First appearing in The Hobbit (1937) and forever immortalized in his exceptional portrayal by actor Ian McKellen in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings the motion picture trilogy (2001-2003), Gandalf is one of the most beloved characters to flow out of J.R.R. Tolkien’s pen and a staple of the incredible world of Middle-earth.
One of the Five Istari (Wizards), Gandalf is ever there to lend his aid and counsel to those in need, to guide unlikely heroes to deeds of valor and to thwart Sauron’s plans at every turn. Always wandering the lands of Middle-earth, “from Gondor to Angmar, and from Lindon to Lórien”, he is a friend and ally to all those who oppose Sauron – from Elves, Men, Dwarves and Hobbits to birds and beasts. Never straying from his task, he becomes a beacon of hope for those that the Dark Lord seeks to enslave and ultimately one of the saviors that the Free Peoples of Middle-earth have long awaited to deliver them from tyranny, with Tolkien bestowing upon Gandalf the mantle of “the Enemy of Sauron”.
The Myths behind the Grey Pilgrim
We get out first glimpse of Gandalf the Grey in the chapter “An Unexpected Party” from The Hobbit:
This description of Gandalf the Grey – perfectly captured in the films by Peter Jackson thanks to artist John Howe – evokes the likeness of the Norse god Odin (Germanized: Wotan & Anglicized: Wōden). In many sagas and legends, the All-father was said to assume the guise of an elderly traveler, draped in a simple cloak, hooded or wearing a wide-brimmed hat and leaning on his spear. Tolkien himself acknowledged the comparison, describing Gandalf as an “Odinic wanderer” in one of his letters. But Gandalf is also reminiscent of the Celtic sage Myrddin (Latinized: Merlin). The trio shares other traits as well, such as being endowed with wisdom, knowledge, foresight, magical powers, as well as allies among birds and beasts:
- Myrddin is often accompanied in his travels in the wilderness by a lone wolf.
- Odin has a pair of ravens, Huginn and Muninn, that “ whisper all the news which they see and hear into his ear” in addition to riding Sleipnir, an eight-legged horse, across the Nine Realms.
- Gandalf is “considered a valued friend” of the Great Eagles, who often fly to his aid and later, as the White Wizard, he rides the white horse Shadowfax, the “chief of the Mearas” of Rohan.
Gandalf’s role as a mentor and helper of the protagonists can also be traced back to Odin and Myrddin:
In the Völsunga saga, the famous hero Sigurðr (Germanized: Siegfried) comes across Odin – once again disguised as a long-bearded and one-eyed old man – on several occasions and receives valuable aid:
- a chance meeting in the woods leads to the Norse god urging him to choose Grani, a grey horse “descended from Sleipnir” that no mortal man had succeeded in mounting up until then, as his steed.
- the second time Odin encounters Sigurðr, the young warrior is preparing for his confrontation with the dragon Fáfnir. The Norse god instructs him to dig several ditches for the beast’s blood to flow in, to prevent Sigurðr from being touched by Fáfnir’s venomous ichor (Although not a complete allegory, Odin’s indirect role in the slaying of Fáfnir can be compared to Gandalf’s involvement in the Quest of Erebor, that ultimately ended Smaug’s reign of terror. Biographer Humphrey Carpenter noted – and Jonathan Evans reiterated – that J.R.R. Tolkien had indeed been fascinated by “the tale of Sigurd who slew the dragon Fafnir” since his youth.)
In the Celtic legends (that served as the basis for the Arthurian cycle), Myrddin’s talent as a seer makes him a trusted friend and counselor to two great kings of the Britons, Emrys and later Arthur. But whereas Odin’s attitude towards the denizens of Midgard (Earth) seems more aloof, due to his sporadic appearances, Myrddin’s concern for the fate of the Britons, faced with invasion by Germanic peoples and incursions by the Picts, is crystal-clear. And so we arrive at a specific aspect of Myrddin that made its way into Gandalf as well: the ‘kingmaker’. Myrddin sees that what the Britons lack is unity. They need someone to stop the many chiefs from squabbling among themselves and direct them into battle. So the great sage endeavors to seek out those valiant warleaders that are not only the mightiest in arms, but men guided by a moral compass. It is Myrddin who ensures Emrys’ victory over Vortigern, a craven lord who has brought much misfortune to the isle, and it is also Myrddin who grooms the noble Arthur from the shadows and propounds him as a worthy royal heir to the childless king, Emrys. The bond between Myrddin and Arthur can be compared to the great friendship between Gandalf and Aragorn.
