Why didn't Saruman go to the Shire to take the Ring?

[William Cloud Hicklin]

There are two puzzles here, and I'm not sure either can be answered, except by observing of course that in The Hunt For the Ring Tolkien was trying to backwrite history for the story he wrote at a time he had no idea who or what the Black Riders were, or even what had become of Gandalf!

1). My memory may be failing, but I don't recall that Radagast ever told Saruman the Nine were seeking 'the Shire.' What Saruman knew in June was that the BR were searching the Vales of Anduin, which of course he was content to let them waste their time doing.

2) On the other hand, it's amazing that over the course of sixty years Saruman and his intelligence network had never heard the tale of "Mad Baggins," and put two and two together.

[Gordis]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

1). My memory may be failing, but I don't recall that Radagast ever told Saruman the Nine were seeking 'the Shire.'

He did. Radagast told Gandalf:

"I have been told that wherever they go the Riders ask for news of a land called Shire."

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

2) On the other hand, it's amazing that over the course of sixty years Saruman and his intelligence network had never heard the tale of "Mad Baggins," and put two and two together.

THAT is amazing indeed. A certain plothole.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Gordis

THAT is amazing indeed. A certain plothole.

I wouldn't say that. What plothole? As much as Sauron never heard about "Mad Baggins" and put two and two together. Nobody knew that Bilbo has the Ring. People did not even know that he is making himself invisible, until the birthday party (where they actually didn't know that he is making himself invisible, but simply that he disappeared. Probably, speaking a bit in the folk-tale-style, the Devil took him finally, since he was obviously making pacts with dark forces: "Sign this and I will give you fame, money and long life... but on your 111th birthday, I will come for you!" - this is pretty evidently the way the tale was narrated later, and Saruman had no special reason to pay attention to this tale than to other folk-tales among the hobbits, about walking trees in the North Moors etc. After all, he was a reasonable and educated man, who does not bother himself with these made-up tales the common folk scares themselves on long winter nights). Bilbo disappeared, that's a fact, but why should that bother Saruman any more than the fact that some random Mr. G. Took from XY mysteriously disappeared two years ago (he was drunk and fell into the river and drowned), or things like that.

[Gordis]

Saruman had agents in the Shire and was most curious about Gandalf's actions there. Wouldn't he be interested by the memorable Party where Gandalf provided all the fireworks and where the host just disappeared into thin air before the eyes of the assembled 144 hobbits? And the story circulated even in Bree!

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Gordis

Saruman had agents in the Shire and was most curious about Gandalf's actions there. Wouldn't he be interested by the memorable Party where Gandalf provided all the fireworks and where the host just disappeared into thin air before the eyes of the assembled 144 hobbits? And the story circulated even in Bree!

Of course he won't be interested! A Party? Which political, military, scientific importance it should have? Gandalf wants to party, well, he was always lazy and doing stupid things of no importance (remember what Saruman said to Gandalf when he was smoking at the White Council meeting: Everybody is discussing grave matters here and you, Gandalf, are playing with your fire and smoke toys). Saruman would never give an idea what might be important about this, as well as he never understood what might be important about the Shire, even though he suspected there is something. But it just didn't make sense to him, and rightly so: Hobbits could not be made good warriors (or so he would think), there was nothing important in the land (farmers - no natural resources, no iron, no great smiths - cf. what the Dwarves thought about the Hobbits, UT, Quest for Erebor! - no hidden deposits of gold, silver, diamonds or mithril...). Now what should poor Saruman think of all this?

[Gordis]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

Now what should poor Saruman think of all this?

That Sauron is WAY better than his crazy colleague...