In The Lord of the Rings Sauron is essentially a spirit which has taken the form of the great eye. If the fellowship had failed, how would the forces of Mordor actually give the ring to him? In the books things are a little different, but in the films Saruman claims "He cannot yet take physical form". How would the forces of evil have given him the ring?
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4That's not his actual form: See this question and its accepted answer. – DavidW Jun 28 '19 at 14:14
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1Why do people always reduce me to that eye... – Annatar Jun 28 '19 at 14:15
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Thank you, I believe in the film he cannot take physical form without the ring though? – E_McAndrew Jun 28 '19 at 14:25
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1@E_McAndrew I don't think that's ever explicitly stated; the film just exaggerates in taking the Eye quite literally. – chepner Jun 28 '19 at 14:40
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1"The spirit of Sauron endured" Gandalf says at the start of the Fellowship of the Ring. ... As Saruman suggested " He cannot yet take physical form" – E_McAndrew Jun 28 '19 at 14:47
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That doesn't tell me how you give a giant eye a ring? – E_McAndrew Jun 28 '19 at 14:55
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I think the eye wanted to be used. It tried to use Boromir. It did use Gollum. It wanted to find its old master. I think if he was near it, then he could access its magical power, and more to the point - it was a ring of ruling. It ruled over rings of ruling. The rings of ruling that Sauron had were for men, and dwarves: he could have had vast control and influence through the ring over those races. – EngrStudent Jun 28 '19 at 14:56
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@E_McAndrew Here's a better answer to the question than the linked dupe. (I just knew I had read this question before and there was this amazing answer). Without a physical form, what would Sauron have done had he recovered the Ring? Hope this helps. – Voronwé Jun 29 '19 at 03:04
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In the books he isn't a giant eye but has a spirit form and a physical form, even in the Third Age.
But Sauron also was thrown down, and with the hilt-shard of Narsil Isildur cut the Ruling Ring from the hand of Sauron and took it for his own. Then Sauron was for that time vanquished, and he forsook his body, and his spirit fled far away and hid in waste places; and he took no visible shape again for many long years.
The Silmarillion, Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age
'Yes, He has only four on the Black Hand, but they are enough,' said Gollum shuddering.
The Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers - Book 4 - Chapter 3 - The Black Gate is Closed
...the year 1000 of the Third Age, when the shadow of Sauron began first to grow again to new shape.
J.R.R. Tolkien, Letter 246
However, even if he couldn't take a physical form again, which he could, the below quote indicates that he could use and carry the One Ring whilst in his spirit form anyway.
But Sauron was not of mortal flesh, and though he was robbed now of that shape in which he had wrought so great an evil, so that he could never again appear fair to the eyes of Men, yet his spirit arose out of the deep and passed as a shadow and a black wind over the sea, and came back to Middle-earth and to Mordor that was his home. There he took up again his great Ring in Barad-dûr, and dwelt there, dark and silent, until he wrought himself a new guise, an image of malice and hatred made visible; and the Eye of Sauron the Terrible few could endure.
The Silmarillion Akallabeth - The Downfall of Númenor
TheLethalCarrot
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1@E_McAndrew Your original post had "I am happy to take answers with regards to both films and books (ideally I'd like both)." in it. I didn't realise you had edited it out. Either way at present the question doesn't explicitly state you only want film answers and so this answer is fine. – TheLethalCarrot Jun 28 '19 at 15:29
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I appreciate that you answered before I edited, but the question does state "but in the films Saruman claims "He cannot yet take physical form". How would the forces of evil have given him the ring?" – E_McAndrew Jun 28 '19 at 15:36
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1@E_McAndrew Assuming the film is faithful to the book in this regard the spirit form would have been able to control the One Ring without a physical form. In fact Sauron isn't really a physical being anyway so that makes sense to be the case. – TheLethalCarrot Jun 28 '19 at 15:38
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@E_McAndrew Even in the films there is no rule against spirits interacting with the physical world. This is fairly evident when Aragorn recruits the Dead - not zombies but spirits, who are nonetheless able to run down and kill solid orcs. – Misha R Jun 29 '19 at 00:35
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3The Nazgul are also spirits, clearly capable of interacting with the physical world and with the mission of finding and bringing back the Ring. – suchiuomizu Jun 29 '19 at 05:51
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The Nazgul weren't really one or the other. They were men who were partly/mostly drawn into the "spirit" world; contrast with Elves, who appear to exist strongly in both the physical and the spirt world, and Men, who appear to exit mostly in the physical world. – chepner Jul 04 '19 at 18:26