Saruman

Saruman (Quenya; IPA: ['saruman] - "Man Of Skill"), also known as Saruman the White and Sharkey was an Istar (wizard), who lived in Middle-earth during the Third Age. Originally, he was the chief of the wizards and of the White Council that opposed Sauron. His extensive studies of dark magic, however, eventually led him to desire the One Ring. Thinking he could gain it for himself or become Sauron's servant alone, Saruman allied Isengard with Mordor in the War of the Ring, in which he was defeated.

He studied deeply the arts of Sauron, the better to intially oppose him, but he soon became enamored of the Dark Lord's devices, especially the One Ring. He betrayed his mission and came to view the future of Middle-earth under his or Sauron's dominion. While coveting the Ring, Saruman kept the pretense of allegiance to the Enemy. But his plans came to nought, and his power was broken in the Battle of the Hornburg and the Battle of Isengard.

Before his fall, he was the chief of both the wizards and of the White Council (a league of all those opposed to Sauron). His knowledge and skill, especially of Sauron's devices, was said to be great. However, his deep study of the Rings of Power and Sauron's other magic corrupted him, and his overweening lust for power led to his downfall. Though not truly faithful to his master, Saruman unintentionally fell deeper under Sauron's sway by delving into Ring-lore and betraying the Valar. He is one of the few characters in Middle-earth who is morally "grey" - being neither a genuine servant of evil nor an agent of good. He ultimately trusts only his own counsel and schemes for his own ends.

Biography

Saruman was originally a Maia of Aulë the Smith - just as Sauron had once been - named Curumo, meaning "skillful one", or Curunír by the elves in Sindarin. In Valinor, the land of the Valar, a council was called by Manwë, leader of the Valar, shortly after Sauron's defeat by the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. Though Sauron was overthrown, it would later turn out that he had not been effectively vanquished and his shadow began to fall upon Middle-earth a second time. It was decided to send five emissaries to Middle-earth. These should be "mighty, peers of Sauron, yet forgo might, and clothe themselves in flesh," as they were intended to help Men and Elves unite against Sauron, but the wizards were forbidden from matching the Dark Lord in power and fear.

The other four who were chosen were Olórin (Gandalf), Aiwendil (Radagast), and Alatar and Pallando (the Blue Wizards). Curumo was appointed overall leader of the group.

Third Age

The five wizards arrived at the Grey Havens in the west of Eriador around the year 1000. Only the keeper of the havens, Círdan the Shipwright, knew Saruman's identity and origin. Saruman would later discover that Círdan had given Narya, the Red Ring, to Gandalf upon their first landing in Middle-earth. Even though Saruman was immediately considered the head of the order while Gandalf was not, Círdan had divined Gandalf as the wisest and greatest of the wizards. Saruman's jealousy of Gandalf grew from these events, perhaps because he feared that he would eventually supplant him as chief of wizards.

Saruman and the two Blue Wizards went into the east of Middle-earth. After one and a half millennia, he returned to the west, just as Sauron's power was growing again in Dol Guldur.

The White Council

When the White Council was formed at approximately year 2463 of the Third Age in order to counter Sauron, Saruman was appointed its leader, though Galadriel wanted Gandalf in this position. Saruman refused to step down due to his pride, while Gandalf had declined. At this point Saruman had begun to sense the resurgence of Sauron and to envy and desire his power, and especially the One Ring. This was also the same year that the One Ring was taken by the Halfling Sméagol (later called Gollum), who disappeared with it into the Misty Mountains for hundreds of years. It was during the meetings of the Council that Saruman first noted Gandalf's interest in Hobbits and The Shire, and believing that all his deeds related to some as yet undisclosed plan of his for self-enhancement, Saruman himself began keeping a greater watch on Gandalf and sent spies to The Shire. At first, he himself visited it secretly but stopped when he realized that its inhabitants had noticed him. Amongst the purposes of his visits was to procure some of the halflings' Pipe-weed, since in secret imitation of Gandalf he had begun to smoke.

