LotR -- Book 2 - Chapter 03 - The Ring goes South

[davem]

Originally Posted by Tar-Ancalime

All of which brings up another interesting conjecture--by sending out his own hand-picked Company of Nine against the other Nine, is Elrond setting himself up as the symbolic enemy of Sauron? It's not too implausible--he's one of only a few First-Agers still around at this point in the story, he's a Ring-Bearer, he's certainly the master of one of the more powerful realms remaining in the world. And at least temporarily, the Ring is in his house, not Sauron's.

But why does Sauron choose Nine chief servants?

Speculation: there were originally Nine chief Valar including Melkor, before he was cast out, so maybe Sauron was setting himself up as a symbolic rival to Eru?

Of course, nine is three times three, & we all know how many times three crops up in the Legendarium - 3 silmarils, 3 elven rings, 3 branches of the High Elves, of the hobbits, of the Edain, 3 ages, 3 continents - Middle earth, Numenor & Aman, 3 kinds of men according to Faramir - high, middle & low, the three farthing stone, 3 kinds of pipe weed......etc, etc, etc. I won't go on, but its clear that 3 is the most symbolic number in Middle earth by a long way, & maybe this is significant in Eru's creation of Nine supreme powers - a 'trinity of trinities'