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Silvered-glass
Lorien
May 1, 9:38am
Post #1 of 4
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Gandalf the White = Saruman (Serious) (Revised)
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1. Introduction
My theory is that after Gandalf the Grey fell in Moria, he didn't return from the dead. Instead, Saruman took Gandalf's identity and successfully and audaciously fooled (almost) everyone. The character that people think is a returning hero is actually a villain whose current personal interests happen to mostly align with those of his new companions.
Going through all available evidence is unworkable here due to the sheer amount of scenes with or mentioning Saruman or Gandalf in any of their versions. Instead, I shall give a detailed examination of the part of the book where Saruman takes over Gandalf's position, which is where the best relevant evidence lies, and after that address in less detail a number of other things.
The aim of this is to show that Gandalf the White being Saruman is not an unreasonable product of dreaming but on the contrary is a reasonable and logical interpretation that explains many strange details that are otherwise left mysterious to the end of the book.
2. The Wizard Switch
2.1 The Riders of Rohan: The Mysterious Old Man
Éomer had warned Aragorn & co. about Saruman in The Riders of Rohan:
"It is ill dealing with such a foe: he is a wizard both cunning and dwimmer-crafty, having many guises. He walks here and there, they say, as an old man hooded and cloaked, very like to Gandalf, as many now recall. His spies slip through every net, and his birds of ill omen are abroad in the sky."
Éomer gives a physical description of Saruman and warns of his fearsome intelligence gathering abilities.
I think Éomer's warning did indeed come true: Saruman intercepted Aragorn & co. in Fangorn.
Saruman, who was as cunning as described by Éomer, was cunning enough that he didn't approach the group immediately. Instead, he stayed at a distance and listened to their conversation, learning much useful information that he needed to know to execute his plan.
Eventually Saruman's invisibility malfunctioned, possibly because the other characters started to feel weary and were on the edge of nodding off, letting them see outside of their normal reality, or simply because Saruman thought that the other characters were unwary and almost asleep and consequently became less wary himself:
Suddenly Gimli looked up, and there just on the edge of firelight stood an old bent man, leaning on a staff, and wrapped in a great cloak; his wide-brimmed hat was pulled down over his eyes. Gimli sprang up, too amazed to cry out, though at once the thought flashed into his mind that Saruman had caught them. Both Aragorn and Legolas, roused by his sudden movement, sat up and stared. The old man did not speak or make a sign.
"Well, father, what can we do for you?" said Aragorn, leaping to his feet. "Come and be warm, if you are cold!" He strode forward, but the old man was gone. There was no trace of him to be found near at hand, and they did not dare to wander far. The moon had set and the night was very dark.
Suddenly Legolas gave a cry. "The horses! The horses!"
The horses were gone. They had dragged their pickets and disappeared.
Gimli's first reaction was that the old man was Saruman. Importantly, even under the normal reading of the book the old man here is identified as Saruman.
I think what happened here is that Saruman temporarily stole the party's horses, possibly by adding them to the area of effect of his invisibility spell, to prevent any untimely decisions to leave the forest before he was ready to reveal himself. Meanwhile he would stand in the cold forest and listen.
2.2 Saruman's Motivations
As for what would drive Saruman to behave like that, it all comes back to the One Ring.
Saruman was determined to pursue the One Ring for himself, which caused him to pay special attention to the Company of the Ring and the path it took. We can put an excursion on top of Zirakzigil (probably to seek the Endless Stair as an alternate entrance to Moria after the West gate had been blocked) as a part of this pursuit. (It fits Gwaihir's words later on.) Later on Saruman's surveillance revealed to him that the Company had exited Moria without Gandalf. The exact details are speculative and not overly important to the matter at hand. The point is that Saruman had a basic idea of what had happened.
A shift came when Saruman learned through his arts that an Entmoot had been called. Being able to understand Entish language and move with stealth (assuming he needed to be present in the general area to hear what was going on), he quickly figured out what the final decision was going to be. Being aware of the physical capabilities of the Ents, he also quickly figured out that Isengard was headed for a battle that it would lose.
Gandalf the White alludes to these matters and shows his awareness in the chapter The White Rider:
"It was not in vain that the young hobbits came with us, if only for Boromir’s sake. But that is not the only part they have to play. They were brought to Fangorn, and their coming was like the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche in the mountains. Even as we talk here, I hear the first rumblings. Saruman had best not be caught away from home when the dam bursts!"
Gandalf the White is clearly capable of knowing of the Ents' intentions in advance. (Even if you do not believe that Gandalf the White is Saruman, this still demonstrates that the attack of the Ents does not need to be that surprising for a wizard.)
Having already betrayed pretty much everyone by this point and the impending destruction of Isengard only being days away, Saruman decided that the identity of Saruman had entirely too much baggage to be viable any longer. Conveniently, some of Gandalf's old companions were nearby. Saruman decided to take over the identity of Gandalf, who had been lost in Moria and was unlikely to ever return.
This could be considered a risky strategy, but Saruman, who would later go and defy the Nazgûl, was confident in his own power and believed that he could defeat Aragorn and his companions in open combat if deception failed. Then he would go and try something else. As Gandalf the White puts it in The White Rider:
"Indeed my friends, none of you have any weapon that could hurt me."
No matter what happened, Saruman (the real one) knew that he wasn't going to be there when the angry Ents attacked Isengard.
2.3 An Aside: Saruman and the Ents
In case someone doubts that Saruman could understand Entish, much of the vocabulary of Entish being derived from Elvish (specifically Quenya) would make learning to understand Entish less daunting a task than it might seem. Saruman definitely would have known how to speak Quenya, and as an immortal he would have had plenty of time to pick up new languages.
We also know that Saruman did not ignore his Entish neighbors but showed a keen interest in learning all about them. This is what Treebeard tells about his former relationship with Saruman to Merry and Pippin in the chapter Treebeard:
"I wonder now if even then Saruman was not turning to evil ways. But at any rate he used to give no trouble to his neighbours. I used to talk to him. There was a time when he was always walking about my woods. He was polite in those days, always asking my leave (at least when he met me); and always eager to listen. I told him many things that he would never have found out by himself; but he never repaid me in like kind."
And:
"Only lately did I guess that Saruman was to blame, and that long ago he had been spying out all the ways, and discovering my secrets."
Treebeard's words show that Saruman was familiar with the Ents, and there is sufficient reason to think that Saruman would have known enough to have an idea of what would happen if the Ents were stirred to action.
2.4 The White Rider: The Old Man's Enchantment
Returning back to Aragorn & co. in Fangorn, the mysterious old man returns in the morning in the chapter The White Rider. Gimli thinks again that the old man is Saruman and Legolas also identifies the old man as the same one that stood in the forest the previous night:
"Look!" said Legolas pointing. "Down in the wood, back in the way that we have just come. It is he. Cannot you see him, passing from tree to tree?"
"I see, I see now!" hissed Gimli. "Look Aragorn! Did I not warn you? There is the old man. All in dirty grey rags; that is why I could not see him at first."
