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Originally Posted by Andsigil
I wrote a couple of things in this thread about Saruman as a military commander:
http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthread.php?t=16451
In a nutshell: being a Maia and having lived a long time doesn't make one a good commander. Saruman showed a lack of sound strategic thinking in terms of simplicity and objective. Just as his name, Curunir, could suggest, he may have been a bit too cunning/elegant/nuanced/clever for his own good. |
It's an interesting thread. I totally agree with you that
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Saruman made something of a "split the difference" decision, which was bad either way.
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I would say, treachery is a very dodgy strategy that quite often leads to such a "split". Saruman made himself caught between two sides fighting to death. Sauron had enough potential to win with or without the Ring, provided it was not used against him or destroyed (something he could not even imagine). Thus Sauron's strategy was clear - to conquer the world as soon as his forces are ready, searching for the Ring with smaller forces at the same time.
Saruman was in much worse situation for apparent reasons. He had not enough manpower at his disposal to defeat most of his enemies and thus only the Ring could provide him with the chance to turn the tide. He, on the other hand, wanted to survive in any situation. Thus he had to split his activities pursuing two different objectives.
1. Programme maximum - obtaining and mastering the Ring;
2. Programme minimum - conquering Rohan, creating a big strong army and offering Sauron his allegiance in exchange to some prominent position and a domain.
In given situation Saruman could hardly do better. Sending an army of several thousands to retrieve the Ring? It would be an act of such an apparent disobedience to Sauron that would ruin any chance of survival without the Ring. Shall we also think of what the Ring itself could do to a bigger army? It started causing internal skirmishes even within a small force. Saruman did not have Nazgul for safe transportation of the Ring.
Going in person? It would have been even worse in case of a failure. Such a force could have been engaged by Loth-Lorien and Gondor without even spotting the Fellowship. A personal encounter with Nazgul, eager to ask some questions, was a dreadful option too. And the conquest of Rohan would have been delayed, may be lost if Grimma had been ousted in the end.
A scout troop of few hundreds was not an issue in relations with Sauron, while it was quite enough to deal with the Fellowship without Gandalf. It probably had been around for a while before the Fellowship left Lorien and was spotted. It seemed strong enough to fight off a normal band of riders - Eomer's army was something unexpected.
And yes, Saruman did not show any sign of being a particularly gifted field commander as well.