and the white light can be broken.
SARUMAN
GANDALF
Having reached Imladris, the hobbits finally discover why Gandalf had not been able to journey with them; of his imprisonment by the person most like him in Middle Earth, the chief of his order, the head of the White Council. Saruman was now no longer 'the White' (see Sept 27th), and he had left the path of wisdom.
GANDALF
In the account of the confrontation between the wizards, Saruman is described in all his eloquence: his phrases are rhythmic, easy on the ear, and riddled with sets of three (the Elder Days, the Middle Days, the Younger days; Elves, Men, the Wise; Knowledge, Rule, Order). But it is significant that Saruman's argument, while logical, has a logic so twisted by the enemy that it no longer resembles wisdom.
But Gandalf cannot be shaken by Saruman's soft words. He speaks in maxims as if quoting scripture, so rooted in his wisdom tradition that it has taken over his patterns of speech; a contrast with the proverb-free rhetoric of his senior, and a reflection (and probably cause) of his enduring goodness.
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