Aragorn looked and beheld a bent figure moving slowly. It was not far away. It looked like an old beggar-man, walking wearily, leaning on a rough staff. His head was bowed, and he did not look towards them. In other lands they would have greeted him with kind words; but now they stood silent, each feeling a strange expectancy: something was approaching that held a hidden power - or menace.
Gimli gazed with wide eyes for a while, as step by step the figure drew nearer. Then suddenly, unable to contain himself for longer, he burst out: "Your bow, Legolas! Bend it! Get ready! It is Saruman. Do not let him speak, or put a spell upon us! Shoot first!"
However it would seem that the old man had already had the time to use his magic. Legolas is unable to manage a shot, and Aragorn is also not acting:
Legolas took his bow and bent it, slowly and as if some other will resisted him. He held an arrow loosely in his hand but did not fit it to the string. Aragorn stood silent, his face was watchful and intent.
"Why are you waiting? What is the matter with you?" said Gimli in a hissing whisper.
Gimli, being a Dwarf, is the most resilient of the group against Saruman's magic arts.
They could not see his face: he was hooded, and above the hood he wore a wide-brimmed hat, so that all his features were overshadowed, except for the end of his nose and his grey beard. Yet it seemed to Aragorn that he caught the gleam of eyes keen and bright from within the shadow of the hooded brows.
We can see that the old man is hooded like Éomer said Saruman was. Gandalf the Grey did not wear a hood under his hat, and the brim of it was probably not that wide, considering that his eyebrows are said in The Hobbit to have extended beyond the hat's brim.
The old man approaches.
At last the old man broke the silence. "Well met indeed, my friends," he said in a soft voice. "I wish to speak to you. Will you come down, or shall I come up?" Without waiting for an answer he began to climb.
"Now!" cried Gimli. "Stop him, Legolas!"
"Did I not say that I wished to speak to you?" said the old man. "Put away that bow, Master Elf!"
The bow and arrow fell from Legolas' hands, and his arms hung loose at his sides.
Legolas cannot resist the old man's magical compulsion.
"And you, Master Dwarf, pray take your hand from your axe-haft, till I am up! You will not need such arguments."
Gimli started and then stood still as stone, staring, while the old man sprang up the rough steps as nimbly as a goat. All weariness seemed to have left him.
At this point Gimli is still convinced that the old man is Saruman. Yet the power of the voice is enough to make Gimli stop completely.
As he stepped up on to the shelf there was a gleam, too brief for certainty, a quick glint of white, as if some garment shrouded by the grey rags had been for an instant revealed. The intake of Gimli’s breath could be heard as a loud hiss in the silence.
Gimli does not take action even when he sees a glimpse of white clothes and has an audible reaction.
When Aragorn asks, the old man is strangely reluctant to tell his name.
"My name!" said the old man again. "Have you not guessed it already? You have heard it before, I think. Yes, you have heard it before. But come now, what of your tale?"
The old man adeptly changes the subject matter away from himself.
The old man turned away and went towards a heap of fallen stones and rock at the foot of the cliff behind. Immediately, as if a spell had been removed, the others relaxed and stirred. Gimli’s hand went at once to his axe-haft. Aragorn drew his sword. Legolas picked up his bow.
Indeed it looks like a spell was removed when the old man's eyes turned elsewhere. Everyone suddenly starts acting normal.
The old man took no notice, but stooped and sat himself on a low flat stone. Then his grey cloak drew apart, and they saw, beyond doubt, that he was clothed beneath all in white.
"Saruman!" cried Gimli, springing towards him with axe in hand.
At this point Gimli is still convinced in his heart that the old man is Saruman.
The old man was too quick for him. He sprang to his feet and leaped to the top of a large rock. There he stood, grown suddenly tall, towering above them. His hood and his grey rags were flung away. His white garments shone. He lifted up his staff, and Gimli's axe leaped from his grasp and fell ringing on the ground. The sword of Aragorn, stiff in his motionless hand, blazed with a sudden fire. Legolas gave a great shout and shot an arrow high into the air: it vanished in a flash of flame.
Now an important thing to note is that this display of power is the polar opposite of Gandalf the Grey's similar trick. Unlike Gandalf the Grey, who unleashes the terrifying power of shadow, the old man in the forest relies on the power of light to awe his audience into submission.
Legolas is the first person to see the old man as Gandalf:
"Mithrandir!" he cried. "Mithrandir!"
"Well met, I say to you again, Legolas!" said the old man.
Aragorn is the second:
They all gazed at him. His hair was white as snow in the sunshine; and gleaming white was his robe; the eyes under his deep brows were bright, piercing as the rays of the sun; power was in his hand. Between wonder, joy, and fear they stood and found no words to say.
At last Aragorn stirred. "Gandalf!" he said. "Beyond all hope you return to us in our need! What veil was over my sight? Gandalf!" Gimli said nothing, but sank to his knees, shading his eyes.
Aragorn thinks that a veil must have been over his sight preventing him from recognizing Gandalf, but a more plausible interpretation is that a veil of enchanting magic has been put in place to make Aragorn see the old man as Gandalf.
Gimli is again the only member of the company to resist the old man's enchantment even partially. Jumping ahead in the chronological quote sequence a little bit, to how the old man finally deals with Gimli:
He laid his hand on Gimli’s head, and the Dwarf looked up and laughed suddenly. "Gandalf!" he said. "But you are all in white!"
Only when the old man physically touches Gimli's head is the Dwarf convinced that the old man is indeed Gandalf and not Saruman. Gimli's mind is not changed by the evidence of his eyes or ears but by an enchantment delivered by touch.
"Yes, I am white now," said Gandalf. "Indeed I am Saruman, one might almost say, Saruman as he should have been."
I think the old man, who had been Saruman all along, could not resist admitting the truth once the company was safely ensorcelled. "Saruman as he should have been" is Saruman who has betrayed Sauron and is now wearing white and siding with the West again.
Later on, on the way to the door of Orthanc in the chapter The Voice of Saruman, Gandalf the White tells something to Gimli:
"I will come," said Gimli. "I wish to see him and learn if he really looks like you."
"And how will you learn that, Master Dwarf?" said Gandalf. "Saruman could look like me in your eyes, if it suited his purpose with you. And are you yet wise enough to detect all his counterfeits? Well, we shall see, perhaps.
This is an outright undeniable admission that Saruman has the capability of making himself look like Gandalf in the eyes of others. Gimli is unable to make the connection because he is still under Gandalf the White/Saruman's spell.
2.5 The White Rider: Exchanging Information
Returning back to Fangorn and the chapter The White Rider in the chronological sequence, Aragorn is the first to use the name Gandalf for the old man.
"Gandalf," the old man repeated, as if recalling from old memory a long disused word. "Yes, that was the name. I was Gandalf."
I think the explanation for the old man's hesitation is that the old man/Saruman was temporarily taken aback, as "Gandalf" was not the name that Saruman personally used when he thought about the Grey Wizard, who had many names.
"Yes, you may still call me Gandalf," he said, and the voice was the voice of their old friend and guide.
The mention that "the voice was the voice of their old friend and guide" at this point implies that during the previous paragraphs the old man's voice or the perception of it had been different.
