Was 👁️Sauron Actually Able To Corrupt Other 🧙Maiar?

[Ent]

I can't find a thread on this, so here it is.
We know Melkor actually had the power to corrupt and twist other Maiar (witness Balrogs). But what about Sauron?
Did he actually corrupt Saruman for example? Or was Saruman simply a result of his own choices?
Sauron's primary powers seem to lie in fear and deception, but do they include direct corruption?
He was responsible for the werewolves and wargs, of whom we read some were inhabited by 'spirits'. Were these spirits lesser Maiar corrupted by Sauron?

What are your thoughts.

 

[Gloranthan]

Wargs are pretty weak for Maia, and dragons don't seem to have involved any Maia, either, just breeding. Perhaps there are other, lesser spirits, not Ainur at all but nature spirits? Then again I recall reading that eagles have no Fea, even the talking ones, so perhaps that means there are no animal spirits? Or, perhaps, Maia like the river spirits, much weaker than the ones like Sauron, Olorin and the Balrogs.
To me it seems that the spiritual hierarchy in Tolkien implies that anyone more powerful can corrupt anyone weaker, especially if that weaker Fea had its own vices and vulnerabilities. Perhaps the Mouth of Sauron, presumably a man with a little elven blood, had strong spirit which he could invest in lesser men to corrupt them, as well.
This could be interesting for RPG purposes. Make corrupting and magic permanent investment of a limited resource.

 

[Ent]

Indeed, the whole 'spiritual realm' of Tolkien is an intriguing thing. As we know the Ents are the result of Yavanna calling the 'spirits from afar' to indwell them...but exactly what are those spirits?

And I suppose it also encompasses our definition of exactly what is meant by 'corruption' in this sense.

 

[Gloranthan]

Ents are the result of Yavanna calling the 'spirits from afar' to indwell them...but exactly what are those spirits?

That's a question I've had. I have guessed that, since there are Maia in the rivers, perhaps there are Maia in natural objects - not necessarily limited to living ones. But, as I said, Tolkien ruled out the Eagles having Fea, which to me implies that most animals don't. It would be rather strange if mountains had spirits, floating spirits existed somewhere, but animals had none. I'm not sure

 

[Áramandë Amaniel]

This aforementioned "spiritual realm" is an intriguing concept. If one were to search up "Genealogy of the Ainur" there might be an image to give more information.

 

[Ent]

If we step back to Saruman, for example, do we think Sauron 'corrupted' Saruman?

I guess I have to say my current view is Saruman was already corrupted by his own pride and lust for power, and Sauron was just another factor twisting him further along the line of corruption.

And even the Maia Sauron was able to 'corrupt' men and Orcs and come up with a new form of Orc able to withstand the Sun.

An interesting topic, 'corruption'.
In the end, can Anyone be 'corrupted' outside a certain 'willingness' or 'predilection' to be so corrupted to begin with? Frodo, for example, resisted 'corruption' until the very end.

 

[Ent]

That's a question I've had. I have guessed that, since there are Maia in the rivers, perhaps there are Maia in natural objects - not necessarily limited to living ones. But, as I said, Tolkien ruled out the Eagles having Fea, which to me implies that most animals don't. It would be rather strange if mountains had spirits, floating spirits existed somewhere, but animals had none. I'm not sure

In the Ents' case their origin is clear. (Except for knowing exactly what those 'spirits from afar' that Yavanna called up to indwell them were. Such spirits also indwelt 'some' of the animalia...though Tolkien is not clear which, leading to speculation regarding several things.)

As to many of the others, I've not been able to do a study of them yet. (I've only been at this 'deeper lore' thing since April of this year, having needed to delay my involvement for over 40 years.)

 

[Gloranthan]

I think that Eru gave his Ainur power and that power is not to be turned aside. So if a Maia had a position and authority, even a bad one, they can do things that the lesser spirits cannot entirely resist. Native strength of Fea and gifts can limit the effect, but not ignore it. The power of the Maia is the word of Eru, insofar as they are given a task they can do it, even if they pervert it. This is why there isn't the possibility that a really smart nice guy can just take the One Ring and use it for good, and our Frodo ultimately failed and had to have his mission saved by intervention of the omnipotent. And why he was ever after marred by the ring, even though (add Tolkien said somewhere) Frodo did not morally fail. Sauron and his ring simply have the power to dominate wills, and like the Girdle of Melian, only greater powers can overcome it.

 

[Ent]

Thus Olórin's original concern that he could not 'resist' Sauron in the task being assigned him, perhaps.
And yet he and Saruman certainly made different 'personal choices' about the paths they chose to follow.
So there is self-corruption, leading one to be all the more susceptible to externally imposed corruption, and then there is externally imposed corruption alone.
Intriguing.