The Fellowship - doomed to fail

[Zigûr]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I don't think Denethor ever sought advice from Saruman, but my musing was on why that didn't occur to Denethor as an option, rather than sending his heir on a journey of hundreds of miles, alone, to an unfamiliar location, to see a Half-elf.

We do know, however, that it's extremely likely that Denethor and Saruman encountered each other when using their respective palantíri, as stated in Unfinished Tales: "Whether he ever thus made contact with the Orthanc-stone and Saruman is not told; probably he did, and did so with profit to himself." Obviously, however, that's not quite the same as them giving counsel to one another...

It might be possible, however, that Denethor knew by that point that Saruman's trustworthiness was compromised. Denethor became steward in 2984, and according to Unfinished Tales "it seems fairly plain that he had at once turned to the Stone as soon as he came to power." Saruman started using the Orthanc-stone in approximately 3000. The subsequent seventeen years (before Boromir departed for the North) seem like ample opportunity for Denethor to have encounted Saruman and to have determined that he could no longer be trusted.

To support this, I would point out that Saruman had neither Denethor's advantage for using the stones (legitimate, albeit inherited, authority), nor Sauron's (sheer overwhelming power). Thus it seems like Saruman might be less likely to be able to conceal his intentions from Denethor.

Note that when Gandalf rather incredulously asked Denethor "Is it naught to you that Théoden has fought a great battle and that Isengard is overthrown, and that I have broken the staff of Saruman?" Denethor replied "It is much to me. But I know already sufficient of these deeds for my own counsel against the menace of the East." This suggests to me that he might have been keeping an eye on Saruman for some time.