Once Gimli too is safely under the spell, it is time for Gandalf the White to gather some more information about what he is supposed to know as Gandalf:
"But come now, tell me of yourselves! I have passed through fire and deep water, since we parted. I have forgotten much that I thought I knew, and learned again much that I had forgotten. I can see many things far off, but many things that are close at hand I cannot see. Tell me of yourselves!"
Here Gandalf the White cunningly lays groundwork in advance so that the others can excuse him being ignorant about things that Gandalf the Grey should know and suddenly knowing things that Gandalf the Grey would have had no way to know.
Aragorn wants to know first about the hobbits though, but Saruman, despite having benefited from Gwaihir's help, doesn't know where they have gone, which makes sense, since otherwise he would have pursued them and tried to take the Ring for himself.
"Yes," said Gandalf, "that was Gwaihir the Windlord, who rescued me from Orthanc. I sent him before me to watch the River and gather tidings."
Gandalf the White's relationship with Gwaihir is evidently much closer than Gandalf the Grey's.
Gandalf the White implies that he was the mysterious force that intervened to help Frodo on Amon Hen:
"Some things he [Gwaihir] has seen, and others I have seen myself. The Ring now has passed beyond my help, or the help of any of the Company that set out from Rivendell. Very nearly it was revealed to the Enemy, but it escaped. I had some part in that: for I sat in a high place, and I strove with the Dark Tower; and the Shadow passed. Then I was weary, very weary; and I walked long in dark thought."
Saruman had, at the time under the discussion, access to a palantír and could conceivably at least to try to strive against Sauron's will. Saruman also would have had the motivation to spend much time at the palantír trying to spot the movements of the Ring.
The encounter at the palantír was when Saruman started having serious doubts about his ability to gain the One Ring for himself like he had planned. He also had to admit to himself that he had permanently broken up with Sauron beyond any repair or explanation. These dark thoughts were key in Saruman choosing to make the drastic choice of abandoning his old identity.
The companions sat on the ground at his feet, and Aragorn took up the tale. For a long while Gandalf said nothing, and he asked no questions.
Gandalf the White is careful not to interrupt with a question that could be too revealing in its ignorance.
"It was not in vain that the young hobbits came with us, if only for Boromir's sake. But that is not the only part they have to play. They were brought to Fangorn, and their coming was like the falling of small stones that starts an avalanche in the mountains. Even as we talk here, I hear the first rumblings. Saruman had best not be caught away from home when the dam bursts!"
"In one thing you have not changed, dear friend," said Aragorn: "you still speak in riddles."
"What? In riddles?" said Gandalf. "No! For I was talking aloud to myself. A habit of the old: they choose the wisest person present to speak to; the long explanations needed by the young are wearying." He laughed, but the sound now seemed warm and kindly as a gleam of sunshine.
Gandalf the White proves himself very aware of the current political situation relating to the One Ring, which he discusses at length. Once again, this is the character who a short while ago had trouble remembering that supposedly he used to be called Gandalf.
"But let us not darken our hearts by imagining the trial of their gentle loyalty in the Dark Tower. For the Enemy has failed – so far. Thanks to Saruman."
Gandalf the White/Saruman could not resist putting in a good word for Saruman.
"And all the time there is another danger, close at hand, which he does not see, busy with his fiery thoughts. He has forgotten Treebeard."
Gandalf the White speaks confidently about what Saruman does and does not remember despite lacking a valid means to be aware of such things. The lists of things Gandalf the White knows and doesn't know are very hard to explain if one assumes he is being honest and truthful.
"Wait a minute!" cried Gimli. "There is another thing that I should like to know first. Was it you, Gandalf, or Saruman that we saw last night?"
"You certainly did not see me," answered Gandalf, "therefore I must guess that you saw Saruman. Evidently we look so much alike that your desire to make an incurable dent in my hat must be excused."
"Good, good!" said Gimli. "I am glad that it was not you."
Aragorn & co. do not question Gandalf the White's answer even though it makes Saruman's actions in the previous day seem extremely mysterious. It is also a huge stretch to imagine Gandalf and Saruman by sheer coincidence just happening to be in the same isolated area at nearly the same time looking very similar and wearing the same type of clothes but somehow not walking into each other or interacting in any way despite following the same characters.
Legolas interrupts to ask about Merry and Pippin:
"But the hobbits!" Legolas broke in. "We have come far to seek
them, and you seem to know where they are. Where are they now?"
"With Treebeard and the Ents," said Gandalf.
Gandalf the White displays his intimate knowledge of the Ents and incidentally makes the supposedly non-intersecting paths of the supposed two White Wizards even more mysterious:
"Merry and Pippin have been fortunate: they met him here, even where we sit. For he came here two days ago and bore them away to his dwelling far off by the roots of the mountains. He often comes here, especially when his mind is uneasy, and rumours of the world outside trouble him. I saw him four days ago striding among the trees, and I think he saw me, for he paused; but I did not speak, for I was heavy with thought, and weary after my struggle with the Eye of Mordor; and he did not speak either, nor call my name."
"Perhaps he also thought that you were Saruman," said Gimli. "But you speak of him as if he was a friend. I thought Fangorn was dangerous."
Gandalf the White is able to talk about Treebeard's habits with the air of an expert even though earlier he had trouble remembering much about the characters who are supposed to be his current friends. Saruman indeed is known to have had a long friendship with Treebeard, which allowed Saruman to learn much about Treebeard and Ents in general.
Gandalf the White also lets slip that he was already in the forest four days previously, which makes the situation with the travels of Gandalf the White and Saruman the White even harder to map in a logical fashion if the two are considered to be different individuals.
"Dangerous!" cried Gandalf. "And so am I, very dangerous: more dangerous than anything you will ever meet, unless you are brought alive before the seat of the Dark Lord."
Gandalf the White again is momentarily honest to his enchanted audience. Saruman is not only one of the most powerful entities in the Middle-earth but he also lacks the moral inhibitions that normal people have. Gimli has no idea how close he came to being killed for being hard to enchant.
Aragorn & co. agree to follow Gandalf the White and easily abandon the pursuit of Merry and Pippin.
2.6 The White Rider: The Moria Story
After much talk, Legolas is the one to finally ask the obvious question that Gandalf the White has been avoiding:
"Yes, together we will follow you," said Legolas. "But first, it would ease my heart, Gandalf, to hear what befell you in Moria. Will you not tell us? Can you not stay even to tell your friends how you were delivered?"
"I have stayed already too long," answered Gandalf. "Time is short. But if there were a year to spend, I would not tell you all."
Gandalf the White acts evasive. He knows less than his audience and could easily contradict their knowledge by accident.
Gimli however presses the issue:
"Then tell us what you will, and time allows!" said Gimli. "Come, Gandalf, tell us how you fared with the Balrog!"
Gandalf the White in this scene is quite possibly saved by Gimli mentioning the key word "Balrog". It is more than likely that Gandalf the White didn't know about a Balrog's involvement prior to that, Aragorn & co. not having told of the happenings in Moria in sufficient detail earlier.
"Name him not!" said Gandalf, and for a moment it seemed that a cloud of pain passed over his face, and he sat silent, looking old as death. "Long time I fell," he said at last, slowly, as if thinking back with difficulty. "Long I fell, and he fell with me."
