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Did Sauron take One Ring with him to Númenor?


From: Erik Tracy

Yes, Sauron willingly went as prisoner to Númenor and took the One Ring with him. He was most delighted to work his evil in Númenor under the guise of a penitent; and he used the Ring to dominate the mind of Ar-Pharazôn and to sway the people of Númenor into the worship of Morgoth. His subtle persuasions and twisted whisperings into the ear of Ar-Pharazôn of claiming the immortal land of Valinor as his own resulted in the Rebellion of Númenor. But even Sauron was confounded by the magnitude of response to this evil act: the Valar called upon the Creator, Ilúvatar, and he opened the seas and sank Númenor:
    "The world was broken, and the land was swallowed up, and the seas rose over it, and Sauron himself went down into the abyss. But his spirit arose and fled back on a dark wind to Middle-earth, seeking a home."
    [The Silmarillion]
Some have questioned or objected to the idea that if Sauron was destroyed and reduced to a spirit then how was he able to carry off the Ring back to Mordor. One of his letters best addresses this issue:
    "Though reduced to a 'spirit of hatred borne on a dark wind', I do not think one need boggle at this spirit carrying off the One Ring, upon which his power of domination minds now largely depended."
    [The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien #211)
One will have to accept the view of Tolkien on this matter, for there is no other plausible mechanism for Sauron, as a disembodied spirit, to return to Middle-earth with the One Ring.
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