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human
[Lord of The Rings] When people mention The Devil in Middle Earth are they referring to Sauron?

In the Lord of the Rings several characters refer to the Devil. For example Elfhelm in RoTK calls getting around in some dark woods "Devil's work". Is that just another term used to refer to Sauron or do they mean something else? Or is it just the fitting translation of whatever Westron word was written by Frodo?
gpt
It’s just a fitting translation. The Red Book of Westmarch is a translation of what Frodo wrote. They probably meant a word that didn’t exactly mean Sauron but just a meant “enemy”. In our world the idea of a hostile force against you called  “the devil” predates the Christian idea of the Devil (notice how it’s always **The** Devil like a title not just Satan or Lucifer like a name). So yeah, it’s what ever the Middle Earth’s colloquialism is for an outside evil force.