74
votes
Accepted
Why didn't Saruman break Gandalf's staff on Orthanc as Gandalf broke Saruman's?
A wizard's staff is symbolic rather than a source of actual power, and so breaking a wizard's staff has no effect on the wizard's power.
How do we know this? Because Gandalf was able to defeat the ...
60
votes
Why were Sauron and Saruman not considered Balrogs?
Balrogs were a specific type of Maia - spirits of fire - whereas both Sauron and Saruman were mentioned as being not of that type.
The only other Maia of this type mentioned in the texts is Arien, ...
50
votes
What version of the LoTR film shows Gandalf breaking Saruman's staff?
Scene 4: The Voice of Saruman
This scene was cut from the original film, and was later added into the extended edition from the film, it was one of 4 scenes that were cut entirely from the second half ...
- 77.8k
49
votes
Accepted
What version of the LoTR film shows Gandalf breaking Saruman's staff?
That scene is from the Extended Editions of The Lord of The Rings series.
The success of the theatrical cuts brought about four-disc Extended Editions, with new editing, added special effects and ...
- 35.6k
37
votes
Accepted
Why were Sauron and Saruman not considered Balrogs?
Balrogs were in the service of Morgoth before Time
Mairon was a servant of Aule, not Melkor
Although VoC claims Balrogs were a "spirit of fire" only two characters in Tolkien's writings are ever ...
- 77.8k
32
votes
Why didn't Saruman break Gandalf's staff on Orthanc as Gandalf broke Saruman's?
Presumably because Gandalf was sent back by the Powers with greater power specifically for the purpose of fulfilling the role that Saruman had forsaken, to contest Sauron.
From The Two Towers (...
- 1,846
28
votes
Accepted
Did Saruman break the Istari's charge to 'inspire not fight'?
He outright broke Rule 1 and Rule 2.
to reveal themselves in forms of majesty, or to seek to rule the wills of Men or Elves by open display of power.
Unfinished Tales - Part IV: II The Istari
With ...
- 77.8k
25
votes
What would have happened to Saruman if Sauron acquired the One Ring?
He wouldn't have become a wraith.
The 9 Kings of Men became wraiths as their lives were stretched beyond their natural limits. Saruman, however, is immortal; while his Istari body could die, his ...
- 77.8k
22
votes
Accepted
Why didn't the phantom of Saruman do anything when he saw the travellers on the borders of Fangorn?
It's hard to ascertain why exactly he didn't hurt them, as Tolkien doesn't give insight as to what Saruman is thinking then (or at all).
"It was an evil phantom of Saruman"
'That would not ...
- 26.5k
19
votes
Accepted
What would have happened to Saruman if Sauron acquired the One Ring?
TL;DR Had Sauron gained the One Ring, Saruman would almost certainly have been tortured by him, although it is unlikely he would be used and would definitely not be made a wraith.
Tortured? Saruman ...
- 26.5k
17
votes
Accepted
What were Saruman's most despicable deeds, and which is the worst?
Saruman performed at least 5 shameful deeds, with 1 notably being his worst.
Here is a compilation of what is considered unadmirable deeds done by Saruman:
1. He found and burned Isildur's bones
This ...
- 26.5k
17
votes
Accepted
When did Saruman discover Isildur's remains?
Probably between 2851 and 2939, almost certainly before 2953
First, a couple of comments on the question.
Unfinished Tales doesn't say for certain that Saruman found Isildur's remains, only that the ...
- 21.2k
16
votes
Accepted
Does Saruman invade Rohan to please Sauron, or is it a desperate last-ditch attempt to recover the ring?
Short answer
Saruman's goose was cooked at this point and he knew it. His invasion was a last ditch attempt to seize the ring for himself.
Detailed answer
It's hard to give a definitive answer ...
- 11.4k
13
votes
Accepted
How was Isengard run before Saruman's creation of Uruk-Hai?
By Men.
Men guarded the gates
Men lived in Isengard
Men collected Saruman's supplies
The keepers of the gates
They were Men.
'We wouldn't ask you to,' said Merry. 'We have had enough of Orcs ...
- 26.5k
11
votes
Accepted
Why didn't Gandalf have spies just like Saruman?
Why not?
For instance, Gwaihir in The Two Towers:
'The eagle!' said Legolas. 'I have seen an eagle high and far off: the
last time was three days ago, above the Emyn Muil.'