At Isengard

In the year TA 2759, Saruman settled in Isengard with the permission of the Steward of Gondor, Beren, although he settled only as Warden of the Tower and representative of the Steward (the stronghold had by then been abandoned by Gondor). There he became important in the informal alliance defending the west of Middle-earth. In the tower of Isengard, Orthanc, he also found one of the remaining Palantíri.

In TA 2850, Gandalf entered Dol Guldur and confirmed that the evil presence was indeed Sauron. By Saruman's advice, the White Council decided against attacking Dol Guldur. Gandalf would later remark that it was at this council meeting that he first began to suspect that Saruman desired to possess the One Ring. Saruman's real intention was to permit Sauron to build up his strength, so that the One Ring would reveal itself. He later found that Sauron had more knowledge of the possible location of the One Ring than he expected, and in TA 2941, Saruman finally agreed to attack Dol Guldur. The attack was successful, and by the devices of Saruman, Sauron was driven from the fortress.

Ten years after Sauron abandoned Dol Guldur, he returned to Mordor and declared himself openly. He established contact with Saruman through the Palantír captured from Minas Ithil, which had since become known as Minas Morgul. The White Wizard lost the contest of wills with the Dark Lord and was enticed, becoming a servant of Sauron. He no longer opposed him, but desired his victory (though he retained his desire for the Ruling Ring). In preparation for the war, Saruman amassed a mighty army of Orcs, Uruk-hai, Half-orcs, wicked Men and Wolves within Isengard and kept up the façade of his allegiance to Sauron while searching for the Ring. Little did he know that his master was already aware of his thoughts, despite having failed to dominate him fully.

When Gandalf presented Saruman with the discovery and the location of the One Ring, Saruman revealed his desire for it and him being in thrall to Sauron. He had also shed the title of Saruman the White; Saruman no longer had any loyalty to the White Council, or the Ring-bearer. He tried unsuccessfully to gain Gandalf's aid. When Gandalf refused to join with either him or Sauron, Saruman held him captive in Isengard. Gandalf later escaped with help from Gwaihir the Windlord, one of Middle-earth's large Eagles, and made Saruman's treachery known to the rest of the White Council.

The Beginning of the End

By one account, the Nazgûl came two days after Gandalf's escape and Saruman used his Voice to persuade the Lord of the Nazgûl that he did not know the Ring's location but that Gandalf did and they should seek him nearby. After the Nazgûl heard this they went back on the main road rode along and instead found Gríma Wormtongue (who was on his way to tell Saruman that Gandalf had been to Edoras) who revealed that Saruman was hiding his knowledge of the Shirefrom them, proving that the wizard's allegiance to Sauron was as genuine as he outright presented it.

By another account, Saruman only discovered that Gandalf had escaped when the Nazgûl arrived. He had been, according to this account, about to beg Gandalf for forgiveness and help, only to find him gone. To evade the danger at hand and enticed by the thought of being Sauron's servant alone or gaining the Ring, he pretended that Gandalf was still there and that the latter had just been forced to tell the location of the Shire. The Nazgûl later learned that Saruman knew far more than he had revealed. On their way to the Shire, the Nazgûl met one of the wizard's informants in Eriador, from whom they got detailed maps of the Shire made by Saruman. They sent the spy back to the Shire after warning him that he was now in the service of Mordor (the Dunlending in the Inn of the Prancing Pony).

