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tolkiens legendarium - How does Saruman the White compare in power to other beings?


Was Saruman the White as powerful as Sauron without the ring? Was Sauron afraid of him? Could Saruman kill a Balrog?



Answer



Saruman was a Maia of the house of Aule; that makes him one of the beings who existed before the creation of the world (he would have participated in the creation, but not to such an extent as the greater Powers) which in turn makes him pretty damn powerful indeed.


Regarding relative power, you could place him above all of the Elves, Dwarves and Men in his Valinorean incarnation; on Middle-Earth he would have been constrained by the body he had accepted which made him subject to (hypothetical incredibly slow) ageing and to the cares of the world (ref: Unfinished Tales, Istari essay) so Sauron or a Balrog would most likely have been above his capability (in the latter case he may have stood a better chance than Gandalf though), but I don't believe that Tolkien ever made a definitive statement on that matter.


Despite that, one can conjecture that if he had been capable of defeating Sauron, he would have definitely made an attempt to do so. He wanted the Ring, and Sauron was an obstacle to him getting that. Also remember - it took the full power of the White Council to merely drive Sauron (in his Necromancer guise) from Dol Guldur; not to destroy him, just to drive him out. A lot of trouble could have been averted if they had destroyed him, and if they had been capable of doing so it seems most likely that they would have.


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