Good morning, Bird. <P>I loved the flood scene too. (Waterloo?)<P>Thanks for answering, for your further reply makes it also easier for me to more fully explain. (I've felt my previous answer to you to be lacking, actually.)<P>To my mind, whether PJ was consciously trying to show Saruman's impotence or not ... in this he richly succeeded ... it was as if he had read "Unfinished Tales."<P>For having read the section 'Concerning Gandalf, Saruman, and the Shire' in "Unfinished Tales," I could feel the emotional depth of Saruman's defeat wash over me as that gushing flood of undammed damning water with an almost tangible, palpable strength, just by glimpsing the cowed dimness of his pacing posture for half a moment.<P>When Saruman is silent, it shows his vulnerability:<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Yet he dreaded lest this should be discovered, and his own mockery turned against him, so that he would be laughed at ... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>and<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>After that Saruman went no more to the Shire, fearing that such tales might spread ... <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>The above quotes, interestingly enough, have to do with Saruman's publicly denouncing Gandalf's use of pipeweed while privately coming to use and enjoy pipeweed himself ... And pipeweed being one of the spoils which turns up after the Ents storm Isengard (at least in the book version of LotR) thus inclines me to see a connection. Couple this with Saruman's famed strength as a wizard being his ability to seduce his listeners with speech, and his inability to utter a word at his downfall speaks volumes.<P>* bows a friendly bow *<P>Gandalf the Grey<p>[ December 19, 2002: Message edited by: Gandalf_theGrey ]
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