It is Gandalf’s determination to ensure that Aragorn reclaims “the throne of Gondor” and embraces his destiny as Isildur’s heir, a symbol that the kingdoms of Men can rally around against Sauron. The Wizard even emboldens him once by saying:
Time and time again, Gandalf places a great deal of trust in Aragorn: it is the “help of Aragorn” that he seeks in the hunt for the creature Gollum, it is Aragorn that he charges to lead the Fellowship on shortly before his fall in Moria and it is Aragorn that he leaves to stand by Théoden’s side during the Battle of the Hornburg (Battle of Helm’s Deep). And at the very end, Gandalf places the crown upon Aragorn’s head and gives him his blessing:
“Now come the days of the King, and may they be blessed while the thrones of the Valar endure!”
Now, the Norse and Celtic mythologies both left their mark on the world of Middle-earth, but J.R.R. Tolkien was also a devout Christian, and his faith was another significant influence with regards to his legendarium. And the Biblical figure that Gandalf resembles the most is undoubtedly the Savior of Mankind himself, Jesus Christ.
Philosopher Peter J. Kreeft pointed out the “threefold Messianic symbolism of prophet (Gandalf), priest (Frodo), and king (Aragorn)” in The Lord of the Rings. Each of them represents a facet of the Savior and together they succeed in delivering the Free Peoples of Middle-earth from the “demonic sway of Sauron”. And indeed, there are several reasons as to why Gandalf embodies Christ as the ‘prophet’:
- both are of divine origin: Gandalf is a Maia, a “spirit of the angelic people” of the Valar & Christ is the Son of God and part of the holy Trinity
- both are representatives of the demiurge: Gandalf is an emissary of the Valar and “the One that is above them” & Jesus Christ is the Word of God.
- both are teachers: Gandalf preaches that it is not power but “small acts of kindness and love” that keep evil at bay & Christ himself preached love, understanding, mercy, compassion and charity that shall deliver Mankind from sin and onto the path towards Heaven.
There are other aspects as well that outline Gandalf as the main Messianic figure of J.R.R. Tolkien’s legendarium:
Both selflessly sacrifice themselves for their mission:
- Jesus Christ endured much pain and gave his life on the Cross: his death allowed for the atonement of Mankind.
- Gandalf the Grey “suffered greatly, and was slain” even as he felled the Balrog of Morgoth: his death allowed the Fellowship, the Free Peoples’ last hope, to move on and continue with its quest to destroy the Ring and vanquish Sauron.
And both return from the great beyond as willed by the demiurge. Much like the resurrected Christ in his white shroud, Gandalf was “clothed then in white” upon being sent back by the Valar and Eru (the One) to fulfill his task. And both figures reveal themselves to their ‘disciples‘: Christ to the Myrrhbearers and Apostles and Gandalf the White to the Three Hunters (Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli).
Gandalf is also a Messianic figure through his antithetic relationship with Sauron, the “One Enemy” of the Free Peoples of Middle-earth.
According to J.R.R. Tolkien, Sauron – alongside his former master, Morgoth – represents ”absolute Satanic rebellion and evil”. He is, as actor Viggo Mortensen put it, “the Devil in disguise”. Consumed by boundless pride and a lust for domination that surpasses that of any mortal despot, the Dark Lord demands “divine honour from all rational creatures” as a “God-King”. Thus, he becomes an incarnation of the spirit of the Biblical Antichrist, who denies the holy Trinity and propounds himself as Lord instead.
In Tolkien’s own words, Sauron’s dominion over Middle-earth is an “evil theocracy (for Sauron is also the god of his slaves)”, which is not unlike the eventual global control achieved by the Antichrist as foretold in the Bible.
