Feigned fleeing or farciful forestalling?

[Ibrîniðilpathânezel]

Originally Posted by alatar

I get that Sauron was ready to move, yet only moved when pushed. However, it seems that Gandalf, being one of the Wise, doesn't incorporate this knowledge when making statement #2. If he really thought that Sauron was forced into feigning fleeing, then why does he credit Saruman so much, especially after spending a few nights on the roof of Orthanc?

Something just doesn't sit right.

Entirely possible. I think I want to go read the entire section and make sure everything is in context before I ponder this some more (a major undertaking at the moment, since the books were returned to their shelf in my office, which once again is in a nearly impassable state). What it may be in the long run is not a flaw in Gandalf's thinking, but a flaw in the writing. Heaven knows I've read plenty of books in which such an error remained through many revisions and edits, and some of them cannot really be reconciled to the rest of the story. Meaning the mistake, if there is one, may not be Gandalf's, but Tolkien's and his various editors.

About an "army" of the Wise, though.... I don't believe Tolkien intended for the reader to believe that they actually had a standing militia. When I get back to that bookshelf, I believe I shall go rooting through the Letters as well. May shed some light on it.