Gandalf the White is clearly seen here stalling for time. I think the cloud of pain that passes over his face comes from the strain of trying to figure out how he could even fictionally survive what had happened to Gandalf the Grey.
I think at this moment Saruman faced his single greatest mental challenge in the entire chapter, quite possibly even in the entire book. This was the moment when he came close to being stumped. Saruman was learned enough in lore to know how strong the Balrogs were and that Gandalf the Grey had had no realistic chances of coming back to tell the tale.
Not being the type to give up easily, Saruman pushed himself to the limit and made up a Balrog fight story based on his general knowledge of the Balrogs. He was hard pressed to come up with a somewhat plausible plot on the fly, but he did his best, making use of his earlier mention of fire and water to help with the details.
"Ever up now we went, until we came to the Endless Stair."
"Long has that been lost," said Gimli. "Many have said that it was never made save in legend, but others say that it was destroyed."
"It was made, and it had not been destroyed," said Gandalf.
Gandalf the White uses bald denial to ignore Gimli's superior knowledge of Moria and its history.
"The sun shone fiercely there, but all below was wrapped in cloud. Out he sprang, and even as I came behind, he burst into new flame."
Gandalf the White's Balrog re-ignites in the sunlight, making it a wielder of the Flame of Anor (the Sun) rather that the Flame of Udûn (Hell) in direct contradiction to Gandalf the Grey's famous words in Moria. (Though I suppose Gandalf the Grey could have been mistaken about the relevant metaphysics.) Having the Balrog escape away from its comfort zone is however a route that allows for Gandalf to find his way to the surface with a faint degree of plausibility.
There is also the matter of magma vs. icy cold water and caverns of strange creatures under Moria, which are hard to fit together geologically. The characters see lava streaming out from the East Gate of Moria.
But perhaps the biggest inconsistency is the feasibility of Gandalf defeating a Balrog with a broken staff, even with Glamdring. This can be explained by Saruman being unaware that Gandalf's staff had been broken. Saruman also did not know that Gandalf had already said that he was tired and having the story involve extreme physical exertion for long periods of time without rest might not be plausible in that light.
The part about recuperating in Lórien and being dressed by Galadriel has problems too.
"I see, I see now!" hissed Gimli. "Look Aragorn! Did I not warn you? There is the old man. All in dirty grey rags; that is why I could not see him at first."
A Lórien cloak being called "dirty grey rags" is not an appropriate description and should not make someone look like a beggar. Surely Galadriel would have had a new or at least lightly-used cloak to give to Gandalf. My conclusion therefore is that Gandalf the White was not wearing a Lórien cloak but a beggar costume he had had lying around in Orthanc.
The supposed timeline would also raise the question of why Gwaihir didn't fly forward and tell Gandalf's companions that their friend had returned to life.
3. Gandalf the Grey and Gandalf the White
3.1 Gandalf's Weaponry
No one took a close look at Gandalf the White's sword to see if it was really the same Glamdring that Gandalf the Grey had used. Saruman could well have used a similar type of Elven sword without anyone being the wiser.
As for the staff, Gandalf the Grey's staff had been broken, so Gandalf the White wielding a different replacement staff would not have aroused suspicions.
3.2 Gandalf and Shadowfax
I think it is possible that Shadowfax was always Saruman's horse. It is known that Saruman when he first moved to Isengard gave gifts to Rohan to establish a friendship. Shadowfax, a very special horse unique in all of Rohan, may well have been one of these gifts, given at a time when Saruman no longer needed transportation so much.
It is notable that Shadowfax and Snowmane have names that are similar in meaning, but Shadowfax's includes the archaic word "fax" while Snowmane has the ordinary word "mane" (which means the same as "fax") despite Snowmane not being just any random horse but the King's mount. This suggests that Shadowfax is much older than the normal horse Snowmane and is probably immortal. Issues of horse lifespan therefore do not apply as arguments against Shadowfax having been Saruman's gift.
3.3 Gandalf and Narya
"But I rode to the foot of Orthanc, and came to the stair of Saruman; and there he met me and led me up to his high chamber. He wore a ring on his finger."
- Gandalf in The Council of Elrond
Against the general opinion, I think Gandalf the Grey was never the wielder of Narya, the Ring of Fire. I think Saruman had Narya all along, having talked it from Círdan long ago, and retained the ring as Gandalf the White. This is a major reason why Gandalf the White is able to inspire hope in the hearts of men while Gandalf the Grey could not.
Being in possession of a Ring of Power elevated Saruman far beyond the other four wizards and would have been the single biggest factor in the power difference between Gandalf the Grey and Gandalf the White.
3.3 Gandalf's Character Quirks
Some of the most iconic aspects of Gandalf the Grey were quietly dropped by Gandalf the White.
Gandalf the White does not blow smoke rings like Gandalf the Grey. Saruman and Gandalf the Grey were both smokers, but The Hunt for the Ring in The Unfinished Tales hints that smoke rings were something that Gandalf the Grey knew how to do but Saruman could not.
In the chapter Palantír Gandalf the White reveals his superficial understanding of hobbit-lore:
"What are you saying, Gandalf?" asked Pippin
"I was just running over some of the Rhymes of Lore in my mind," answered the wizard. "Hobbits, I suppose, have forgotten them, even those that they ever knew."
"No, not all," said Pippin. "And we have many of our own, which wouldn't interest you, perhaps."
Saruman's knew about hobbits and the Shire but had researched them much less deeply than Gandalf the Grey. Later on Gandalf the White is not interested in visiting the Shire even though he shouldn't have had anything particularly pressing to do. This may have been because of Gandalf the White's limited interest in hobbits and their mundane ways or because he was worried about his lack of knowledge becoming too obvious.
Gandalf the Grey's famous fireworks do not reappear later on in the book either, even though the liberation of the Shire and Sam's marriage to Rosie should have given plenty of reasons to celebrate. There is no indication that Gandalf the White is skilled with fireworks.
3.5 Gandalf's Color Change
The single most obvious difference between Gandalf the Grey and Gandalf the White is right in their names: the color.
"Mithrandir we called him in elf-fashion," said Faramir, "and he was content. Many are my names in many countries, he said. Mithrandir among the Elves, Tharkûn to the Dwarves; Olórin I was in my youth in the West that is forgotten, in the South Incánus, in the North Gandalf; to the East I go not."
- The Window on the West
The wizards can go by many names, but they are each identified with a single color. This gives the impression that a wizard's personal color is more fundamental to a wizard's identity than what name others are currently using for them. Therefore "Gandalf" changing from Grey to White is a profound difference.
I think Saruman's "Many Colors" phase was likely a sign of Sauron's influence. Saruman may have been imitating Sauron's style of dress or been told to ditch the white because Sauron was the only one allowed to wear white. The citizens of Mordor wear a lot of black, but that doesn't mean Sauron had to follow the same pattern. Sauron may have made plain black the norm so that his own formal robes looked all the more dazzling.
"Yes, I am white now," said Gandalf. "Indeed I am Saruman, one might almost say, Saruman as he should have been."
- The White Rider
Saruman returns to being the White like he was in the past and like he knew that he should be. This suggests that his heart was never truly in the Many Colors thing. The Many Colors may even have contributed to his decision to seek the One Ring for himself so that he could be himself again.
