Mairon, masc. name “the Admirable” (cf. adj. maira), said to be the original name of Sauron, changed when he was suborned by Melkor, “but he continued to call himself Maironthe Admirable, or Tar-mairon ‘King Excellent’, until after the downfall of Númenor” (PE17:183). Since Sauron had joined Melkor before the Elves came to Valinor and developed the Quenya language, we are perhaps to understand that Mairon is a translation by sense of Sauron’s original Valarin name, though Sauron himself may seem to have used the Elvish form in Middle-earth and on Númenor.