Believing that he would find no pity from either quarter (a false assumption, since he was later offered pardon by Gandalf) and that he had lost chance of rising in Sauron's favour; Saruman now put all efforts into obtaining the One Ring for himself. Not all of these efforts ever became known, but they included sending spies to waylay Frodo Baggins on his flight from the Shire (Bill Ferny in Bree), attacking Rohan outright with Orcs and dispatching raiding parties of Uruk-hai accompanied by Orcs from the Misty Mountains on likely routes the Fellowship of the Ring might take through Rohan to go towards Gondor. One of those companies captured Pippin and Merry and shot Boromir "with many black-feathered arrows" when he tried to defend the Hobbits. This led Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli on a search which eventually led to the Battle of Helms Deep as well as the Destruction of Isengard by the Ents under Treebeard, leading to Sauron losing one of his most potent servants and the end of Saruman's reign of terror in the north.

Power destroyed

Following the Ents' destruction of Isengard, Saruman found himself confined to Orthanc and his servants scattered or killed. After the arrival of Théoden, Gandalf, Aragorn, and the remaining members of the Fellowship, Saruman made one final unsuccessful attempt to turn Théoden and Gandalf over to evil. The latter then offered Saruman a chance for redemption, which involved surrendering his staff and the Keys of Orthanc as a pledge. Saruman had a moment of doubt but in the end pride, anger, envy, fear and hate won over and he refused the chance of redemption. He was then stabbed by Grima and he fell to his doom.

Fate

Saruman, being a Maiar, did not truly die. His spirit separated from his body much like his master Sauron's after the Downfall of Númenor. As an incorporeal spirit, he should have been called to the Halls of Mandos, but the tale implies that he was barred from returning. Tolkien indicated that his spirit was left naked, powerless and wandering, never to return to Middle-earth.

Names
 * Curumo is the Quenya name for Saruman. Its Tengwar spelling is aU7Ut^, and its IPA pronunciation is [ˈkurumo].
 * Curunír is the Sindarin name for Saruman the White. It roughly translates to mean "man of skill". Curunir was the original name given to Saruman as the leader of the Wizards, or Istari, who first came to Middle-earth to combat the evils of Sauron. Late in the Third Age around the time of the War of the Ring, this name was less known and rarely used save among the Elves and even rarely used by them except for their leaders, such as Elrond in Rivendell, Celeborn and Galadriel in Lothlórien, and Círdan at the Grey Havens.
 * Saruman as called by Gandalf, Men in Rohan, and Men in most other places.
 * Sharku is the name given to him by his Uruk-Hai meaning in Black Speech "Old Man".
 * Sharkey, a form of the word is later used by the Ruffians at the Shire, from "Sharku".

Powers and abilities

Saruman's status as chief of the Wizards and head of the White Council (before Gandalf) gave him arsenal to a variety of powers. Though he would eventually be defeated by Gandalf the White, Saruman's powers and abilities were very mighty indeed at the peak of his power, and he managed to imprison Gandalf the Grey. Gandalf described Saruman as an individual of great knowledge, cunning, and skill. He was capably of breeding his own Uruk-hai, and had many spies, be they walking on two legs or birds, that escaped detection. He was extremely learned in Ringlore and mechanics, and his knowledge enabled him to create great forges and explosives that could breach the walls of Helm's Deep and burn an Ent to death. Unfortunately, it was Saruman's extensive knowledge of the Rings of Power that was one of the reason leading to his downfall, as he became enamored of the power of the rings, and particularly the One Ring.

He was well-versed in magic, one spell he displayed giving speed and strength to the Orcs who had kidnapped Merry and Pippin while obstructing Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli. By far Saruman's greatest power (and the only one he was able to retain after the downfall of Isengard), however, is speech. He seems to have the ability to bend any but the absolute strongest minds to his will, simply by speaking to them. Even with Isengard broken and Saruman's treachery revealed, Gandalf had to be very careful, Saruman could ensnare almost anyone with the power of his voice, few can contend with his will. Gandalf was not drawn into this power when he confronted Saruman; in trying to enchant some in the company, he left others out of his designs, and thus could not ensnare everyone at once. However, even in this situation, it is said that only Gandalf himself remained totally unmoved. Aragorn stated during this time that few other than Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel could resist his voice, even at this point.