Tolkien's own words
concerning Sauron's ability to reform:
"It was because of this pre-occupation with the
Children of God that the spirits so often took the form and likeness of
the Children, especially after their appearance. It was thus that
Sauron appeared in this shape. It is mythologically supposed that when
this shape was 'real', that is a physical actuality in the physical
world and not a vision transferred from mind to mind, it took some time
to build up. It was then destructible like other physical organisms.
But that of course did not destroy the spirit, nor dismiss it from the
world to which it was bound until the end. After the battle with
Gil-Galad and Elendil, Sauron took a long while to re-build, longer
than he had done after the Downfall of Númenor (I suppose
because each building-up used up some of the inherent energy of the
spirit, which might be called the 'will' or the effective link between
the indestructible mind and being and the realization of its
imagination)".
(Letters of J.R.R.
Tolkien: #200)
This text tells that Sauron always lost some of his
'will' when his old
form was destroyed. Perhaps he had to take always lesser and lesser
forms. Or was it just because the Ring was taken? And the greater the
spirit or 'will' a Maia or Vala possessed, the greater form they were
able to take, if they so wanted.
If that is the case, think about
Yavanna, who sometimes took a form of a great tree. How tall is a great
tree in Valinor? The record redwood tree of over three-hundred feet is
earthly, so her height would be even more. And is she not an Aratar,
one of the greatest of
the Valar?
References:
Unfinished
Tales (Finnish version)
Letters
of J.R.R.
Tolkien #200.
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