“Manwë summoned the Valar for a council [- maybe he had asked Eru for counsel -] at which it was resolved to send out three emissaries to Middle-earth and he asked who would go. They would have to lose might and clothe themselves in flesh to win the trust of Elves and Men but this would also imperil them, diminish their wisdom and knowledge and bring upon them fear, the care and weariness of the flesh. Only two came forward; Curumo [Saruman] and Alatar. Curumo was chosen by Aulë among “his” Maiar, and Alatar was sent by Oromë. Manwë asked where Olórin [Gandalf] was, and Olórin, just returning from a journey and coming to the meeting, asked what he wanted from him. Manwë said that he wished him to go as the third to Middle-earth. Olórin answered that he thought himself too weak for such a task, and added that he feared Sauron. Then Manwë said that that was all the more reason why he should go, and he commanded him to go as the third. There Varda broke in and said “Not as the third,” and Curumo remembered that.“
– Unfinished Tales
1: Olorin is late to the council of the Valar because he was out wandering around; he sure doesn’t change much.
2: He doesn’t want to join this mad expedition because he thinks he’s not up to it and also he’s afraid of Sauron. Suddenly I’m thinking that he sees a good deal of himself in Bilbo Baggins; I expect he spent much of his early years in Middle-Earth wishing he was back in Irmo’s gardens with the Valinorean equivalent of a nice cup of tea.
Can we talk about that infinite fucking shade Varda threw at Curumo tho
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