All three figures (Sauron, Satan and the Antichrist) are as honey-tongued as the serpent from the Garden of Eden, preying on Mankind’s greed, gullibility and desires to lure it with tainted gifts, threats and false promises to their dreadful allegiance and blasphemous worship. And just like the Devil is regarded as the father of lies and the Antichrist as yet another great deceiver, it is only fitting that Sauron should similarly be given the title of “the Base Master of Treachery” by Gandalf.
Like the Antichrist, fated to be cast down from his throne at the coming of Christ, the one true Messiah, so too is Sauron destined to be overthrown through the long labor of Gandalf and banished “to the Void, from which there could be no return”. The fatidic Savior-element in Gandalf’s actions is consolidated in his own prophetic statement upon the fulfillment of his purpose:
“The Third Age was my age. I was the Enemy of Sauron; and my work is finished.”
Another inspiration for Gandalf, acknowledged by J.R.R. Tolkien himself, was a postcard the author bought during a holiday in Switzerland. The postcard in question was a reproduction of the painting Der Berggeist (tr. German: The Mountain-spirit). by artist Josef Madlener, which depicts an old wizened figure sitting peacefully on a rock under a pine tree in perfect communion with nature, a white fawn “nuzzling his upturned hands”. Even this Mountain-spirit’s appearance bears some resemblance to the Grey Pilgrim of Middle-earth: from the white beard, long cloak and wide-brimmed hat, to the “humorous but compassionate expression”. According to Humphrey Carpenter, J.R.R. Tolkien carefully preserved the postcard and wrote on the paper cover in which he kept it: ‘Origin of Gandalf’.
Herald. Mentor. Ally
Be it an Odinic wanderer, a kingmaking-magician like Merlin, a Christ-figure or a humble Mountain-spirit, Gandalf is also an amalgam of archetypes from the hero’s journey:
- the herald: Gandalf acts as the catalyst in the protagonists’ adventures. It is Gandalf in The Hobbit who gave Bilbo “a little nudge out of the door”, signifying the need for change in the character’s life, and it was Gandalf who urged Thorin to reclaim gold and homeland from the iron talons of Smaug in the first place.
- the mentor: time and time again Gandalf offers advice to Bilbo, Frodo and Aragorn and guides them. The Grey Pilgrim sees beyond their self-doubts and glimpses their potential and encourages them to reach it. He promotes chivalry and compassion: upon handing Bilbo the Elvish sword Sting, Gandalf tells him that “true courage is about knowing not when to take a life, but when to spare one.”
- the ally: he firmly stands by the heroes in dire times and is even willing to sacrifice himself for their sake.
“And does this Wizard have a name?”
During his time in Middle-earth among the Incarnates, our beloved Wizard was known by many names:
- The Elves (chiefly Galadriel, Elrond and Círdan) and the Men of Gondor called him Mithrandir, which meant “the Grey Wanderer” in Sindarin Elvish.
- Upon his unwelcome arrival to the Golden Hall of Meduseld, the sly traitor Gríma Wormtongue named him Láthspell (tr. Old English ‘ill-news’) in his scornful greeting: “Ill news is an ill guest”.
-
“Gandalf the Grey”, by Yingjia Huang (EIKA) To the Dwarves he was known as Tharkûn (tr. Khuzdul ‘Staff-man’).
- And in “the common tongue he’s simply known as Gandalf”, which literally translates to “’the Elf of the Wand’” The name was given to him by the Men of the North who, observing that the Grey Pilgrim did not age while their own mortal forebearers and offspring passed away, wrongly assumed that he belonged to the Elven kindred. (J.R.R. Tolkien actually borrowed the name, which was of Norse origin, from the Poetic Edda, where it was “applied to a Dwarf”.)
But Gandalf’s true name, from “[his] youth in the West” (‘the West’ referring here, of course, to the Undying Lands of Valinor beyond the sea), and which he kept mostly to himself was Olórin, derived from the word ‘olos’, which means ‘dream/vision’ in Quenyan Elvish.
