The death of the white wizard Saruman differs slightly from Tolkien’s original book Return of the King to Peter Jackson’s film adaptation of the same name. But although the whereabouts and the circumstances change between the two, both versions agree that Saruman is killed by Grima Wormtongue. So what is it that inspires this usually groveling, cowardly man to such an act of wrath?
It is well known that Saruman is a traitor and that he has gone against the values of the order of the wizards and sought to bring evil into the world for his own malicious gain. Gandalf first discovers this treachery when he sees a glimpse of the evil lord Sauron in the Palantir, the seeing stone that Saruman keeps with him at Isengard. Once Saruman has been revealed, he tries to pursue Gandalf to join him against the free peoples of Middle Earth, and seize power with him. When Gandalf refuses, Saruman traps him on the Tower of Orthanc so that he cannot warn the others. Luckily Gandalf escapes, and rides to Rohan alongside Gimli, Legolas, and Aragorn, to inform Theoden of his enemy in the bordering land of Isengard. It is here that he meets Grima Wormtongue, who has long been a servant of Theoden but has recently begun double-crossing him and working for Saruman instead.
Theoden is under the influence of Saruman through Grima’s poison, and in exchange for the death of the king’s son Theodred, Grima has been promised possession of Eowyn, whom he has long lusted for and wished to dominate. When Theoden is set free, Wormtongue is banished from the kingdom and runs straight to his new master at Orthanc. When the Ents attack in response to the orcs of Isengard desecrating their forests and murdering their beloved trees of Fangorn Forest, Saruman tries to flee but is locked inside the tower by Bregalad the Ent. Gandalf and the other try to reason with Saruman, but he cannot be persuaded. It is in this scene in the 2003 film adaptation that Grima stabs Saruman, who falls and lands gruesomely on a spike of the watermill.
However, in the book version, the events play out a little differently. In the penultimate chapter, ‘The Scouring of the Shire’ Saruman has taken over the hobbit’s beloved homeland when they return from their quest. Merry and Pippin were concerned that Saruman might have dealings with the hobbits in some form when they found Longbottom leaf, the famous shire pipeweed in the pantry of the ruins of Isengard, but they could never imagine the extent of the damage that Saruman would do to their homeland. The four hobbits have to rally the resistance and break all of the mathoms out of the museum to fight back against the wizard. When they have won the battle, they turn him out of Bag End and force him to leave. The cowering Wormtongue goes to follow him, but Frodo offers Grima rest and food and tells him that he no longer has to crawl around after his cruel master. At this point, Saruman reveals that Grima Wormtongue has eaten one of the hobbits, Lotho Baggins, and Wormtongue is overcome with rage, yelling ''You made me do it!''.
Saruman does indeed have unusual power, in that his voice is uniquely persuasive, and can make people act unlike themselves, and think or do things that are otherwise out of their character. So whether he used this power on Wormtongue to make him eat the hobbit or not isn’t clear, but either way, the kick to the face that Saruman gives him, paired with the nasty taunts, is all too much for Grima and he jumps up and slits Saruman’s throat. Perhaps he was tired of being abused at the hands of the wizard, or perhaps he felt betrayed that he had not been rewarded by having his way with Eowyn.
Whatever his motives were for the killing of Saruman, Grima pays for it with his life. In the film version, he is shot by an arrow from Legolas, too late, and in the books, he is shot by three arrows by a band of hobbit archers trying to protect The Shire. It is difficult for Lord of the Rings fans to feel sorry for him, despite the fact that he is a victim of sorts to the white wizard’s power because many feel that he brought it upon himself by trying to manipulate his way to his own perverted remuneration. But he was one a loyal and trusted man of Rohan, and the king is sorely grieved at his betrayal, so perhaps there is more to the story that the audience doesn’t know, that lead to this one mighty man’s downfall.