Saruman Questions

[Nikkolas]

I'm re-reading the Council of Elrond and a few things occurred to me that I've either never thought of before or just never gave much thought.

1. What exactly was the point of Saruman retitling himself "of Many Colours"? Tolkien was great with the symbolism and all that so I can't imagine he just did it out of sheer vanity. (like, he dressed himself all fancy and gave himself that title just to "look cooler" or something)

2. Unfinished Tales and all them tell of how Saruman has been jealous of Gandalf since before their arrival in Middle-earth. He has spied on him forever, even if it wasn't for evil reasons at first. Yet he offers Gandalf the chance to "rule together" with him. Why is this? Gandalf was his chief rival and by this point he might also think of him as his chief enemy. (not counting Sauron)

3. Why did he 'unmask himself" so quickly? He met Gandalf and immediately let loose right away with a tirade about Radagast and the rest of it. It seems to me that Gandalf was going to tell him all about his discovery of the One and who had it and where it was going.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Nikkolas

1. What exactly was the point of Saruman retitling himself "of Many Colours"? Tolkien was great with the symbolism and all that so I can't imagine he just did it out of sheer vanity. (like, he dressed himself all fancy and gave himself that title just to "look cooler" or something)

I think "many colours" was symbolic of the way Saruman wanted to magnify himself above his Istari peers. One color wasn't distinctive enough.

Originally Posted by Nikkolas

2. Unfinished Tales and all them tell of how Saruman has been jealous of Gandalf since before their arrival in Middle-earth. He has spied on him forever, even if it wasn't for evil reasons at first. Yet he offers Gandalf the chance to "rule together" with him. Why is this? Gandalf was his chief rival and by this point he might also think of him as his chief enemy. (not counting Sauron)

As Gandalf himself pointed out, only one at a time could wield the One Ring. Saruman was only interested in using Gandalf to acquire it. After that, he would probably have imprisoned Gandalf or killed him.

Originally Posted by Nikkolas

3. Why did he 'unmask himself" so quickly? He met Gandalf and immediately let loose right away with a tirade about Radagast and the rest of it. It seems to me that Gandalf was going to tell him all about his discovery of the One and who had it and where it was going.

Saruman's pride and lust for the Ring made him impatient. He apparently also had a plan to wring the information out of Gandalf one way or another, as he threatened to do. He might well have been able to do so, if Gandalf had not been rescued.