Gandalf goes to Dol Guldur

[urbanhiker]

The recent film and a review of the appendices brought this question to my mind: how did Gandalf come to know, with certainty, that the evil power dwelling in Dol Guldur was Sauron?

Related sub-questions include: how did he get in? How did he stay hidden? How long was he there? I'm assuming that Dol Guldur was garrisoned, that at least a few Nazgul were present, and that Sauron himself would have some modicum of awareness regarding who was in his fortress.

Such an interesting little side story, one of many, and Tolkien elaborates on so little of it.

All thoughts are welcome. Thanks!

[Inziladun]

Gandalf actually entered Dol Guldur on two occasions. The Tale of Years indicates he first went there in TA 2063, and that "Sauron retreats and hides in the East". I would surmise that Sauron feared to be discovered at that point, as he was still "rebuilding" his power, and was forced to flee, whether he perceived Gandalf's true nature, or not.
The second incursion by Gandalf was in 2850. It was then that he "discovers that [Dol Guldur's] master is indeed Sauron".

In Unfinished Tales, The Quest of Erebor, Gandalf says this to Frodo, Merry, Pippin, and Gimli:

"I remembered a dangerous journey of mine, ninety-one years before, when I had entered Dol Guldur in disguise..."

So Gandalf was disguised, though specifically how we are not told. If there were guards at the door, presumably the disguise was adequate enough to enable his passage inside. Perhaps he had help there from that "master of shapes and changes of hue", Radagast.
I don't think he was there for long. It was certainly less than a year, according to the TOY, and common sense would impel him to be as quick as possible. I would think Gandalf knew what to look for in identifying Sauron. For one thing, he could have spoken with, or eavesdropped on, any of Sauron's servants there and potentially learned something of what the Power intended to do. From speaking with Elrond, Gandalf would have known physical characteristics of Sauron. Even though Sauron had been forced to rebody himself after his defeat in the Last Alliance, his new form would likely have been very similar to his last. He would have been missing a finger, something a daring Gandalf could have seen.

As for Sauron being aware of Gandalf, it just seems that he wasn't. Perhaps it was a combination of a good disguise on Gandalf's part, and Sauron being preoccupied with plotting, and ruminating over the last of the Seven he'd just taken from Thráin II.

[Sarumian]

One of the best indications would be the way the Necromancer communicates with Nazgul. Only the Lord of The Ring could be The Master of Nazgul. As the Necromancer lacked The Ring (and the finger), it was clear, he could have been no one else but Sauron.

I believe that Sauron have never disclosed the true nature of Istari. Otherwise his actions would have been pretty different.

[Juicy-Sweet]

Another interesting question is: Why didnt they guess right off the bat it was Sauron.

What we have here is basically a very powerful guy, powerful enough to amass an evil army the Elves need to stay clear off, turn almost all of Mirkwood into a dark and evil place as well as perform feats of magic.

Now whoooooo could that be?

In all of Silmarollon and LoTR there are only two characters that could do that: The Witch King and Sauron.

I guess by Gandalf having to spy and all to find out which one of the two it was, Tolkien is hinting at there having been lots more evil overlords, that just doesnt happened to be mentioned anywhere but who had been running evil kingdoms at one time or another. Probably both Morgoth and Sauron's defeats released a bunch of evil overlords from duties, freeing them to set up shop on their own. Or maybe it happened now and then that an Elf Lord went evil.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Juicy-Sweet

Another interesting question is: Why didnt they guess right off the bat it was Sauron.

What we have here is basically a very powerful guy, powerful enough to amass an evil army the Elves need to stay clear off, turn almost all of Mirkwood into a dark and evil place as well as perform feats of magic.

Now whoooooo could that be?

In all of Silmarollon and LoTR there are only two characters that could do that: The Witch King and Sauron.

I guess by Gandalf having to spy and all to find out which one of the two it was, Tolkien is hinting at there having been lots more evil overlords, that just doesnt happened to be mentioned anywhere but who had been running evil kingdoms at one time or another. Probably both Morgoth and Sauron's defeats released a bunch of evil overlords from duties, freeing them to set up shop on their own. Or maybe it happened now and then that an Elf Lord went evil.

Well, that is one thing, Middle-Earth is after all pretty vast and nobody knows what might have come, say, from the East, one can pretty much imagine some evil that had survived Morgoth's fall suddenly emerging after long inactivity. Think of the Balrog of Moria, for example. Or Shelob.

However, one thing that is made clear in LotR is that for a long time, the Wise had been thinking that it might be one of the Nazgul. It would make sense - they used to be "great sorcerers" and all that.

For that matter, I believe it was said that during the Watchful Peace, there had been one Nazgul (namely, the second, Khamul), with "his fellow from Dol Guldur" sort of left to guard Dol Guldur. Then Sauron returned, of course, when the vigilance sort of lessened.