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Originally Posted by Neithan
Saruman was powerful and skillful (especially with osanwe) but he was not as great as he liked to think he was.
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Neithan - these are good points. Perhaps where Saruman's particular skill lies is in his mastery of osanwe. This could throw some light on the dangerous power of his voice; it certainly could throw the whole of Book 3, Chapter 10 -
The Voice of Saruman into perspective. He is able to truly get into the heads of many of those who listen, and it is notable that Gandalf is well aware that he will seek to do this.
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His jealousy of those greater than himself ate away at him until he became what he was.
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I still think that Saruman possessed an incredible inherent power (I will have to refer to UT to check whether any of the Istari are mentioned as having particular skills), but I agree that this was surpassed by that of Gandalf particularly after his 'rebirth'. Saruman was indeed corrupted by the envy and
pride which led him into heresy and into alliance with Sauron. If he had been on Middle Earth longer, then I do think he could have built up a power to rival that of Mordor; was this his intention? Was Saruman driven into rash action by the sudden plunge into the War of the Ring? If the ring had not been found and Sauron had not launched into war, then would Saruman eventually have stood against him?
The difference between Saruman and Gandalf was that the latter carried out what he had been charged to do and in effect kept faith in the Light, while the former abandoned his mission and instead followed his own path. I do think that this treacherous tendency was inherent in Saruman as it was, even without any influence from Sauron, which brings up another question, and that is why was he allowed to be the leader of the White Council for so long?