Who Were the Members of the White Council?
ANSWER: Technically, there were two White Councils, although most of J.R.R. Tolkien’s readers only know of the White Council that was formed in the Third Age. The White Council appears to have been well-known throughout the westlands of Middle-earth. The following narrative summary from “The Shadow of the Past” in The Fellowship of the Ring suggests that the Hobbits of the Shire were aware of the council:
There were rumours of strange things happening in the world outside; and as Gandalf had not at that time appeared or sent any message for several years, Frodo gathered all the news he could. Elves, who seldom walked in the Shire, could now be seen passing westward through the woods in the evening, passing and not returning; but they were leaving Middle-earth and were no longer concerned with its troubles. There were, however, dwarves on the road in unusual numbers. The ancient East-West Road ran through the Shire to its end at the Grey Havens, and dwarves had always used it on their way to their mines in the Blue Mountains. They were the hobbits’ chief source of news from distant parts – if they wanted any: as a rule dwarves said little and hobbits asked no more. But now Frodo often met strange dwarves of far countries, seeking refuge in the West. They were troubled, and some spoke in whispers of the Enemy and of the Land of Mordor.
That name the hobbits only knew in legends of the dark past, like a shadow in the background of their memories; but it was ominous and disquieting. It seemed that the evil power in Mirkwood had been driven out by the White Council only to reappear in greater strength in the old strongholds of Mordor. The Dark Tower had been rebuilt, it was said. From there the power was spreading far and wide, and away far east and south there were wars and growing fear. Orcs were multiplying again in the mountains. Trolls were abroad, no longer dull-witted, but cunning and armed with dreadful weapons. And there were murmured hints of creatures more terrible than all these, but they had no name.
This implication is strengthened by Gandalf’s comment to Frodo later in the chapter:
‘How long have you known all this?’ asked Frodo again.
‘Known?’ said Gandalf. ‘I have known much that only the Wise know, Frodo. But if you mean “known about this ring”, well, I still do not know, one might say. There is a last test to make. But I no longer doubt my guess.
‘When did I first begin to guess?’ he mused, searching back in memory. ‘Let me see — it was in the year that the White Council drove the dark power from Mirkwood, just before the Battle of Five Armies, that Bilbo found his ring. A shadow fell on my heart then, though I did not know yet what I feared. I wondered often how Gollum came by a Great Ring, as plainly it was – that at least was clear from the first. Then I heard Bilbo’s strange story of how he had “won” it, and I could not believe it. When I at last got the truth out of him, I saw at once that he had been trying to put his claim to the ring beyond doubt. Much like Gollum with his “birthday present”. The lies were too much alike for my comfort. Clearly the ring had an unwholesome power that set to work on its keeper at once. That was the first real warning I had that all was not well. I told Bilbo often that such rings were better left unused; but he resented it, and soon got angry. There was little else that I could do. I could not take it from him without doing greater harm; and I had no right to do so anyway. I could only watch and wait. I might perhaps have consulted Saruman the White, but something always held me back.’
‘Who is he?’ asked Frodo. I have never heard of him before.’
‘Maybe not,’ answered Gandalf. ‘Hobbits are, or were, no concern of his. Yet he is great among the Wise. He is the chief of my order and the head of the Council. His knowledge is deep, but his pride has grown with it, and he takes ill any meddling. The lore of the Elven-rings, great and small, is his province. He has long studied it, seeking the lost secrets of their making; but when the Rings were debated in the Council, all that he would reveal to us of his ring-lore told against my fears. So my doubt slept — but uneasily. Still I watched and I waited.
Notice how Frodo needs to ask about Saruman but he does not question what the White Council is. Even if Frodo did not know the details of the White Council’s membership, he clearly understood that it existed. And there is a textual precedent for Frodo’s knowledge, for near the end of The Hobbit Bilbo learns why Gandalf had to leave Thorin and Company so urgently at the edge of Mirkwood: to attend a meeting of great wizards who drove the Necromancer out of Mirkwood. That group of wizards was, in fact, the White Council (Tolkien devised the history of the White Council while writing The Lord of the Rings, retroactively attaching it to Gandalf’s urgent business in The Hobbit).
As for the membership of the council, the story only provides a few hints: Gandalf, Saruman, and Galadriel are all associated with it through textual references. Galadriel tells Frodo that it was she who formed the White Council in the first place (Third Age year 2463 according to the “Tale of Years” in Appendix B). The Council’s existence was well-known enough to Treebeard for him to mention it casually to Pippin and Merry, who like Frodo did not need to ask about the council — they were already at least somewhat aware of it (although Treebeard was only assuming they knew of the council).
Although Tolkien does not say whether all the meeting dates of the White Council are given, the only dates provided are for 2463, 2851, 2941, and 2953. The meeting of 2941 was probably held either in Lothlorien or Rhosgobel but Tolkien does not say. According to the essay “Concerning Gandalf, Saruman, and the Shire” published in Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth, the White Council meeting of 2851 was held in Rivendell.
A little more information was published in “Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age” in The Silmarillion. There it is said:
Ever most vigilant was Mithrandir, and he it was that most doubted the darkness in Mirkwood, for though many deemed that it was wrought by the Ringwraiths, he feared that it was indeed the first shadow of Sauron returning; and he went to Dol Guldur, and the Sorcerer fled from him, and there was a watchful peace for a long while. But at length the Shadow returned and its power increased; and in that time was first made the Council of the Wise that is called the White Council, and therein were Elrond and Galadriel and Círdan, and other lords of the Eldar, and with them were Mithrandir and Curunír….
Here the names of Elrond and Círdan are added to the list of council members. Some readers have asked if Radagast wasn’t a member of the council. There seems to be no textual reason to assume that Radagast was included in the council, although he appears to have been considered one of the Wise, who are named “the Istari and the chief Eldar” in the entry for Third Age year (C.) 1100 in “The Tale of Years” for The Lord of the Rings.
Who else might have been members of the White Council? Celeborn is considered to be the wisest of the Eldar in Middle-earth — his inclusion seems necessary. Perhaps Glorfindel as well. Gildor Inglorion may or may not have been high enough among the Noldor to be one of the Wise; he was certainly the lord of at least some Elves. But there could also have been unnamed lords of the Eldar in Middle-earth who also sat on the White Council. It is a fallacy to assume that Tolkien intended to name every great Elven lord. For example, in the tale of Aldarion and Erendis there are unnamed lords of the Eldar who visit Numenor from Tol Eressëa. If they are descendants of Finwë or relatives of Elwë, the reader will never know. Hence, the White Council could have been quite large, including over a dozen, perhaps several dozen Elves. We cannot assign a specific number of members to it.
The earlier White Council is mentioned only once in an essay published in Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth. This council was apparently called by Gil-galad in the Second Age after Sauron was defeated by the Eldar and the Numenoreans in the year 1701. Held at Imladris, the council decided on a policy of shifting Elven interests north out of Eregion, which could not be as well defended as Imladris. Elrond was appointed Gil-galad’s viceroy in Eriador at this council. The essay says that Galadriel and Celeborn also attended the council, and that their daughter Celebrian was with them (although it does not say whether she was a member of the council).
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