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Originally Posted by Sardy
Yes, but we're speculating on a GOOD Saruman, here---a plot device of which the author most assuredly DIDN'T appove...  |
Quite true, though I think that the mere act of making a ring for the purpose of challenging Sauron would have required turning bad, or at least ambiguous. To defeat Sauron at his own game, a desire for power would almost certainly come into play. The ring's power has to include something to allow its bearer to have the ability to control others into taking action, and something to give sheer power greater than Sauron. The story takes on a different moral theme if Saruman makes a 'bigger and badder' ring to defeat Sauron. Instead of the weak triumphing through adversity because they clung to the right path, it becomes a battle of wills of the great and mighty. It's a slippery slope for Saruman to then have lust for power and control emerge after the use of power that would have been required to defeat Sauron through the use of a ring. Thus, I can't imagine a
good Saruman even considering making one.
Now, using his ring lore for good is an entirely different matter, and one that good-Saruman could certainly have been helpful with...