A lot is overlooked by Lord of the Rings fans who see the films as their first chance to see the hack and slash of Orcs and Trolls up-close. Perhaps chief among this is the literary device used through Sauron and Saruman. Seen by many as simple villains of typical “evil darkness” who wish to end and destroy all life, the two are actual more opposite than they are alike and are an important study in duality in literature or film making.
First and foremost, who are these two? As anyone who has seen the films or read the books know, Saruman is an evil wizard inhabiting the fortress of Isengard from his tower of Orthanc (a detail explained fleetingly in the films). Originally the head of Gandalf’s “order”, the Grey Wizard ran to him seeking advice on how best to deal with discovering the One Ring. Saruman at first scorns Gandalf’s years of inaction, even going so far as to accusing him of being something of a “pot head” (“The love for the Halfling’s leaf has clearly slowed your mind,” in reference to what the Hobbits continually refer to as “old Toby’s weed”) and later reveals a number of secrets about the Dark Lord Sauron’s movements.
When Gandalf inquired how it is that Saruman could know as much as he did, the White Wizard all but revealed his goal of appeasing the Dark Lord, siding with him as there could be no victory outside of Mordor (the realm controlled by Sauron). He then goes on to attack Gandalf, and the two become political leaders opposite one another, representing, in their own ways, the heads of the Free People of Middle-Earth and the Realm of Mordor.
Saruman’s real debut occurs in the Two Towers, the second film/book in the trilogy. From Isengard, the fortress that surrounds Orthanc that derives its name from the river Isen that it stands at the foot of, Saruman goes on to wage war with Rohan at the behest of Sauron. He is later distastefully referred to as Sauron’s “puppet” by Galadriel, the Elf Queen from Lothlorien that viewers/readers were introduced to in the first installment The Fellowship of the Ring. He expresses several times that he intends to “destroy the world of men”, and to kill every last “man, woman, and child” of Rohan in his path to victory.
On the inverse is his master, Sauron, acknowledged throughout the entire trilogy as the “Dark Lord of Mordor” and the chief antagonist of the series. He is the undisputed master of all things evil in the series – the Orcs almost all look up to him as he is the successor of Melkor, the Lucifer of Middle-Earth. Throughout the series he meticulously and carefully concocts a plan to dominate Middle-Earth once more, drawing upon those who see themselves as the oppressed, down-trodden of the world, or appealing to the bloodlust and vanity of the outer kingdoms such as Easterlings and Southrons.
As Saruman continues to enrage those around him with his brazen attacks, Sauron shows considerably more restraint – maintaining the bulk of his legions close at bay while keeping steady pressure against the nearby kingdom of Gondor, whom his Orcs simply have outnumbered. Even after suffering a crippling defeat at Pelennor Fields in The Return of the King, Sauron is still confident in victory, as he sends his messenger to demand favorable terms from the united alliance of Rohan and Gondor.
Where Saruman insists on destroying the race of Men, Sauron expresses a deeply vested interest in ruling them. He does not wish genocide like his puppet does, but rather wishes to be acknowledged by those alive as the undisputed master of all realms; thus putting him as more of a political imperialist than the ethnically cleansing Saruman.
This is an important point for villains in any literature – as it shows that there is more than one type of potential “evil emperor”, which are usually overlooked by authors. Sauron acts in a class above Saruman, who is willing to drop so low in his pursuit of conquest that he will “breed Orcs with Goblin-men” so that he might have an army as quickly as possible. The impatience of the White Wizard goes on to explain his character’s tendencies; he is bloodthirsty, ambitious, and in many ways opportunistic.
An important dialogue occurs where he speaks with his master through an orb known as a palantir, also known as a seeing stone. He refers to the “union between the Towers,” promising that no one could stand up to the powers of Sauron and Saruman – something that the Dark Lord seems to simply ignore. This is an important conversation, as it clearly demonstrates Saruman’s own desire to elevate to a status of equal to his master – but he cannot consider himself so until he’d received some sort acknowledgment, which was not forth coming.
Saruman goes on to wage his war against Rohan, presumably before Sauron himself is ready as he does not follow up his pincer attack on his own local enemy of Gondor. Only after the White Wizard’s humiliating defeat that leaves Isengard destroyed and the eastern forces of the “union of the Two Towers” annihilated does Sauron launch his own attack.
Writers should use the examples laid out here – of ambitious villains who latch onto the more coordinated, better organized, professional villains. This kind of duality adds depth to characters, and saves them from the potential monomania that inhibits the growth of Eragon’s emperor, who appears to have little more goal in life than to be a centralized evil for the good guys to do battle with.
