Archmaesterjimmie: LOTR character article, book-canon (Corvus) + portrait (Wren)

2026-06-13T15:57:27Z

LOTR character article, book-canon (Corvus) + portrait (Wren)

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{{Infobox character
| image = https://archmaester.site/portraits/lotr/saruman.jpg
| name = Saruman
| title = Saruman the White; Saruman of Many Colours; Curunír (Sharkey); Head of the White Council; Lord of Isengard
| house = The Istari
| race = Maia
| status = Slain
| region = Isengard (Angrenost); originally Valinor
| born = Before the shaping of the world (Maia)
| died = 3 November T.A. 3019, at Bag End in the Shire
| weapon = His Voice; the palantír of Orthanc; sorcery
| fate = Cast down by his treachery, his spirit dissolved; murdered by Gríma in the Shire
| actor = Christopher Lee
| quote = We must have power, power to order all things as we will, for that good which only the Wise can see.
}}

'''Saruman''', called '''Saruman the White''' and '''Curunír''' among the Elves, was the chief of the [[Istari|Wizards]] sent to [[Middle-earth]] and the head of the [[White Council]]. Greatest in lore and craft of his order, he turned from his errand to the pursuit of power, and became one of the principal traitors of the [[War of the Ring]].

His fall is the tale's chief study of corruption among the Wise. Sent like [[Gandalf]] to oppose [[Sauron]], Saruman instead coveted the [[One Ring]] for himself, made his fortress of [[Isengard]] a lesser image of [[Mordor]], and at the last was reduced to a petty, vengeful ruin in the [[Shire]].

== Origins ==
Saruman was a [[Maiar|Maia]], a spirit of the people of [[Aulë]] the Smith, named '''Curumo''' in the West. When the [[Valar]] resolved to send emissaries against [[Sauron]] near the year T.A. 1000, Curumo came first and was reckoned the chief of the five [[Istari]] — the White Wizard, foremost in knowledge and skill, especially in the works of hands and the lore of [[Rings of Power]]. He took for his domain the study of the Enemy's devices, a study that proved his undoing.

== Biography ==
=== The White Council ===
Saruman became head of the [[White Council]], the assembly of the Wise formed to contend with the growing shadow. His deep knowledge of ring-lore made him its natural leader, but it also bred secret ambition: he began to desire the [[One Ring]] for himself, and to that end he took [[Isengard]] and the tower of [[Orthanc]] from [[Gondor]] as his seat, and there found one of the lost [[palantír]]i.

=== The corruption ===
Searching for the Ring in the [[Gladden Fields]] and studying the Enemy too closely, Saruman was slowly ensnared. Through the [[palantír]] of [[Orthanc]] he came under the gaze of [[Sauron]], who mastered him. Saruman bred a great army of [[Orc]]s and the half-orc [[Uruk-hai]], felled the forests about Isengard to feed his furnaces, and proclaimed himself "''Saruman of Many Colours''," forsaking the white. When [[Gandalf]] came seeking counsel, Saruman tried to win him to a partnership with the Enemy, and on his refusal imprisoned him atop Orthanc.

=== War and downfall ===
:''Main article: [[Battle of the Hornburg]]''
Saruman sent his hosts against [[Rohan]], but his army was broken at the [[Battle of Helm's Deep]], and Isengard itself was overthrown by the [[Ents]], roused at last under [[Treebeard]], who flooded the ring of [[Isengard]] and besieged Saruman in his tower. [[Gandalf]], now the White, cast Saruman from the order and broke his staff. Saruman, refusing all mercy, was left a prisoner of the Ents.

=== Sharkey and the Shire ===
He escaped as a beggar and made his way north, and in his final spite seized the leaderless [[Shire]], ruling it through ruffians under the name "''Sharkey''" and despoiling the hobbits' land out of pure malice. When the four hobbits returned and roused the [[Scouring of the Shire]], his men were driven off. [[Frodo Baggins|Frodo]] forbade his slaying and offered him freedom, but Saruman, scorning the pity, was murdered on the doorstep of [[Bag End]] by his own cringing servant [[Gríma Wormtongue]]. His spirit rose like a grey mist, looked toward the West, and was blown away into nothing — denied return.

== Character ==
Saruman is the corruption of wisdom by the love of power and order. Subtle, learned, and silver-tongued, his chief weapon is his [[Voice of Saruman|Voice]], which can sway and beguile all who listen unguarded. His tragedy is that he sought to defeat [[Sauron]] by becoming like him — believing that knowledge and dominion in the right hands could master evil — and so became merely a smaller copy of the thing he was sent to oppose. His pettiness at the end measures how far he fell.

== Relationships ==
* '''[[Gandalf]]''' — his fellow Wizard and rival, who replaced him as head of the order.
* '''[[Sauron]]''' — whom he served in fear after being ensnared, and hoped to supplant.
* '''[[Gríma Wormtongue]]''' — his servant and tool, who at last murdered him.
* '''[[Treebeard]]''' — the Ent who broke his power and held him captive.
* '''[[Théoden]]''' — King of Rohan, whom he sought to poison and weaken through Gríma.

== Appearances ==
* ''[[The Fellowship of the Ring]]'' (recounted by Gandalf)
* ''[[The Two Towers]]''
* ''[[The Return of the King]]''
* ''[[Unfinished Tales]]'' ("The Istari")

In Peter Jackson's film trilogy (2001–2003), Saruman was portrayed by '''Christopher Lee'''. The theatrical edition of ''The Return of the King'' omits the [[Scouring of the Shire]] and instead kills Saruman at Orthanc; his death and the fate of the Shire are restored in the extended edition, though still differing from the book.

== Quotes ==
<blockquote>''The Elder Days are gone. The Middle Days are passing. The Younger Days are beginning. The time of the Elves is over, but our time is at hand: the world of Men, which we must rule.''</blockquote>
<blockquote>''Do you not know my name? ... I am Saruman the Wise, Saruman Ring-maker, Saruman of Many Colours!''</blockquote>

[[Category:Characters]]
[[Category:Lord of the Rings]]
[[Category:The Istari]]
[[Category:Maiar]]

Saruman - Revision history

Archmaesterjimmie: LOTR character article, book-canon (Corvus) + portrait (Wren)