[davem]

I think what struck me most on reading this chapter, especially after watching the EE of RotK last night, was Gandalf’s motivation in seeking out Saruman. What was supremely present in the book, & entirely absent in the movie, was mercy. The more I read this chapter the more I feel that. Gandalf wants to redeem Saruman. He doesn’t want him to be forever lost. Saruman, however, cannot let go of his desire to rule, to control. The interesting thing about this is that it is Gandalf, who has no desire for rule or control over anyone or anything, who has the greater power.

Saruman has devoted himself to enhancing his power, to the extent that he has almost become a slave to his own desire. Its almost as if he has created this fantasy alter-ego, coming to see himself as ruler of Middle earth, ordering all things to his will, & is in the end unable to free himself of that desire, even when it is plain that it will never be. He is stuck, in a cleft stick of his own cutting. He is trapped in his fantasy & not only can he not extricate himself from it, he even slaps away the helping hand Gandalf offers him.

He has become so screwed up that he, like Sauron, can only understand power. He cannot think that anyone with the capability to rule & dominate others would not use that power. He can only think that Gandalf wants to replace him in Orthanc. No other behaviour on Gandalf’s part is conceivable to him. He accuses Gandalf of desiring the ‘Keys of Barad-dur itself, I suppose; and the crowns of seven kings, and the rods of the Five Wizards.’, because those are the things he himself desires & he cannot think that Gandalf, or anyone else, would not desire them.

Poor Saruman, what place is there for a failed megalomaniac in Middle earth, what is he to do, what can he contribute? ‘A little mischief in a mean way.’ Its a terrible fate he chooses for himself. Its as if his response to Gandalf here seals his fate. If he could have accepted Gandalf’s mercy maybe he could have avoided his nasty little death in the Shire, but perhaps even by this time he was too far gone. Or maybe he preferred his fate to accepting mercy from a former subordinate.

But as I said, it seems to me that Gandalf’s primary motivation is mercy. He wants to ‘save’ Saruman even more than he wants his aid in the war. One can imagine Gandalf’s frustration. Saruman has been completely defeated, humiliated & broken, yet still he will not accept help, still he tries his ‘tricks’. Just as Saruman has been backed into a corner & lashes out in impotent fury, so, in the end, does Gandalf himself. He cannot leave Saruman with any power, but neither, & more importantly, can he leave him with any hope of reasserting himself. So he must break Saruman’s staff & cast him from the Order & the Council - perhaps in the hope that once he realises he can never go back to what he was he will find a new path.

It is interesting that Gandalf has taken over the role of ‘White Wizard’. Whether this is because Saruman forsook the role, or because Gandalf, when he ‘strayed beyond thought & time’ was given the role & title, is not clear. What is clear is that there can only be one White Wizard’ in Middle earth. Certainly Saruman does not realise Gandalf has taken up this mantle.

It does seem like Gandalf has supreme wizardly authority over both Order & Council - though I can’t help wonder whether Gandalf consulted with Galadriel (& possibly Elrond via sanwe) before deciding on this course of action. Surely he would not have the authority to cast Saruman from the White Council without the agreement of the other members.

In the end he crawls back into Orthanc, broken & humiliated before those he sought to humble. Gandalf has cast him down, as he did earlier with Wormtongue. But Saruman is himself a ‘wormtongue’. He speaks like a dragon - like Smaug & Glaurung - using twisted words to manipulate others & bend their wills to his own. In the end fails & Gandalf brings light into the darkness created by their webs of deceit, & both end up cast down from their positions of power.

A sad chapter - especially so when read in the light of Ainulindale.