Wizard (Middle-earth)
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In the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Wizards of Middle-earth are a group of five beings outwardly resembling Men but possessing much greater physical and mental power. They are also called the Istari (Quenya for "Wise Ones") by the Elves. The Sindarin word is Ithryn (sing. Ithron). They were sent by the Valar to help and assist the peoples of Middle-earth to contest Sauron.
They were of the Maiar, spirits of the same order of the Valar but lesser in power. The first three were known in Mannish tongue of Westron as Saruman ("Man of Skill"), Gandalf ("Elf of the Wand"), and Radagast ("Tender of Beasts") . The two others did not have names in Westron, and were known as Alatar and Pallando. Each Wizard was assigned a colour with matching clothes, White being indicative of the chief, Saruman (himself one of the most powerful of the Maiar). Gandalf was Grey, Radagast was Brown, and Alatar and Pallando were both Blue. In Tolkien's work The Lord of the Rings Gandalf and Saruman both play important roles, while Radagast plays only a very minor part. Alatar and Pallando do not feature in the story, as they journeyed far into the east after their arrival in Middle-earth.
Tolkien gives multiple names for all of them. Their Elvish Quenya names were Curumo, meaning Skillful one (Saruman); Olórin, meaning Dreaming or Dreamer (Gandalf); Aiwendil, meaning Friend of birds (Radagast); Morinehtar, meaning Darkness-slayer and Rómestámo, meaning East-helper (either Alatar or Pallando). There are various other names in Sindarin, Khuzdul, and other languages of Arda for each of the wizards listed in their individual articles
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[edit] History and background
[edit] Arrival
They came to Middle-earth around the year 1050 of the Third Age, when the forest of 'Greenwood the Great' fell under shadow and became known as Mirkwood. It was named this when Sauron formed a new army and began to command from Dol Guldur (South Mirkwood). The wizards already appeared old when they entered Middle-earth. They were stripped of much of their powers and deliberately "clothed" in the bodies of old Men, as the Valar wished them to guide the inhabitants of Middle-earth by persuasion and encouragement, not by force or fear. However, they aged very slowly and were in fact immortal. They were, physically speaking, "real" Men, and felt all the urges, pleasures and fears of flesh and blood. Therefore, in spite of their specific and unambiguous goal, the Wizards were capable of human feelings; thus Gandalf felt great affection for the Hobbits. They could also feel negative human emotions like greed, jealousy, and lust for power. It is hinted in the essay in Unfinished Tales that the Blue Wizards may have fallen prey to these temptations. They went into the East and do not enter into the stories of Middle-earth.
While in this form, although immortals by age, their physical form could be destroyed by violence—thus, Gandalf truly died in the fight with a Balrog, beyond the power of the Valar to resurrect, as he died as a mortal man. His return was by the direct intervention of Ilúvatar.[1] The Istari also carried staves, which seem to be tied to their ability to wield magic; when Saruman is defeated at Isengard, Gandalf in the same breath casts him from the White Council and breaks his staff.
[edit] Purpose
The sending of the wizards to Middle-earth by the Valar, with the dictate to never match Sauron's power with power, was in recognition of ancient error. The Valar had tried directly interfering in the destiny of the Elves in the Years of the Trees by leading the Eldar into the West, and this resulted in many bloody wars and confrontations, even between the Elves themselves. Recognizing this mistake, the Valar decided that now when the time had come to aid Men in the struggle against the Dark Lord, rather than trying to directly interfere, they should instead aid Men in achieving their own destiny. Thus, Gandalf and the other wizards were meant to not use their natural power as Maiar in fighting Sauron, but to use their great wisdom to persuade Men to take the course of action which would achieve Men's own goals, rather than trying to dominate them with their own. Saruman failed this directive when he tried to set himself up as a new power in opposition to Sauron, but Gandalf remained faithful to his orders. The wizards were sent to Middle-earth from Valinor, despite the fact that direct interference from the Valar in the affairs of Middle-earth was a rarity, because the Valar had not forsaken the faithful Men and Elves who still lived there. The wizards were sent to the North-west of Middle-earth (the Grey Havens, and the region from Arnor to Gondor in general), because the Valar felt that because of those remnants of Elendil's old kingdom, that was the region with the greatest hope of mounting resistance to Sauron. Very few of Middle-earth's inhabitants knew who the Wizards really were; the Wizards did not share their identities and purposes except to great rulers. Most thought they were Elves or wise Men (the name Gandalf represents this interpretation, meaning Wand-elf, because the Men who gave him the nickname believed he was an Elf).