I think Saruman was in no way consumed by the supernatural pull of the One Ring but merely wanted the Ring for rational selfish reasons. He was entirely fine with the Ring being destroyed and no one having it.
3.6 Gandalf 2.0
Merry in Palantír describes how he perceives the change from Gandalf the Grey from Gandalf the White:
"He has grown, or something. He can be both kinder and more alarming, merrier and more solemn than before, I think. He has changed; but we have not had a chance to see how much, yet. But think of the last part of that business with Saruman! Remember Saruman was once Gandalf's superior: head of the Council, whatever that may be exactly. He was Saruman the White. Gandalf is the White now. Saruman came when he was told, and his rod was taken; and then he was just told to go, and he went!"
Ironically, Saruman was better at being Gandalf than Gandalf the Grey ever was. This goes beyond simple power level. Gandalf the White/Saruman was consistently more optimistic and less grouchy than the real Gandalf and more able to rally the forces of the West.
Gandalf the White could inspire hope in those around him while Gandalf the Grey had had to terrify Frodo into taking the Ring and Bilbo into giving it away. Gandalf the White does not use Gandalf the Grey's intimidating dark aura at all and may not even possess that ability, instead having an aura of light.
It is noteworthy that Gandalf the White's expressed estimations of Sauron's military and other capabilities are noticeably different from Gandalf the Grey's practically despairing views without anything in the overall situation having changed for the better. (It is unclear how much of that is genuine hubris on the part of Gandalf the White and how much is simply Gandalf the White doing his part at maintaining the morale. Having lost his chance at the Ring and having already conclusively betrayed Sauron, Gandalf the White/Saruman was limited to siding with the West if he hoped for a future for himself in the Middle-earth.)
4. Some Further Exploits of Gandalf the White
4.1 The King of the Golden Hall: Gandalf the White vs. Gríma
In Edoras Gandalf the White has a confrontation with Gríma. Now one might ask why Gríma did not recognize Gandalf the White as Saruman if Gandalf the White really was Saruman. My answer to this is that if Saruman has the power to make himself seem familiar when he is a stranger it would not be a big stretch that he would also have the power to make himself seem like a stranger when he was familiar to someone.
It is important to notice is that Gríma's speech goes through a strange discontinuity. At first Gríma is highly eloquent and convincing in his arguments, making it easy to understand why people named him Wormtongue (the "Worm" here meaning dragon) and how he became a royal advisor, but then suddenly every last bit of his eloquence vanishes and never once returns in the entire book. I think the reason for this is that Saruman gave Gríma his ability and was also able to take it away.
This line from Gandalf the White is about when it happens:
"Therefore be silent, and keep your forked tongue behind your teeth."
As for the concept of someone having the capability of granting improved skills to another, one may well imagine that Tolkien could have been inspired by stories of Goetic demons granting various skills, as well as musicians going to the crossroads and making deals with the devil. To these kinds of entities Saruman as a (fallen) angelic being would not have been entirely dissimilar.
4.2 The Battle of Helm's Deep: Gandalf the White vs. the Armies of Orthanc
I think the Battle of Helm's Deep was the greatest triumph of Saruman as Gandalf the White. He accomplishes his manipulation and deception to full success.
Gandalf the White sends the others to Helm's Deep but decides himself to depart on an undisclosed mission.
While Théoden was speaking, Gandalf rode a short way ahead, and he sat there alone, gazing north to Isengard and west to the setting sun. Now he came back.
"Ride, Théoden!" he said. "Ride to Helm's Deep! Go not to the Fords of Isen, and do not tarry in the plain! I must leave you for a while. Shadowfax must bear me now on a swift errand." Turning to Aragorn and Éomer and the men of the king's household, he cried: "Keep well the Lord of the Mark, till I return. Await me at Helm's Gate! Farewell!"
He spoke a word to Shadowfax, and like an arrow from the bow the great horse sprang away.
Gandalf the White was gazing in the direction of Isengard, so Isengard would seem to be in the direction of his travel.
Later on the direction of Isengard is confirmed:
"Has aught been seen of Gandalf?" asked Théoden.
"Yes, lord. Many have seen an old man in white upon a horse, passing hither and thither over the plains like wind in the grass. Some thought he was Saruman. It is said that he went away ere nightfall towards Isengard."
Gandalf the White would need to personally go to Isengard to summon the Orc armies to attack Helm's Deep. Riding here and there is needed to gather scattered Orc patrols and Rohirrim to get them to
In the war against Orthanc Gandalf the White/Saruman has his hands full trying to lead two war efforts at once. He pretends to be Gandalf for the Rohirrim but still acts as Saruman for his own followers. His plan amounts to putting the Rohirrim in a highly defensible position at Helm's Deep and then ordering all his own troops to attack said highly defensible position, putting them at a tactical disadvantage and leaving his own highly defensible circle of Orthanc empty.
Down leaped Shadowfax, like a deer that runs surefooted in the mountains. The White Rider was upon them, and the terror of his coming filled the enemy with madness. The wild men fell on their faces before him. The Orcs reeled and screamed and cast aside both sword and spear. Like a black smoke driven by a mounting wind they fled.
Gandalf the White finishes Orthanc's military might by personally leading Rohirric reinforcements to execute a pincer attack against the besiegers. This is the final, crushing blow to the army of Orthanc's morale, as they see that they have been betrayed by their leader whom they trusted.
5. Saruman's Personality
Based on his actions in the story, we can determine a coherent personality profile for Saruman.
Saruman is an intelligent psychopath with very high social skills and a wide base of knowledge. He understands how normal people think, which makes him an excellent manipulator. He sees all others as tools and has a long history of betraying anyone and everyone for his short-term advantage. He is not particularly sadistic though, and if Merry and Pippin had been delivered to Orthanc as planned, Saruman would have given them good food, baths, pipeweed, and an enchantment to tell everything to their trusted friend (Saruman). (After this the fate of the hobbits would have depended on whether Saruman still had a use for them, which he probably would have had.) As a psychopath Saruman does not feel fear like a normal person and is capable of feats of seeming great courage that some might mistake for heroism. His biggest weakness lies in long-term thinking, and he does not have much talent as a strategist, easily erring on the side of overconfidence in his own capabilities.
This overconfidence explains how he got himself into a situation where he had burned all the bridges and needed to switch identities.
Denethor in The Pyre of Denethor comments on Gandalf the White's goals:
"Do I not know thee, Mithrandir? Thy hope is to rule in my stead, to stand behind every throne, north, south, or west. I have read thy mind and its policies."
Treebeard gives his own interpretation on Saruman's character in Treebeard:
"I think that I now understand what he [Saruman] is up to. He is plotting to become a Power. He has a mind of metal and wheels; and he does not care for growing things, except as far as they serve him for the moment. And now it is clear that he is a black traitor."
6. The Counterfeit Saruman
6.1 The Mystery of the Missing Radagast
The obvious question, which I've delayed answering because of how lengthy a tangent it is, is how come there was still a magic-wielding Saruman in Orthanc for Gandalf the White to subdue, and my answer to that is Radagast.
