October 1, 2002

Saruman's Robes
Viking

Hello, all! I'm new to this message board, but not to Tolkien. I was reading Alowyn's and Swynwr's comments about Saruman's robes and I had a few thoughts.

When reading the Professor's description of the robes as many-colored, I never imagined it literally, as if Saruman was a Middle-Earth hippie walking around in bright tye-dye. I have always imagined it as basically white, but shimmering and elusive, so that a tint or sheen of one color may appear but is replaced by another depending on the perception of the observer, or perhaps even the will of the wizard himself. I think this fits with the other aspects of Saruman's character as well.