'Yes,' said Gandalf, 'that ...
10
votes
Does Saruman invade Rohan to please Sauron, or is it a desperate last-ditch attempt to recover the ring?
You ask about the strategies of both Saruman and Sauron
Saruman
I think your supposition is correct.
He believed his assault on Rohan would please Sauron. Don't forget that the open assault began on ...
- 21.2k
8
votes
Why didn't Saruman break Gandalf's staff on Orthanc as Gandalf broke Saruman's?
I always saw sundering said staff as simply a sign of supremacy.
Saruman already outranked Gandalf when he defeated him. Breaking Gandalf's staff wouldn't serve any additional purpose; the higher-...
- 3,434
8
votes
Did the Istari arrive in Middle Earth simultaneously?
Tolkien's original idea was they did not all come on ship but came nearly at the same time. Around TA 1000, when Sauron began to move again and the Valar realized the Free Peoples would need help ...
- 8,941
7
votes
Did Saruman break the Istari's charge to 'inspire not fight'?
For myself, I would consider
amassed an army of orcs...
to be going beyond what the Istari were meant for. If we use Gandalf and Radagast as good examples (though Radagast barely does anything in ...
- 2,607
7
votes
Why is Saruman so reluctant to leave Orthanc?
He was already publicly branded a traitor during the Council of Elrond. It wouldn't have done him much good if he had tried to personally take the Ring from the Nine Walkers. "What if I got ...
- 26.5k
7
votes
What did Saruman's ring do?
Tolkien made it clear that Saruman did not make a Great Ring (i.e., something to match the Three, the Seven or the Nine) -- much less the One -- in the Introduction where he is denying that LotR is an ...
- 42.4k
6
votes
How large were Saruman's and Sauron's armies?
According to TolkienGateway.net, Mordor's troops consisted of some 18,000 Easterlings and Haradrim, several Haradrim war Oliphaunts, and tens of thousands of Orcs just for the Battle of Pelennor ...
- 38.8k
6
votes
Why didn't Saruman break Gandalf's staff on Orthanc as Gandalf broke Saruman's?
Poetry and drama. Gandalf's line, "Saruman, your staff is broken," is the only quote I remember from The Two Towers. It is not a direct command, it is as just as much a comment on how the positions ...
- 89
5
votes
Why didn't Saruman break Gandalf's staff on Orthanc as Gandalf broke Saruman's?
Saruman didn't break the staff, because he managed to take it whole from Gandalf and kept it (check out the end of the fight where Saruman has both staffs).
When Gandalf flees Orthanc he does so ...
- 640
5
votes
Does Saruman invade Rohan to please Sauron, or is it a desperate last-ditch attempt to recover the ring?
Let me present evidence supporting the viewpoint that -at this point in time- both Saruman and Sauron were giving priority to the capture of the ring and would risk their alliance, if necessary, for ...
- 799
5
votes
Why didn't Gandalf know what the Palantir was?
Before visiting Orthanc (T.A. 3019), Gandalf thought that Saruman's treachery was recent. Saruman had been the trusted leader of the White Council for hundreds of years (since T.A. 2463). If Saruman ...
- 51
4
votes
Why did Saruman lose his power after he was banished from Orthanc?
The banishment from Orthanc was symbolic of his ruination, but it was Gandalf himself who removed Saruman's power by revoking his Eru-given authority on The Council of Five.
The banishment from ...
- 63.8k
4
votes
How was Isengard run before Saruman's creation of Uruk-Hai?
We're not told who precisely was living in Isengard, but it's clear there were some.
This was its fashion while Saruman was at his height, accounted by many the chief of the wizards. ... Many houses ...
- 20.5k
4
votes
Accepted
In the Scouring of the Shire, why doesn't Saruman make more of an effort to organize his troops?
(1) is a major factor, but there's another issue. Saruman was a broken being by this point, a shadow of his former self. Where once he led the Councils of the Wise and mighty, now, he led a gang of ...
- 60.5k
3
votes
What is the significance of Saruman's Ring?
Sauron (nee: Mairon) as well as Saruman were Maia of Aulë the Smith. It is safe to say that both of them studied and learned the craft of magic rings from him. Sauron, however might have used some ...
- 31
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