[Bêthberry]

Greetings Greyhavener,

Help me out here because I thought Saruman was the head wizard before he became power-mad. Didn't Gandalf say "Saruman the White is the greatest of my order" and look to him for council in "The Council of Elrond" chapter of FotR? So did Gandalf get the name Olorin after Saruman's fall?

Here are the sources which I relied on when I called Gandalf the wisest of the istari.

From the chapter "Valaquenta" in The Silmarillion:

Wisest of the Maiar was Olorin. He too dwelt in Lorien, but his way took him often to the house of Nienna, and of her he learned pity and patience.
Of Melian much is told in the Quenta Silmarillion. But of Olorin that tale does not speak; for though he loved the Elves, he walked among them unseen, or in form as one of them, and they did not know whence came the fair visions or the promptings of wisdom that he put into their hearts. In later days he was the friend of all the Children of Illuvatar, and took pity on their sorrows and those who listened to him awoke from despair and put away the imaginations of darkness.

In LOTR, just after the passage which *Varda* quotes above ("The Window on the West", TTT), Farmair says to Frodo:

'Mithrandir was lost! ... An evil fate seems to have pursued your fellowship. It is hard indeed to believe that one of so great wisdom, and of power--for many wonderful tings he did among us--could perish, and so much lore be taken from the the world.... This Mithrandir was, I now guess, more than a lore-master: a great mover of the deeds that are done in our time. Had he been among us to consult concerning the hard words of our dream, he could have made them clear to us without need of messanger.

There's also a little bit more on "Gandalf-Olorin" and Glorfindel in "Last Writings" in HOME 12.

As for the deference which Gandalf showed Saruman, I would think that comes from Gandalf's natural respect for proper order and authority, since Saruman was the eldest or first istari. (Gandalf the Grey on a thread here at BD has discussed this in some detail; if I remember correctly, the thread was started by Child of the 7th Age, and was about whether Gandalf should have been more suspicious of Saruman. If you PM GtG, I'm sure he could direct you.)

A brief explanation of the differences between Saruman and Gandalf, and of the affair of who led the White Council, can be found in the chapter "Of the Rings of Power" in The Silmarillion.

The issue resolves around the distinctions of meaning between "great" and "wise", which to me are not synonymous. I hope this helps!

Regards,
Bethberry