Tolkien took the name "Gandalf" from the Old Norse "Catalogue of Dwarves" ( Dvergatal) in the Völuspá its meaning in that language is "staff-elf". Gandalf the Grey is a protagonist in The Hobbit, where he assists Bilbo Baggins on his quest, and The Lord of the Rings, where he is the leader of the Company of the Ring. Gandalf įurther information: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings As each of these Istari learned from their Vala, so they acted in Middle-earth. Radagast, servant of Yavanna, loved the things of nature, both animals and plants. Gandalf was the servant of Manwë or Varda, but was a lover of the Gardens of Lórien, and so knew much of the hopes and dreams of Men and Elves. Saruman was the servant and helper of Aulë, and so learned much in the art of craftsmanship, mechanics, and metal-working, as was seen in the later Third Age. Servants of the Valar Īs the Istari were Maiar, each one served a Vala in some way. The Blue Wizards do not feature in the narrative of Tolkien's works they are said to have journeyed far into the east after their arrival in Middle-earth, and serve as agitators or missionaries in enemy occupied lands. He innocently helps Saruman to deceive Gandalf, who believes Radagast since he is honest, but fortuitously alerts the eagle Gwaihir to rescue Gandalf. Gandalf and Saruman play important roles in The Lord of the Rings, while Radagast appears only briefly, more or less as a single plot device.
Each Wizard in the series had robes of a characteristic colour: white for Saruman (the chief and the most powerful of the five), grey for Gandalf, brown for Radagast, and sea-blue for the other two, who are known as the Blue Wizards (Ithryn Luin in Sindarin). Tolkien never provided non-Elvish names for the other two their names in Valinor are stated as Alatar and Pallando, and in Middle-earth as Morinehtar and Rómestámo. The first three of these five Wizards were named in The Lord of the Rings as Saruman "man of skill" (supposedly Rohirric, in reality from Old English), Gandalf "elf of the staff" (northern Men, in reality Old Norse), and Radagast "tender of beasts" (possibly Westron).
They were sent by the Valar to assist the free peoples of Middle-earth in the Third Age to counter the Dark Lord Sauron, a fallen Maia of great power. Outwardly resembling Men but possessing much greater physical and mental power, they are called Istari ( Quenya for "Wise Ones") by the Elves. The Wizards of Middle-earth are Maiar: spirits similar to the godlike Valar, but lesser in power. Commentators have stated that they operate more physically and less spiritually than the Wizards in Tolkien's novels, but that this is mostly successful in furthering the drama. He has been described as an angelic being, and as a figure of Christ.Īll three named Wizards appear in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies. Gandalf resembles the Norse god Odin in his guise as Wanderer. He forms the double of Saruman, as Saruman falls and is destroyed, while Gandalf rises and takes Saruman's place as the White Wizard.
Gandalf ceaselessly assists the Company of the Ring in their quest to destroy the Ring and defeat Sauron. He imitates and is to an extent the double of the Dark Lord Sauron, only to become his unwitting servant. Saruman sets out as the head of the White Council, but falls to the temptation of power.
Two Wizards, Gandalf the Grey and Saruman the White, largely represent the order, though a third Wizard, Radagast, appears briefly. Tolkien's fiction were powerful angelic beings, Maiar, who took the form of Men to intervene in the affairs of Middle-earth in the Third Age, after catastrophically violent direct interventions by the Valar, and indeed by the one god Eru Iluvatar, in the earlier ages. Wizards like Gandalf were Maiar but took the form of Men.