Sauron was a corrupted ancient spirit, and conceivably this was also true to some extent of Caradhras¹

Race

Sauron was one of the Ainur

Division

Sauron originated as one of the Maiar of Aulë

Settlements

Caradhras stood above Khazad-dûm; Sauron settled in various places across history, but was most associated with Barad-dûr in Mordor

Title of

The Dark Lord Sauron and Caradhras in the Mountains of Moria

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Updated 26 January 2026
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The Cruel

A title of Caradhras, and of Sauron

A title used for those powerful beings that showed particular malice and cruelty. Of these, Sauron was Morgoth's lieutenant and inquisitor during the First Age, and in these times the Elves called him Gorthaur the Cruel. The title had also been traditionally given to Caradhras, one of the three Mountains of Moria (or perhaps to that mountain's malevolent spirit) that acted against those who tried to cross the dangerous pass over the mountain's shoulders that led through the Misty Mountains.

Caradhras

One of the three Mountains of Moria, known to Men as the Redhorn and Dwarves as Barazinbar. Over the shoulder of Caradhras ran a high pass, one of the very few to lead through the Misty Mountains from west to east, but this Redhorn Pass was notoriously treacherous, giving rise to the title of Caradhras the Cruel. It is even hinted that the mountain might have been, in some mysterious way, intentionally cruel to those using the pass (at least in the case of the Fellowship of the Ring).

Sauron

It is perhaps unsurprising to find the title of 'the Cruel' associated with the name of the Dark Lord Sauron, though it is in fact specifically associated with the Sindarin version of his name, Gorthaur. We have several examples from the First Age of Sauron imprisoning and torturing his enemies, so it is understandable that those enemies would have come to know him as Gorthaur the Cruel.

Notes

It's suggested that Caradhras was more than a mere mountain, and possessed some kind of malevolent will of its own. In reference to the mountain, Aragorn observed that, 'There are many evil and unfriendly things in the world that have ... purposes of their own.' (The Fellowship of the Ring II 3, The Ring Goes South). If Caradhras did indeed house an essence like this (which is certainly not established beyond doubt) then we're told almost nothing to explain how it might have originated.

Continuing his comments quoted above, Aragorn said that 'Some have been in this world longer than [Sauron].' Sauron entered the world soon after its making, so we might take these words to imply that Caradhras' 'spirit' - if it existed at all - was of a different order from that of Sauron. The implication here seems to be that Caradhras was an original part of the world, while Sauron came into Arda from beyond.

The Cruel

A title of Caradhras, and of Sauron

Notes

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