The Legacy of the Adversary of the Enemy
The wars that had bloodied the First Age of Middle-earth, as told by J.R.R. Tolkien in The Silmarillion, ended with the Great Battle, in which Morgoth, “the Dark Power in the North”, was defeated and “thrust out of the world into the Void”. For the chief of the Valar, Manwë – Elder King as the vice-regent of Eru (the One) – this also signified the end of his duty as “the Adversary of the Enemy”. But Manwë was well aware that Sauron, “greatest of Morgoth’s servants”, had escaped and was now stirring, having turned back to evil and taken up the mantle of his former master. Manwë, who was closest in thought to Eru, also knew that the Dominion of Men would begin before long and that the shaping of Middle-earth’s history would be left to them. Now the Elder King would not abandon the race of Men and let them fend for themselves against the arising of a new Dark Lord: “special arrangements had been made” in the form of the Order of Istari (Wizards), the Five Guardians of the Free Peoples of the World.
Out of all the Five Istari, Manwë placed the greatest trust in Olórin. According to one account, Olórin was actually reluctant to go. He had great love for the Free Peoples, but “he feared Sauron”. The Grey Messenger doubted that he had the strength to oppose the Dark Lord, or to resist temptation. Yet Manwë – perhaps owing to his foresight – had glimpsed his potential and had told Olórin that this was all the more reason to go, to overcome his fears. And Olórin became Gandalf, embracing his destiny as the “chief mover of the resistance to Sauron”. Some of the Faithful, that had witnessed the great deeds the Grey Messenger had done in those days, went as far as to claim that Gandalf was “the last appearance of Manwë himself”, come to contest Sauron “before his final withdrawal to the watchtower of Taniquetil”. The reason for Tolkien’s inclusion of this exaggerated in-universe belief is clear: to portray Gandalf as being to Sauron what Manwë had been to Morgoth. In the person of the Grey Pilgrim, the Elder King had found the worthy heir to which he could pass on the mantle of the Adversary of the Enemy.
Did Sauron know who Gandalf was?
J.R.R. Tolkien told us that Sauron was very much aware that the Five Istari, Gandalf included, were “emissaries from the Valar”. The Dark Lord, however, assumed that the Wizards’ arrival was a “mere effort of defeated imperialists” to reestablish their lost influence over Middle-earth. That is because Sauron, a tyrant whose mind was consumed by thoughts of his own dominion, cynically imagined that Manwë’s reasons were no different than his own. His belief seemed justified in Saruman. Brought low by his pride and greed, and his envy of Gandalf, Saruman was ensnared and became an “ally or servant of Sauron”: the corrupted Wizard waged war against the Free People of Rohan on behalf of his “dark master to whom [he] would deliver [them]” , but he also tried to claim the Ring for himself, hoping that he could perhaps wield its power. Such an ambitious being was easy for Sauron to read. But as Tolkien pointed out, Gandalf – who was sent back to assume Saruman’s mantle as the White Wizard and right his wrongs- was a different story all together:
So the Dark Lord knew *what* the Grey Pilgrim was: a messenger of the Lords of the West. But the key answer is that Sauron did not fundamentally understand *who* Gandalf was. Those who did not crave power or willingly forsook it were simply beyond his comprehension. The Dark Lord believed that the Grey Pilgrim was foolish and naïve because he did not stoop to his level. Not to mention that Sauron, being “of a far higher [angelic] order” than the Five Istari, did not deem that Gandalf posed a significant threat. Saruman, who “treated Gandalf with less respect than did others of the Wise” even before his corruption and who later “cheated [his] new master” in pursuit of even more power (achievable through possession of the Ring), similarly downplayed Gandalf’s humility. Both also perceived the lack of Gandalf’s desire for the Ring as a weakness. And their poor judgement proved to be their undoing in the War of the Ring: “that we should seek to destroy [the Ring] has not yet entered their darkest dreams.”
