[Kuruharan]

Greetings davem.

I thought I would drag you out of the woodwork.

I'm afraid I have to admit that I don't find much relevance in your post. The expressed opinions by the author regarding the events and circumstances of his or her own stories are what carry weight when compared to the speculations of readers, no matter where or in what form the expressed opinions of the author happen to appear. I'm not refering to themes or interpretations of the stories here, I'm refering to events. Obviously, themes and interpretations are freely speculated upon by anybody and everybody. However, if you are attempting to postulate alternative scenarios to what would have happened in the story, I think that if the author makes any comments in the area under consideration we have to defer to their judgment if we wish to continue to discuss the works of the author in question. If we the readers want to continue our little line of thought, we need to do it with the understanding that we have departed the discussion of the work of the author and are instead pursuing our own. This is the main point I've been trying to get across.

There is one thing I wish to discuss though...

It is essential in reading LotR that we know that not just Gandalf but Aragorn, Elrond, Galadriel as well as Saruman could take, master & wield the Ring.

I don't think it is possible for me to disagree more strongly with this statement. It is not essential that Gandalf, Aragorn, Elrond, Galadriel, and Saruman possess the potential to supplant Sauron. I think the reverse is true. I think the fact that they are being lied to by the Ring and their own desires when they have no hope of actually achieving their fevered imaginings heightens the tension. If they try to take the Ring, they will fall to Sauron (only Gandalf potentially excepted) and the plot of The Lord of the Rings is about avoiding this fate.

Why then did Tolkien write about Saruman coming in for the Ring, if he had no chance of wielding its powers?

Perhaps he wrote it as a lesson in self-delusion. As Boromir88 said, Saruman’s desires were lying to him. His ego would never allow him to admit to himself (or probably even entertain the thought in any way) that he was utterly incapable of mastering the Ring and nothing he could do would change that. However, I think probably Tolkien’s primary motivation for writing the story that way was because it made for a great yarn.

'expectations' are not always certainty. And that's exactly what the Letter 246 quote says...'might be expected.' Again, even if Gandalf was the only one expected to be able to master the ring:

Have you stopped to ask yourself the question of who is doing the expecting?

Doesn't mean anyone else wouldn't be able to do so.

And here we are back with the same old “only Gandalf” business again.

So, I don't think 'might' and 'expect' two words of uncertainty should simply be ignored.

Again, ask yourself who is doing the expecting.