Saruman was very mysterious to me as a young reader. I loved many of the passages surrounding him because I could understand their deeper significance or symbolism (a rarity for me when I was younger), but I had a very difficult time visualizing Saruman.

This confusion about Saruman began at the Council of Elrond, with Gandalf’s description of their interaction as his explanation of why he was late. During their interaction, Saruman proclaims himself Saruman of Many Colours, and Gandalf describes his garments as follows:

‘I looked then and saw that his robes, which had seemed white, were not so, but were woven of all colours, and if he moved they shimmered and changed hue so that the eye was bewildered’ (FR, II, ii, 259).

As a young child, I tried my best to picture this, but could not. Each time I tried, I ended up with an image something akin to the titular piece of clothing from a version of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. I deeply enjoyed the symbolism of this description and Gandal’s commentary, but I could not visualize it.

This same difficulty in imagining aspects of Saruman was true about his voice. Gandalf warns his companions that Saruman’’s voice is a great weapon and that it could daunt, soothe, coerce, and persuade very effectively. I must admit that I lacked this skill as a child, so it was very hard for me to make Saruman’s voice seem as convincing as it should, or as I thought it should, in my mind. In all, this made Saruman a very illusive figure to me. I still find him difficult to picture in my mind with as much clarity as the other characters.

Two quick side-notes:

Here again we revisit the theme of the staff, and this was the pay-off of my observation of this theme earlier.

Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, rather unbelievably, has shaped many of my later opinions about Saruman. Perhaps there is a paper here at some point.

Where Do We Go From Here?

To the Dead Marshes…where else?

What Do You Think?

How did you picture Saruman’s robes?
Did you struggle to find a voice to fit him?
Did I miss anything? Let me know!