The Mystery of Light

[davem]

Originally Posted by Helen

I think what Gandalf is referring to as broken is the whiteness, not the light.

In one of the early drafts Tolkien did state that after hie 'resurrection' Gandal would 'become a White Wizard', which sees to imply that colour was not simply an indicator of the wizard's position in the hierarchy, but that it referred to a particular 'kind' of wizard. So Gandalf was originally a 'grey' wizard & through death he metamorphosed into a 'white' wizard. this would seem to imply that colour was significant in Tolkien's cosmology - not simply implying greater or lesser 'purity' but relating more to the wizard's nature.

This makes me wonder to what extent Light & colour are to be taken as being related things - was the 'Secret Fire' white fire. I don't know if I'm contradicting my earlier statements here, so you'll just have to bear with me. Would it have carried the same implications of hubris if Saruman had said 'The blue light may be broken'? Is the 'sin' the breaking of Whiteness or the breaking of the Light? The Light is Holy, but is White anything more than a symbol of 'purity' in this case? Are they the same thing?

Is Saruman 'only' trying to break 'Whiteness' into its constituent elements, without understanding that the result would involve breaking the Light as well? Or did he fully understand what he was doing? Was Gandalf trying to get him to understand that Whiteness & Light are the same thing?

Is White Light purer than Blue Light? We could think of Eru as the pure Light, splintered into all colours -specifically into the colours of the Five Wizards in this case, so that Saruman's 'White' Light is no 'purer' or more 'holy' than Gandalf's Grey or Radaghast's Brown. In breaking the 'White' Light was Saruman breaking himself, or fragmenting the Light of Eru within himself?

Well, I've tied myself in knots here, & its hurts! so I'm now going to go away & lie down till I feel better.