Did Saruman Know Aragorn - or Know OF Him?

CAB · 06-27-2015, 12:32 PM

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.

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06-27-2015, 12:32 PM	#1
CAB Elven Warrior Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 306	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.