Did Saruman Know Aragorn - or Know OF Him?

[Valandil]

Did Saruman know who Aragorn was? Or did he know OF Aragorn, but not really know him.

It was only in late 3018 Third Age, just before the One Ring reached Rivendell, that Saruman's treachery was known. Before this - he was a member of - the very head of - the White Council.

Other known White Council members were: Elrond, Gandalf and Galadriel. All three of these would have known of Aragorn and the Chieftains of the Northern Dunedain, and known him personally. All likely had some reason to believe that he had a major role to play in times to come.

Did they share this knowledge with Saruman? One would think so. And yet - Saruman seems like he does not know what to think of Aragorn when the party arrives at Orthanc. And as Gandalf tells Pippin, Wormtongue would have certainly told him the claim Aragorn made of himself at Edoras.

How secretive were members of the White Council toward one another? And/or - did Saruman know of Aragorn's people, but dismiss them from his calculations?

[Midge]

Doesn't Gandalf say that he started to grow suspicious of Saruman for one reason or another and quit sharing information with him around the time of the Hobbit? He certainly didn't tell Saruman that he suspected that Bilbo had found a Ring of Power.

And Galadriel was probably suspicious too, since she had lobbied for Gandalf to be head of the White Council instead of Saruman. Which leaves Elrond - do we know of him keeping information from Saruman?

And if he couldn't be convinced that Saruman was untrustworthy, then obviously Gandalf and Galadriel couldn't tell him things they didn't want Saruman to know.

[Alcuin]

Elrond seems to have kept Aragorn secret from the beginning, or at least, from the time the child arrived in Rivendell. It isn’t clear to me whether Aragorn was born in Rivendell or was taken there when his father died: he was 10 years old and living there when Thorin & Co passed through, and again when Bilbo and Gandalf returned on their way back to Bag End when he was 11.

Yet Tale of Years says that Aragorn did not meet Gandalf until he was 25 years old, having already been in the Wild for five years after meeting Arwen. Even Arwen does not seem to have known of his existence before they met in the woods.

If Gandalf knew of Aragorn, why did he not meet him in Rivendell? Was it inconvenient – he was certainly able to meet him on at least two occasions! – or was young “Estel” kept away from everyone else, hidden somewhere on Elrond’s estate so that even the other Eldar knew nothing of him? Yet he could not have been far from the main residence, because Elrond was his foster-father, and was around him enough that Aragorn looked on him as his father. (At the Council of Elrond, Elrond defends Aragorn from Boromir’s hostile questioning much as might a father or protective uncle.)

If Gandalf did not meet him, and Arwen did not know of him, perhaps Galadriel did not know until later, either. But I don’t think there’s any proof they did not know: only circumstantial evidence.

As for Saruman, I seem to recall reading Tolkien’s saying that, had Saruman known Aragorn was in the embassy that came to his doors with Gandalf, he would certainly have addressed him. Aragorn Gandalf is not helpful in clarifying the matter, either: he says that, “If Wormtongue was not deceived by the armor of Rohan, he would remember Aragorn and the title that he claimed,” implying in context that Saruman was unaware that an heir of Elendil lived.

Saruman certainly knew about the Dúnedain of the North. That could be no secret to him; besides, his messengers to and from the Shire had apparently been stopped and questioned at Sarn Ford by Dúnedain posted there by Aragorn – they certainly knew the Chieftain of the Dúnedain! – and allowed through, even though the Númenóreans were suspicious: no one had given any orders to prevent their passing. But that doesn’t mean the Saruman knew who was in charge of the Northern Dúnedain: they were not likely to tell the likes of Bill Ferny or the squint-eyed Southerner who they really were, much less the identity of their leader.

[CAB]

I don’t have much to add, and don’t have a very strong opinion. Still, it seems rather unlikely to me that Saruman wasn’t at least aware that there was an heir of Elendil out there somewhere…..even if he didn’t know who in particular that person was.

Maybe this is putting it to simplistically (or just flat out incorrectly), but wasn’t the heir of Elendil regaining the throne in Gondor (and Arnor too) a long term goal of the Wise? Or if not a “goal”, at least a hope?

At the end of the Lord of the Rings, Gandalf “hands over the reins” to Aragorn. And Aragorn himself worries about the future if Elrond doesn’t allow Aragorn to marry Arwen, thus making it so “the long-sundered branches of the Half-elven were reunited and their line was restored." This is big-deal, big-picture type stuff. Could Saruman, who was probably the greatest “good guy” in Middle Earth prior to his fall, really be so unaware? He probably didn’t know all the specifics (such as Aragorn’s and Arwen’s relationship)....but could he really not know that an heir of Elendil existed?

Isn’t it said that the later lords in Gondor knew or suspected that an heir of Elendil lived in the north? Denethor certainly did. Would they have this knowledge and Saruman not? Wouldn’t Saruman be especially interested in those things involving and affecting Gondor?

I don’t think the members of the Wise were always completely forthcoming with each other…..and Saruman was probably the odd man out sometimes……….but it would be really odd if he was oblivious to the fact that the line of Elendil continued in the North.