We first encounter Radagast in Gandalf's flashback story, already doing Saruman's work. Later on Elrond's messengers find that Radagast is not at home in Rhosgobel. After that, everyone seems to forget about Radagast, and his fate remains a loose thread to the end of the book. He does not even appear in the Grey Havens.
The living Radagast had been a hermit; at Orthanc the decoy Saruman shows very poor social skills and situational awareness, for which he tries to compensate for with not-that-subtle magic in weak simulation of the real Saruman. The decoy had no chance of beating the real thing, making it easy for Gandalf the White to shine.
As for the people who doubt that estimation of "very poor social skills and situational awareness", consider how Saruman, if he was really Saruman, could have acted if he was truly willing to turn the situation to his advantage. There was plenty of time to think ahead and plan, and Saruman is supposed to have been cunning.
Here is my suggestion: Saruman could have humbled himself, come down to the front door, and presented himself as a do-gooder who tried to reform the Orcs and teach them civilization in order to strengthen the forces of the West against Mordor. However in this story eventually the Orcs started disobeying Saruman and developing a resistance to his Voice, first when they were away from him, later openly. The Orcs even started a war while Saruman could only watch from his impregnable tower where he had become a virtual prisoner. And as for Gríma, Saruman could have thrown him under the metaphorical bus and claimed that Gríma had ridden to Orthanc and demanded gold, which Saruman gave, in exchange for Gríma using his position to advocate for peace rather than war against Isengard at a time when Saruman still believed peace was possible.
There is no guarantee that this all would have worked out, but everyone present not named Gandalf the White would have been expected to fall for the deception hook, line, and sinker.
I think it is likely that Gandalf the White was actually displeased that his decoy didn't have the sense to pretend to be repentant and so had to be imprisoned rather than be allowed to contribute to the war effort. But then, Radagast had never been very smart (if Saruman's words in Gandalf the Grey's flashback narration can be believed), and Saruman's enchantment couldn't grant additional intelligence. It could only make Radagast believe himself to be a clever and skilled manipulator, which in the end made the enchanted Radagast act all the more foolish.
6.2 Real and Counterfeit Saruman
Now to what actually happened at Orthanc:
"I will come," said Gimli. "I wish to see him and learn if he really looks like you."
"And how will you learn that, Master Dwarf?" said Gandalf. "Saruman could look like me in your eyes, if it suited his purpose with you. And are you yet wise enough to detect all his counterfeits? Well, we shall see, perhaps.
- The Voice of Saruman
Radagast was described by Gandalf the Grey
"Radagast is, of course, a worthy Wizard, a master of shapes and changes of hue; and he has much lore of herbs and beasts, and birds are especially his friends."
- Gandalf the Grey in The Council of Elrond
The "changes of hue" are reminiscent of the clothing of Saruman of Many Colors, but it would seem that the term actually refers to the way Radagast is able to give various different impressions of himself.
Radagast being specialized in controlling birds and beasts and having lived long as a hermit would explain why he, when confronting Rohan's delegation, uses techniques more suited for animals that live in the present and have no ability for critical thinking. Radagast doesn't really understand people, even as he looks down on them, and has no reliable strategies for dealing with them.
Then Gandalf laughed. The fantasy vanished like a puff of smoke. "Saruman, Saruman!" said Gandalf still laughing. "Saruman, you missed your path in life. You should have been the king’s jester and earned your bread, and stripes too, by mimicking his counsellors. Ah me!" he paused, getting the better of his mirth. "Understand one another? I fear I am beyond your comprehension."
- The Voice of Saruman
Gandalf the White/Saruman thought the enchanted Radagast did a comically poor job at mimicking the real Saruman's personality and talents. Saruman had a very high view of himself and also enough interpersonal competency to not make basic errors like Radagast.
Radagast, much like Aragorn & co. earlier in Fangorn, is unable to resist Saruman's spoken Power of Command:
"Come back, Saruman!" said Gandalf in a commanding voice. To the amazement of the others, Saruman turned again, and as if dragged against his will, he came slowly back to the iron rail, leaning on it, breathing hard. His face was lined and shrunken. His hand clutched his heavy black staff like a claw.
"I did not give you leave to go," said Gandalf sternly.
- The Voice of Saruman
This is the true power of Saruman's famous voice.
6.3 The Counterfeit's Death Curse
"But Saruman has long studied the arts of the Enemy himself, and thus we have often been able to forestall him."
- Gandalf in The Council of Elrond
My theory is that Radagast had actually been dead for some time and had been turned into an undead being under Saruman's control. After all, Saruman had studied the arts of the Enemy, and those arts included necromancy and enslaving the wills of others. This would explain how when "Saruman" died in the Shire, his body immediately turned into a withered, decayed corpse. Undead Radagast had been relying on illusion magic to maintain the appearance of being alive.
As Radagast had been dead all along, this would explain why nothing came of his death curse, even if in the end he wasn't killed by a hobbit.
(The crebain that spy for Saruman also appear to be undead based on their disregard for sustenance, so there is indeed supporting evidence for Saruman having necromantic powers.)
Undead Radagast was a malevolent being who genuinely thought himself to be Saruman, but he still wasn't Saruman or even very close. Undead Radagast's sadistic and irrationally vengeful tendencies likely originate from the dark side of the original Radagast's personality, aggravated by him trying and failing to play a role that doesn't match his true underlying self, or else are products of the necromantic magic animating him.
7. The Limits of Deception
7.1 Gandalf the White and Sauron
Saruman as Gandalf the White had the power to fool most of the inhabitants of Middle-earth, but not quite everyone. The ones with particularly formidable spiritual capabilities would have been able to resist falling under the deception, and Saruman would have known that.
It is unknown what Sauron thought about Gandalf the White, but Gandalf the White's behavior reveals that he did not think that a defection to that direction was possible. Saruman had already betrayed Sauron once, and Sauron would surely be strong enough to not get fooled into thinking that Saruman was someone else.
The Mouth of Sauron's words at the Black Gate mentioning Saruman ("not Saruman, but one more worthy of trust") may or may not have been designed with Saruman's presence in mind. However the scene makes perfect sense when viewed as Gandalf the White/Saruman interpreting the words as a rejection aimed at him personally.
7.2 Gandalf the White and Denethor
It is unclear if Denethor realized that Gandalf the White was Saruman, but it is well possible. At the very least Denethor saw through the character Gandalf the White/Saruman was playing and did not fall under his magical charm. This explains the strong hostile undercurrent in the interactions between Denether and Gandalf the White. These are two characters who really do not like each other but have to cooperate for the sake of the war effort.
7.3 Gandalf the White and Certain Elves
Later on Galadriel, who made a surprise appearance in Minas Tirith, would have known that Gwaihir had never brought Gandalf to Lórien, and she also was much too strong for Gandalf the White to subdue with his will. Elrond also would have been too strong, as well as Glorfindel and possibly Celeborn and other Elves. On his own, Saruman as Gandalf the White would have never chosen to go to Lórien or Rivendell. The problem was that Galadriel broke her pattern of seclusion and came to him.
