Saruman Ring-maker

[Tuor of Gondolin]

"And in the Foreword of the LOTR, Tolkien says:
"Saruman, failing to get possesion of the Ring, would in the confusion and treacheries of the time have found in Mordor the missing links in his own researches into Ring-lore, and before long he would have made a Great Ring of his own with which to challenge the self-styled Ruler of Middle-earth." "
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Interesting. Recall that Tolkien started a sequel but gave it up. Perhaps if he had had Saruman survive he could have been the focal point for the sequel, perhaps basing himself in Middle-earth south or east and suborning some of the other dwarf houses, thereby ticking off Gimli.