[The Saucepan Man]

Wow, great post, Legolas. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] And thanks for providing that extract for the Letters. I have always felt that, of those in ME at the end of the Third Age, only Gandalf would have had any chance of successfully using the Ring against Sauron. It is a point that has been touched upon on a number of threads recently, and I have found it difficult to pull together my thoughts and establish a line of reasoning to back up my "gut instinct". But that Letter sets it all out so clearly and concisely. I really must get hold of the Letters.

One thing, though. The extract from the Letter does not mention Saruman. As one of the Istari, he was "a creature of the same order" as Sauron, just as Gandalf was. Doesn't the same reasoning that posits a possible Gandalf victory over Sauron equally apply to Saruman (and the other Istari, too, for that matter)? Or did his descent into malice and treachery somehow diminish his powers, just as Radagast's disinterest in the task at hand might have diminished his?