On the way North, the telepathic discussions between Saruman, Galadriel, and Elrond may well have amounted to "Come nicely with us two over the Sea to face the judgement of the Valar for your acts... or else." Saruman then decided to go with it because he thought he had been a hero overall (even if largely by accident) despite some bad stuff here and there, and being an optimist even if he didn't get a favorable sentence he didn't expect it to be too bad. He probably didn't even consider the Radagast thing and its effect on the final verdict. It is also possible that Saruman was compelled to go by magic, but that lies in the area of the story on which Tolkien didn't elaborate.
7.4 Gandalf the White and Gwaihir
Gwaihir the Windlord may have been a knowing ally to Saruman if not an outright minion.
The Eagles are not particularly involved in outside politics, so the Eagles may have been a faction that Saruman did not manage to alienate. It is possible that Saruman arranged for the golden crown mentioned in The Hobbit.
Gwaihir's rescue of Gandalf from Orthanc could be taken by someone as a sign that Gwaihir at that moment stopped siding with Saruman:
"So it was that when summer waned, there came a night of moon, and Gwaihir the Windlord, swiftest of the Great Eagles, came unlooked-for to Orthanc; and he found me standing on the pinnacle. Then I spoke to him and he bore me away, before Saruman was aware."
- Gandalf the Grey in The Council of Elrond
However Gwaihir could have accepted to do a service for Gandalf, thinking him still a friend of Saruman's, not having heard the news of the recent change in their relationship.
"Yes," said Gandalf, "that was Gwaihir the Windlord, who rescued me from Orthanc. I sent him before me to watch the River and gather tidings."
- Gandalf the White in The White Rider
Gandalf the White receives favors from Gwaihir in a way that Gandalf the Grey didn't. Rather than explaining this with one Wizard having gained a power-up, Gwaihir's behavior is much better understood as one Wizard (Gandalf the White/Saruman) being a trusted friend and another Wizard (Gandalf the Grey) being merely a friend of a friend.
8. Some Relevant Supplementary Material
8.1 Tolkien and Narrative Cheating
Now, the question becomes whether we might find something in Tolkien's letters to invalidate the above because Tolkien sure didn't confirm that Saruman was Gandalf the White or else everyone would have learned of it by now. Looking through the letters, it turns out that 156 and 181 are the only letters in the collection to have relevance.
A reader had called Gandalf's return "cheating", and Letter 156 is Tolkien attempt to respond with a long explanation that contains the following quote:
[..] I have purposely kept all allusions to the highest matters down to mere hints, perceptible only by the most attentive, or kept them under unexplained symbolic forms.
-- Letter 156
Letter 156 is an incomplete draft about matters relating to Gandalf's death that is written in a somewhat uncharacteristically oblique style and contains a number of strange phrasings. (A detailed exploration of the ambiguities contained in the text is omitted here.)
Even worse, the published portion of the draft was apparently judged unsatisfactory by Tolkien, so that he started writing another version in a later portion of the very same letter draft. However, this second version was omitted from publication (apparently even in the expanded version of Tolkien's letters) for being too similar to the first version!
[The draft ends with a discussion of the nature of the istari and the death and reincarnation of Gandalf which resembles the passage on this subject earlier in the letter.]
-- Letter 156
Since the surface content is redundant between the versions, the difference would have been in the way things were worded. The changes could have been very telling, but unfortunately we are not, at the moment of writing this, in a position to see how Tolkien tried to rephrase his text. The changes could have been very telling.
Letter 181 denies the supposed similarity of Gandalf's return to the resurrection of Christ:
To this evil Saruman succumbed. Gandalf did not. But the situation became so much the worse by the fall of Saruman, that the 'good' were obliged to greater effort and sacrifice. Thus Gandalf faced and suffered death; and came back or was sent back, as he says, with enhanced power. But though one may be in this reminded of the Gospels, it is not really the same thing at all.
-- Letter 181
The words "as he says" are very suspicious here, suggesting that Tolkien is trying to avoid committing himself into saying that Gandalf the White really came back or was sent back with enhanced power.
Letter 181 ends with the following, very revealing, editorial comment:
[None of the drafts from which this text has been assembled was completed.]
-- Letter 181
It very much looks like Tolkien, despite multiple attempts, was unable to formulate a finished letter dealing with the role of the Wizards and Gandalf's return. It seems likely that the earlier Letter 156 draft didn't result in a sent letter either, or otherwise Tolkien would have been able to use a similar explanation for a second time. The editorial comment is also a clue that the contents of the Franken-letter 181 are not necessarily trustworthy.
There seems to have been something very unusually difficult about the subject. My explanation for that is that Tolkien tried his best to write a letter about Gandalf from the omniscient authorial viewpoint that could have two different interpretations while sounding plain and unsuspicious, but it just didn't work out.
8.2 The Hunt for the Ring
The Hunt for the Ring in The Unfinished Tales is supposedly based on Gandalf's narration but far more concerned with Saruman. The narrative even tries to make Saruman look good to an extent, which is something that goes against Gandalf the Grey's character but consistent with Gandalf the White as Saruman not wanting to be too harsh on his former identity but rather wanting to magnify its reputation.
9. Conclusion
I hope the above is sufficient to show the merit of the theory without getting bogged into the small details too much. Saruman had the means, the motive, and the opportunity to become Gandalf the White, and that is what I think he did.
I bypassed most of Gandalf the White's actions in the War of the Ring for the sake of length and readability. These actions can be examined and found to be consistent with Gandalf the White being Saruman, though they are not nearly as revealing as the initial encounter in the forest.
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noWizardme
Half-elven
May 1, 6:07pm
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Well done!
It's a really clever and entertaining argument, again. I think my primary problem with it is emotional rather than logical. I want to believe that LOTR is a tale of good things winning through. I don't want to believe that the real moral is a sufficiently sneaky and nimble bad guy can get away with it all.
But I trust we can disagree agreeably?
My main other criticism is to look at letter 156. I don't see Tolkien carefully sitting on the fence in this letter (as you seem to suggest). I see him explaining what we might call The Standard Theory (of a re-incarnated Gandalf rather than Saurman as a bogus Gandalf) very explicitly:
“ But in this ‘mythology’ all the ‘angelic’ powers concerned with this world were capable of many degrees of error and failing between the absolute Satanic rebellion and evil of Morgoth and his satellite Sauron, and the fainéance of some of the other higher powers or ‘gods’. The ‘wizards’ were not exempt, indeed being incarnate were more likely to stray, or err. Gandalf alone fully passes the tests, on a moral plane anyway (he makes mistakes of judgement). For in his condition it was for him a sacrifice to perish on the Bridge in defence of his companions, less perhaps than for a mortal Man or Hobbit, since he had a far greater inner power than they; but also more, since it was a humbling and abnegation of himself in conformity to ‘the Rules’: for all he could know at that moment he was the only person who could direct the resistance to Sauron successfully, and all his mission was vain. He was handing over to the Authority that ordained the Rules, and giving up personal hope of success.
