Was ‘Terrible’ William II de Soules the true inspiration for Tolkien’s evil Saruman?
Hermitage Castle Hermitage Castle, Liddesdale by Iain Lees, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons The true inspiration behind Saruman? A lone imperious necromancer, dwelling in a stark valley’s forbidding tower, terrorizing the local Scots Reiver horse lords, served by a terrifying orcish goblin named ‘Redcap Sly’, who kept his jaunty bonnet scarlet with the…
