Could Saruman Master the One Ring?

[NK1988]

Is it possible or no? All the evidence I've been able to collect I will post here and seek your opinions.


Consider what Galadriel tells Frodo when he inquires as to how he may use the One's power...
"Did not Gandalf tell you that the rings give power according to the measure of each possessor? Before you could use that power you would need to become far stronger, and to train your will to the domination of others."

Well Saruman's Voice already shows he has definitely gained quite a proficiency in that prerequisite.

From Tolkien's Letters 246:
"Of any others only Gandalf might be expected to master [Sauron] since he was a creature of the same order."

Being a Maia helps in your attempt to overpower the will of Sauron. Consider also that Gandalf the Grey had no doubts he could take and wield the Ring. Saruman meanwhile was the head of the Istari and thus presumably the most powerful. In addition he was the most versed in Ring-lore in all of Middle-earth with the exception of Sauron himself. In fact, I found this foreword by Tolkien to be quite intriguing:

"“Saruman, failing to get possession of the Ring, would ... have found in Mordor the missing links in his own researches into Ring-lore, and before long he would have made a Great Ring of his own with which to challenge the self-styled Ruler of Middle-earth."
-Foreword to LOTR 2nd Edition, if the War of the Ring was inspired by Wordl War Ii.

Now the counter-arguments...
"....Saruman the White, fell from his high errand, and becoming proud and impatient and enamoured of power sought to have his own will by force, and to oust Sauron; but he was ensnared by that dark spirit, mightier than he."
-Unfinished Tales, The Istari

"3000 - The shadow of Mordor lengthens. Saurman dares to use the palantir of Orthanc, but becomes ensared by Sauron, who has the Ithil Stone. He becomes a traitor to the Council."
-Appendix B

So... Thoughts? Saruman was one a hair's breadth away from capturing Frodo and the Ring. If he had succeeded, could he have done as he hoped and used it against Sauron?

[Endless_Legend]

Gandalf the White came out and said, point blank, that Saruman would have ended up just delivering the ring willingly into Sauron's hand.

Saruman was too evil, too craven, too corrupted to really ever master the ring. Moral integrity and character actually have *real* power in Tolkien's world. That's why Faramir and Aragorn were able to resist the ring when so many other Numenoreans (IE: most of the Ringwraiths) were not even able to resist the Nine Rings, which were lesser than the One.

Even in mastering, though, it would have slowly turned whoever had it into another Dark Lord. Of those in Middle Earth, only Gandalf, Galadriel, and perhaps Aragorn could have wielded the ring as their own, truly mastering, and they all knew better than to try: Even though they would have thrown down Sauron with it, they would have only have taken his place.

Galadriel came very close to doing so anyway. The scene at Galadriel's Mirror wasn't just an act. It was her at war with herself, deciding the entire fate of Middle Earth in the process.

[Endless_Legend]

Somebody really should write a fantasy series where she (or a stand-in character) *does* take the Ring. I'd like to see how that turns out.

Galadriel was not just a first-age Elf, but the granddaughter of Finwe and niece of Fingolfin (the guy who dueled Melkor in single combat and didn't immediately die, but grievously wounded him before being killed.) Widely regarded as, other than Sauron, the most powerful being in Middle Earth.

even Sauron had some fear for her, she was the one who destroyed his fortress of Dol Guldur.

[Endless_Legend]

I really hope that in the White Council scenes in the last Hobbit movie, they show her power, rather than just rendering her as some encouraging damsel that doesn't really do anything besides utter cryptic sayings.

[NK1988]

Gandalf the White came out and said, point blank, that Saruman would have ended up just delivering the ring willingly into Sauron's hand.

When did he say that?

Even in mastering, though, it would have slowly turned whoever had it into another Dark Lord. Of those in Middle Earth, only Gandalf, Galadriel, and perhaps Aragorn could have wielded the ring as their own, truly mastering, and they all knew better than to try:

Aragorn couldn't have mastered it, Tolkien says so himself.

[Endless_Legend]

Aragorn couldn't have mastered it, Tolkien says so himself.

Then just Gandalf and Galadriel.

[big_adventure]

Then just Gandalf and Galadriel.

Even then - saying that they could "master" it goes completely against what they say themselves. They could use it, sure, and get significantly amped by it, but both of them admit that they would turn evil if they don the thing. The good feat for them both is refusing to take it up.

[Surtur]

Well, nobody but Sauron should be able to master it. That was kind of the entire point. What does it even mean to "master" it anyways? Sauron mastered it before but he still lost it. Yet everyone acts like it will make him unbeatable if he gets it back.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Well, nobody but Sauron should be able to master it. That was kind of the entire point. What does it even mean to "master" it anyways? Sauron mastered it before but he still lost it. Yet everyone acts like it will make him unbeatable if he gets it back.

Took a lot of effort, and he lost it because his hand was chopped off, but he didn't lose control of the ring, since his soul was bound up in it. Which is primarily the reason the ring was so corruptive. Sauron's influence or soul juice, had tainted the thing.

[Anarchist]

Well, nobody but Sauron should be able to master it. That was kind of the entire point.

Precisely.
Anybody, no matter how good and pure they were, would have become corrupted by it over time.

Well, maybe not Tom Bombadil, but he is a different story altogether

[Surtur]

Took a lot of effort, and he lost it because his hand was chopped off, but he didn't lose control of the ring, since his soul was bound up in it. Which is primarily the reason the ring was so corruptive. Sauron's influence or soul juice, had tainted the thing.

Who could of foreseen the ring would force one to move their arm really really slowly at you? Just don't mind me..I'm Sauron, just gonna slowly grab at you...here I come, do you see me coming? I am coming at you, just sit still and don't chop my hand off while I kill you via..touching your face.

[Cthulhu_of_R'lyeh]

Who could of foreseen the ring would force one to move their arm really really slowly at you? Just don't mind me..I'm Sauron, just gonna slowly grab at you...here I come, do you see me coming? I am coming at you, just sit still and don't chop my hand off while I kill you via..touching your face.

Honestly, the way the movie depicted it, it looks like Saroun thought Isildur was a fine lookin' lady, with them flowing locks of his. He was just tryin' to show her the world, and how they could crush it.

[NK1988]

Well, nobody but Sauron should be able to master it. That was kind of the entire point. What does it even mean to "master" it anyways? Sauron mastered it before but he still lost it. Yet everyone acts like it will make him unbeatable if he gets it back.

Gandalf is pretty confident that he could take the Ring and use it for good. It's just that, over time, his good intentions would lead to evil.

[The Chou Lives]

Saruman was already tianted by Sauron, him with the Ring met he would just be a further puppet to Sauron.

And yes Gandalf "could" use good with it, but the nature of the Ring would corrupt him ultimately. SO not worth beinga master of such a thing.

[big_adventure]

Gandalf is pretty confident that he could take the Ring and use it for good. It's just that, over time, his good intentions would lead to evil.

He's actually expressly not sure of any such thing. He knows he'd turn evil, sooner rather than later.