[PrinceOfTheHalflings]

Originally Posted by Gorthaur the Cruel

5. Why didn't Sauron forge the One ring during the first Age (other than the fact that he was serving Morgoth)? I understand that he defected from Morgoth and did not participate in the War of Wrath after his defeat in Tol Sirion. He could have departed into the far East and began his forging there, for the One would enhance his strength and anchor his spirit to Arda. Or could it be that the forging of the ring was a two-way thing: that he needed to provide the lore to the elves, so that he, in turn, can learn their skill and craft to produce the One?

The latter is true - he needed the elves.

6. There was this passage about Saruman and how he was deeply in the lore of ring-making, that had he found his way in Orodruin, he would've found the missing links in his research and would have produced his very own ring of power (not the puny trinket he showed off to Gandalf). If this had happened, would his ring be less mighty than Sauron's, considering how the Valar clothed him in flesh and restricting much of his innate powers? Whereas Sauron had no restrictions and had all access to his maiarin power, free to dispense as he wished. And if he had succeeded, using Sauron's formula, would his ring also be subject to Sauron's?

I'm not certain that Saruman's power was really less than Sauron's ... he was merely prohibited from using his power openly against Sauron. That doesn't mean he didn't have power - he just wasn't supposed to use it.

The being "clothed in flesh" part is tricky though - it seemed to be a limitation, in that if Saruman or Gandalf died they weren't free to resurrect themselves: they had to depend on the Valar's mercy (or indeed, perhaps Eru's).

Trickier still is the question of what effect the One Ring would have on someone like Saruman - he's clothed in a man-like body (or hröa), but he has an immortal spirit (or fëa). Sure, you can argue that this is true for many of the Ainur, but they generally aren't tied to their hröa in the way the Istari are.

It's difficult to say how "powerful" Saruman could become. Gandalf felt that Saruman would always be inferior, but that is because Saruman was imitating Sauron - and imitations or counterfeits are never well-regarded in Tolkien's world.

10. The breaking of Saruman's staff left him nearly powerless. Is it possible that the Istari can only work magic through them (perhaps part of their conditions to their mission in M.E.), and are significantly less without?

I really think that the staff is partly symbolic, otherwise you could defeat a Wizard simply by breaking his staff. To me the staff is in one sense only a badge of office ... like the crown of a King. A King without a crown is still a King. However, I imagine that a staff may be of assistance to a Wizard. It seems to help to have a staff ... but no, I don't think that the staff is the only source of a Wizard's power. Otherwise Saruman could have just gotten another staff...