Six Degrees of Sauron

Many people are familiar with the theory Six Degrees of Separation or the related game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. The idea is that each person is separated from any other person in the world by no more than 6 hops*.

Since Emil Johansson and I are J.R.R. Tolkien fanatics, and because Tolkien’s writings feature an enormous cast of characters, we thought it would be fun to apply Six Degrees to Middle Earth. SIX DEGREES OF SAURON includes characters from The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, and The Silmarillion.

For those few people who don’t know, Sauron is the main villain in The Lord of the Rings. He also appears in The Hobbit and The Silmarillion. Beware! The Dark Lord is closer than you think!

*Here’s a real-life example of Six Degrees. I know TORN staffer Cliff Broadway, who knows Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movie director Peter Jackson, who knows his movie cast. So, I’m only three hops from Ian McKellan, Orlando Bloom, Elijah Wood, Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch, and all the other talented actors from those movies!