Where did Saruman go?

[Foolofatook]

I'm quite content with Sauron's whereabouts after death, to be a shadow wandering Middle Earth forever. But Saruman was rejected by the Valar as well. Does he share in Sauron's fate? I surely hope not. Saruman was indeed an evil force in the world at the end of the Third Age but he did so much good prior to his 60 or so years of evil at the most inappropriate time. Did he then die as a man would? Or possibly as an elf would?

Taking the Christian approach doesn't really answer my question either. Sauron is a Satan figure whereas Saruman is a Judas figure. Keeping that in mind the two should have different fates and while in the end it will not be good for Saruman there should be some difference. I also don't see him falling into the void. That would be the worst fate of all surpassing Melkor and Sauron, to live forever powerless with a master that you both betrayed and failed. It's an eternity of Wormtongue for a once noble and essentially good being. If you have any ideas I'd love to hear them.

[Earendilyon]

I think Saruman indeed shared Sauron's fate: he was rejected from Valinor, so he had to stay in Middle Earth as an impotent spirit.
To connect tp Cristianity: the Maiar Saruman and Sauron can be likened to fallen angels, like the angels who followed Satan. Sauron followed Morgoth in the beginning, Saruman in essence also followed Morgoth, just many millenia later.

[Burzdol]

So they are both spirits that roam Middle Earth?

[Earendilyon]

Yep. Probably hiding in some hole, as Saddam did [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[Finwe]

Well then, we'll just have to start a completely useless war, led by a short, monkey-looking man, to try and ferret him out, so we can ask him where he went. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

[Amarie of the Vanyar]

But Sauron ended up in the Void after the destruction of the Ring, his spirit is not wandering in Middle-Earth:

'Go back to the abyss prepared for you! Go back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master. Go!'.
Gandalf to the Witch King; The Siege of Gondor; LotR

But in the years he rose like a shadow of Morgoth and a ghost of his malice, and walked behind him on the same ruinous path down into the Void.
Of the Enemies; Valaquenta; The Silmarillion

[Findegil]

The meaning of beening pushed into the viod in the case of Morgoth is stated by Tolkien to be executed and as a spirit band from Ea. The last part needed the special premission of Eru himself. It is very unlikely that such a premission was given in a minor case like Sauron.

The quotation given by Amarie could thus only mean the first part of the fate of Morgoth: to be robed of the physikal shape for ever. And that is exactly what is suggested as the fate of Sauron by Tolkien: a bodyless spirit fixed in the desire to rebuild a physikal form for itself.

Respectfully
Findegil