Does Sauron Know Where to Find the One Ring?

In The Lord of the Rings, Sauron, the dark lord of Mordor, knows roughly where the One Ring is after capturing Gollum. This pivotal moment occurs when Gollum is tortured in Barad-d?r, and Sauron gains critical information to track the Ring's whereabouts.

Acquiring Information

Following the capture of Gollum, Sauron devises a cunning plan: to allow Gollum to escape. The reasoning behind this is that Gollum's deep and restless lust for the One Ring might guide him back to his precious. Sauron would then be able to follow from a distance, ready to strike and reclaim the Ring when the opportune moment arose.

This strategy relied on the faith that Gollum's obsession with the Ring would lead him directly back to it, given his past experiences and the nature of his cruelty. However, despite this plan, Sauron still faced significant challenges in pinpointing the exact location of the One Ring.

Falling Apart

Indeed, all the information Sauron garnered from Gollum—about the Ring's circulation a long time ago, its last known hiding place, the identity of the Baggins and his connection to the dwarves—still did not give Sauron a definitive answer on where the Ring was. The place, the Shire, was just an unspecified location west of the Misty Mountains, offering little concrete direction.

The Climactic Moment

The moment came when Frodo put on the Ring, his quest to destroy it reached its peak. At this decisive moment, even as Frodo stood in the Cracks of Doom, Sauron became acutely aware of his former possession. This was the very last moment before Sauron's destruction, as the power of the Ring shook Barad-d?r and Sauron's own realm. He looked across the plain to the door of the volcano, the very door that he himself had made, recognizing and feeling the presence of Frodo and the Ring.

Furthermore, as the Ring entered the lava, it was Sauron's last moment of hope. With Gollum's betrayal and the Ring's destruction, Sauron's realm crumbled, leaving behind a mere disembodied spirit. His final thought, even as his force diminished, was the realization of the Ring's destruction and the despair of its loss.

Final Thoughts

While Sauron had hints about the Ring's whereabouts from Gollum, the journey of the Ring to the West and south made his task more difficult. His strategy of using Gollum as a means to track the Ring was ultimately thwarted, as Sauron himself could never fully know the Ring's exact location until he faced its final, catastrophic end.