October 24, 2002

Saruman the Whaaaaa??
Marsh

I recently was reading the Silmarillion for the
third time (it keeps getting better), and I came
across something that I hadn't noticed before
about everybody's favorite Istari, Saruman.
"Saruman now began to study the lore of the Rings
of Power, their MAKING and their history" (Sil.
p. 361). "...and ever he probed deeper into the
love of the Rings of Power and the art of their
FORGING" (Sil. p. 362). Finally, check this out.
At the Council in FOTR (p. 252 in my book),
Gandalf describes a conversation between he and
Saruman: "For I am Saruman the wise, Saruman
RING MAKER(??), Saruman of many colours..."
(great Gandalf line "I liked white better" LOL).

So, did Saruman dabble in some amateur ring
forging/making? I hadn't caught this before.
Any comments??