An incredible performance from an incredible actor
No deep-dive into Gandalf would be complete without an acknowledgement of the man who breathed life into the character in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings the motion picture franchise: Ian McKellen. For many Tolkien fans out there, myself included, Ian McKellen IS Gandalf. His performance cannot and will not be paralleled. Because he did not simply put on a costume and beard and play a character: he inhabited the character. Especially from the way he delivered each one of Gandalf’s memorable lines, most of which were taken from the source material with little to no alterations. In fact, Peter Jackson explained in an interview that Ian McKellen’s vocal quality and gestures were actually based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s own take:
“We listened to audio recordings of Tolkien reading excerpts from The Lord of the Rings. We watched some BBC interviews with him—there’s a few interviews with Tolkien—and Ian based his performance on an impersonation of Tolkien. He’s literally basing Gandalf on Tolkien. He sounds the same, he uses the speech patterns and his mannerisms are born out of the same roughness from the footage of Tolkien. So, Tolkien would recognize himself in Ian’s performance.”
And the physical effort he put into the role is commendable as well: from riding “a white 16 year old Andalusian stallion” cast as Shadowfax, to wielding Gandalf’s sword Glamdring – forged by the formidable propmakers and weaponsmiths of WETA Workshop. However you turn it, Ian McKellen’s commitment and love for the role of Gandalf shines through. The actor humorously revealed that he even has a few keepsakes from his filming ‘adventures’ in New Zealand:
I’d like to conclude this deep-dive into Gandalf with a quote that not only conveys the character’s wisdom, humility and tenderness, but is one of the best lines from the entirety of The Lord of the Rings the motion picture franchise – showing how well Peter Jackson and Ian McKellen captured the spirit of not only the character of the Grey Pilgrim as envisioned by J.R.R. Tolkien but the novels as a whole:
Sources
You can find my original article here.
- The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, ”Rivendell”
- Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, “The Istari”, by J.R.R Tolkien (edited by Christopher Tolkien)
- The Hobbit, “An Unexpected Party”, by J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, “Letter 107”, by J.R.R. Tolkien (edited by Humphrey Carpenter)
- Prose Edda, “Gylfaginning”, by Snorri Sturluson
- The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, “Úrgost’s Lair”
- The Saga of the Volsungs – a summary in English, “Sigurd”, by D. L. Ashliman
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (motion picture), “The Strength of Men”
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (motion picture), “The Heir of Númenor”
- The Lord of the Rings: Appendix B “The Tale of Years”: “The Third Age”, by J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, “The Steward and the King”, by J.R.R. Tolkien
- J.R.R. Tolkien and His Literary Resonances: Views of Middle-earth, “The Dragon-lore of Middle-earth: Tolkien and Old English and Old Norse tradition”, by Jonathan Evans
- The Philosophy of Tolkien: The Worldview Behind The Lord of the Rings: “The Presence of Christ in The Lord of the Rings“, by Peter J. Kreeft
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, “Why the Halfling?”
- The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, “Letter 156”, by J.R.R. Tolkien (edited by Humphrey Carpenter)
- The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, “Letter 183”, by J.R.R. Tolkien (edited by Humphrey Carpenter)
- The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, “Letter 131”, by J.R.R. Tolkien (edited by Humphrey Carpenter)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, “The Black Gate Opens”, by J.R.R. Tolkien
- The Lord of the Rings: Weapons and Warfare, “Sauron”, by Chris Smith
- J.R.R. Tolkien: A Biography, 1892-1916: Early years, “T.C., B.S., etc”, by Humphrey Carpenter
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, “A Troll-Hoard”
- The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (motion picture), “The King of the Golden Hall”
- The Lord of the Rings, Appendix F “The Languages and Peoples of the Third Age”: “Of Other Races”, by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Morgoth’s Ring, “Notes on motives in The Silmarillion“, by J.R.R Tolkien (edited by Christopher Tolkien)
- Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, “The Palantíri”, by J.R.R Tolkien (edited by Christopher Tolkien)
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, “The Voice of Saruman”, by J.R.R. Tolkien
- Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-earth, “The Hunt for the Ring”, by J.R.R Tolkien (edited by Christopher Tolkien)
- HuffPost: Peter Jackson, ‘The Hobbit’ Director, On Returning To Middle-Earth & The Polarizing 48 FPS Format
- McKellen: The Grey Book: 3 October 2000: Orcs and other creatures, Bill the Pony, Shadowfax, Gandalf’s horse
- Time: Here’s Proof That Ian McKellen Is Basically Focusing on Being Gandalf in Real Life
