The White Council
 

All right, I have heard quite a lot about thw White council. But I am confused and curious. Just eactly who are the members of the White Council?

Galadriel, Gandalf, Saruman, and probably Radagast, Elrond, Celeborn, and Cirdan. Tolkien never gave us an official roster as far as I know.

And probably the Elven Lords like Glorfindel.

obloquy mentioned Galadriel already as being in the White Council

Actually it seems that Radagast(Aiwendil) was not a member of the white council which is actually not surprising given what is stated as per his deliquence:

Good quote, Fingolfin. I had a feeling I had read something along those lines before but I couldn't find it when I went looking.

Mayhaps also the current Chieftan of the Dunedain.

I think it's a kind of Middle Earth UN, all the major people of the world.

Ok, so we know who made up the White Council. Anyone got any idea's on where they convened when in session?

I've wondered about that, too. I guess I always imagined it being held in Isengard because Saruman was the chief. I wonder if there were any dwarves and men? I don't remember any mentioned that would be "high" enough to be included though.

Ya, I always assumed Isengard as well. But perhaps they sometimes met in Rivendell. That would also seem an apropriate place to meet.
What about hobbits? [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

I doubt it. Elves can be so stuck up you know. [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Boromir didn't seem to have been aware of the White Council's existence, and if any man should've known about it, it would've been him (or Aragorn). After all, he was the eldest son of the Steward of Gondor. I don't think that any men were in on it, and dwarves probably weren't invited either because they don't get along well with those snobbish elves [img]smilies/rolleyes.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img].

Rivendell could be a meeting place, but I think Isengard is more likely. Gandalf did not want to be leader, because he did not want to be confined to one place. That suggests that the leader's place was the meeting palce. Also when Saruman began to have an unhealthy interest in the One Ring, the meetings ceased to exist. Maybe because they weren't able to meet at a new place, or couldn't decide where (Elrond: at my place; Galadriel: No my place; Cirdan: No, my place!).

I doubt that any Men/dwarves were in the council. As in the quote in one of the above posts, only some of the Istari and Eldar (higher Elves) were in the council.

Maybe only Elves and Istari were included because the others were too young and had rather confined viewpoints, whereas the really ancient ones like Galadriel and Cirdan had seen everything from their "golden perches" and were in a better position to make decisions.

The only people in the counsil were the top elflords and the Istary. Possibly Glorfindel, but there were no men, dwarves, or Hobbits.

I agree with silver shod muse in that only the wise like Galadriel and Gandalf had enough experiance and wisdom to deal with the matters at hand. Although, if any man were to be included it would have to be Aragorn.

You do not hear much of the actions, the White Council ever made, except from the Dol Guldur incident. But how did they drive Sauron out? By weapon force, or some sort of magical effort?

I've also been looking for the location of the White Council meetings.

From Unfinished Tales - The Hunt for the Ring, (ii) Other Versions of the Story:

I think we can safely assume that the White Council met in Rivendell in 2941 & 2953 as well.

Recall also that Gandalf leaves Bilbo, Thorin & Co. at the edge of Mirkwood so he can get to the 2941 Council meeting in time. See the end of The Hobbit, Queer Lodgings just after they leave Beorn.

Earlier in the same chapter:
So either he was going to double back to Rivendell or go on to Lothlórien for the meeting. I vote for Rivendell; I doubt Saruman would ever agree to meet in Lothlórien. (I doubt too that Galadriel would let him in!)

[ March 18, 2003: Message edited by: Lostgaeriel ]