That I should say is what the Authority wished, as a set-off to Saruman. The ‘wizards’, as such, had failed; or if you like: the crisis had become too grave and needed an enhancement of power. So Gandalf sacrificed himself, was accepted, and enhanced, and returned. ‘Yes, that was the name. I was Gandalf.’ Of course he remains similar in personality and idiosyncrasy, but both his wisdom and power are much greater. When he speaks he commands attention; the old Gandalf could not have dealt so with Théoden, nor with Saruman. He is still under the obligation of concealing his power and of teaching rather than forcing or dominating wills, but where the physical powers of the Enemy are too great for the good will of the opposers to be effective he can act in emergency as an ‘angel’–no more violently than the release of St Peter from prison. He seldom does so, operating rather through others, but in one or two cases in the War (in Vol. III) he does reveal a sudden power: he twice rescues Faramir. He alone is left to forbid the entrance of the Lord of Nazgûl to Minas Tirith, when the City has been overthrown and its Gates destroyed–and yet so powerful is the whole train of human resistance, that he himself has kindled and organized, that in fact no battle between the two occurs: it passes to other mortal hands. In the end before he departs for ever he sums himself up: ‘I was the enemy of Sauron’. He might have added: ‘for that purpose I was sent to Middle-earth’. But by that he would at the end have meant more than at the beginning. He was sent by a mere prudent plan of the angelic Valar or governors; but Authority had taken up this plan and enlarged it, at the moment of its failure.”
Letter 156, To Robert Murray SJ (draft) November 1954, Letters 1e Yes, this is a draft letter - not apparently sent, and I don't know why. But I can't think of why Tolkien (working with your assumptions of his meanings and motives) would so enthusiastically expound just the one back story, especially if he was keen to keep things ambiguous?
~~~~~~
"I am not made for querulous pests." Frodo 'Spooner' Baggins.
(This post was edited by noWizardme on May 1, 6:09pm)
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Silvered-glass
Lorien
May 1, 9:28pm
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Well done!
It's a really clever and entertaining argument, again. I think my primary problem with it is emotional rather than logical. I want to believe that LOTR is a tale of good things winning through. I don't want to believe that the real moral is a sufficiently sneaky and nimble bad guy can get away with it all.
Saruman didn't get away with it all that well. He lost his de-facto independent kingdom of Orthanc, failed to get the One Ring for himself, failed to rule Gondor through Aragorn, and ended up having to take a ship to the West under what may well have been duress (the hobbits wouldn't know). It is unknown what will happen to him in the West, but if he's going to get a trial, I rather think the fate of Radagast would be considered to be a big crime.
Not everyone has a good time in Valinor. Ar-Pharazôn went to Valinor and look what happened to him.
Though, I really do think Tolkien is a much darker author than how most people see him or want to see.
My main other criticism is to look at letter 156. I don't see Tolkien carefully sitting on the fence in this letter (as you seem to suggest). I see him explaining what we might call The Standard Theory (of a re-incarnated Gandalf rather than Saurman as a bogus Gandalf) very explicitly:
Yes, this is a draft letter - not apparently sent, and I don't know why. But I can't think of why Tolkien (working with your assumptions of his meanings and motives) would so enthusiastically expound just the one back story, especially if he was keen to keep things ambiguous?
I think Tolkien in that draft letter really tried to keep things ambiguous to the best of his ability and the appearance of enthusiasm is a false impression caused by the rhetorical hand-waving that he uses in an attempt to hide revealing cases of strangely ambiguous grammar and other similar issues. He avoids using unambiguous technical terms such as "reincarnation" and does not say that Gandalf the Grey became Gandalf the White. Tolkien does not mention anything about a color change.
What makes this letter extremely tricky beyond anything else in Tolkien is that it engages in complicated verbal trickery but not in a way that can be relied to be correct or self-consistent. What we have is a first draft, which was followed by an unseen second draft, and even that second draft probably had some sort of critical issues in Tolkien's eyes to prevent the sending of a finished letter.
(You know, normally with these things the second draft is the draft that gets published. Weird.)
Now compare this situation to the entrance of Gandalf the White in LotR. That scene is also written to be misleading, but we can know that Tolkien judged it to have enough internal consistency to be sufficient for publication, which makes proper analysis possible. Trickery like that is much easier in a novel not written from an omniscient authorial viewpoint.
Anyway, here are some comments on a few particularly weird lines from the draft letter:
He was handing over to the Authority that ordained the Rules, and giving up personal hope of success.
That I should say is what the Authority wished, as a set-off to Saruman.
Tolkien doesn't say "Eru" or "Ilúvatar" or "God" or "the Valar". He says "the Authority". It is a strange and strangely vague term. I happen to have a theory relating to this, but this is really not the right place to open that can of extremely controversial worms. I think Tolkien used the term "the Authority" because he wanted to withhold information from the reader and so used a term with a wide range of potential referents.
Oh, and here is one of the definitions for "set-off":
(dated) That which is used to improve the appearance of anything; a decoration; an ornament. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/set-off
"Gandalf" the White is a set-off to Saruman, a new identity to improve how others see the White Wizard.
So Gandalf sacrificed himself, was accepted, and enhanced, and returned. ‘Yes, that was the name. I was Gandalf.’
But Gandalf the Grey did not sacrifice himself. He risked himself, and would have survived the encounter if the falling Balrog had not been so deft with the whip. The snippet above is entirely filled with elliptical language that obscures who did what and lets the reader assume a lot, such as the purpose of putting in a direct book quote from Gandalf the White rather than saying from narrative omniscience that Gandalf the Grey became Gandalf the White.
"So Gandalf [the White] sacrificed [the old identity of] himself, was accepted [by Aragorn and others], and enhanced [Rohan's military prospects], and returned [to Orthanc]."
Of course he remains similar in personality and idiosyncrasy, but both his wisdom and power are much greater.
But again Gandalf the Grey and Gandalf the White are not that "similar in personality and idiosyncrasy" and have various definite differences... Saruman the White and Gandalf the White on the other hand... Also it is not good writing style to end a sentence with "greater" without saying what is supposed to be the point of comparison. Greater than before? Greater than someone else?
"Of course he [Saruman] remains similar in personality and idiosyncrasy [to how he was before he changed his name], but both his wisdom and power are much greater [than Gandalf the Grey's]."
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Silvered-glass
Lorien
Mon, 1:11pm
Post #4 of 4
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By the way, congratulations to noWizardme for zeroing immediately on the single issue which I knew I didn't handle adequately because the explanation would have required bringing up "the big theory that changes everything" (not its real title), which I've hinted about earlier but not finished writing. I thought for a long while that I could post "Gandalf the White = Saruman" on its own because the logical dependencies between the theories weren't that large and went only one way, but well, there turned out to be that one Tolkien letter where the logical connection went the other way...
The plain text file for the big theory is currently nearly three times the size of the completed "Gandalf the White = Saruman". I have written a very detailed examination of a certain crucial book scene and also much on the surrounding matters, such as character motivations and Tolkien's own motivations for writing something like that, but on the more tangential issues there is still a lot to be done. Those tangential issues are practically separate but non-independent theories, and them confusing the focus of the text while delaying its completion is getting to be a problem.
I did a fresh overview of the current version and started thinking separating the lengthy Niflheim theory at least to a different file for reasons of readability despite the logical interconnectedness that would probably necessitate posting the two theories at the same time. I will also need to review how much I really need to talk about Middle-earth religion.
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