Saruman originally had the greatest power of the five Istari and was appointed the head of the White Council. In the year 2759 of the Third Age, he was invited by the rulers of Gondor and Rohan to settle in Isengard. Saruman was learned in the lore of the Rings of Power, gradually becoming corrupted by the desire for the Rings and by Sauron's direct influence on him through the palantír of Orthanc. Eventually he became ensnared in Sauron's power, took the title "of Many Colours" (as well as changing his robes thus) and assisted him in the War of the Ring (although he ultimately wanted the One Ring for himself, so that he could defeat and replace Sauron), until he was defeated by the Ents and Gandalf, who broke his staff and cast him out of the White Council. Saruman's death came at the hands of his servant Gríma Wormtongue in the Shire, after the destruction of the One Ring.
[edit] Later events
During the War of the Ring, it was Gandalf who led the Free Peoples to victory over Sauron. He also became "Gandalf the White", and defeated the traitorous Saruman. After the destruction of Sauron's forces at the Black Gate at the mountainous borders of Mordor, Gandalf left Middle-earth and went over the Sea, along with the Ring-bearers and many of the Elves.
In the course of The Lord of the Rings, it is never made clear what exactly Gandalf and Saruman are (though Treebeard informs Merry and Pippin that they landed in the Grey Havens from across the Great Sea 2,000 years ago, little else is revealed in the narrative). In a certain point, Pippin seems to wonder what his friend Gandalf really was, and notices that it was the first time in his life he did so. At the very end of Book III, as Gandalf is riding towards Minas Tirith he ponders his newfound possession of a palantír, pondering if he can use it to see into the past; he then remembers Valinor in the Years of the Trees. This indicates how truly old Gandalf is, and makes it clear that he is not human.
The essay given in Unfinished Tales was originally begun in order to be included in the appendices of The Lord of the Rings, but was not completed in time. A more explanatory passage on the nature of the wizards is found at the end of The Silmarillion.
[edit] Wizards and their staves
[edit] Books
Apparently, to some degree Tolkien ties a Wizard's power to his staff.
In Book II of The Two Towers, when Gandalf rides to Edoras to meet King Théoden he is explicitly asked by the doorwarden who is under the orders of Gríma Wormtongue to leave his staff at the door and move in unarmed. Gandalf persuades Aragorn to even leave his sword at the door but is reluctant to leave his staff behind, and he talks the doorwarden into letting him keep his staff. It appears as if Gandalf needed his staff to rouse Théoden from his fatalistic impotence.
Gandalf banishes Saruman from the Order of Wizards in The Return of the King by saying, "Saruman, your staff is broken", but later Saruman was still able to use his persuasive voice against the Hobbits (though Frodo notes that Saruman has lost all other powers). Earlier, Saruman accuses Gandalf of wanting to claim the staves of the Five Wizards.
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This notion takes further strength from The Hobbit. In many places in The Hobbit and also in The Lord of the Rings, Tolkien refers to Gandalf's staff as a 'wand'. From this, it appears Gandalf's staff is some sort of long wand. However, there is one significant event which serves to disconnect the idea that a wizard's power is somehow tied to his staff: in The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf lost his First Staff to Saruman who imprisoned him on the top of Orthanc, Gandalf Escapes on the back of a Giant Eagle. He somehow gains a new Staff when he arrives in Rivendell. Later he is is able to defeat the Balrog without the use of his staff, since the staff breaks when he destroys the Bridge of Khazad-dûm. Since the Balrog itself is a Maia, Gandalf must have retained significant power to do so. In The Two Towers, Gandalf has a new staff, made of ash. Of course, it could also be argued that the invocation of his magic without his staff is what truly killed him, when he fought the Balrog. Saruman could not call upon his magic without his staff, not because Gandalf, or even the Valar, took it from him, but for fear of dying in the process, knowing what his fate was after his life was spent. In this way, the staff could be seen as a focus away from their mortal bodies, and a control set upon them by the Valar, who told them not to use their power to rule. If their staves could be taken, then they were not invincible, and Sauron possessed no such item (though a Maia of significantly higher order, he was still a Maia).
[edit] Film trilogy
In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, however, the notion of a staff being a "long wand" was extended. In The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf and Saruman fight a magical duel using telekinesis-like powers at Isengard, when the latter tries to detain the former. Saruman wins when he seizes Gandalf's staff and uses it against him. None of this happens in the book, where Gandalf's telling of his own detention to Frodo in Rivendell (the only account given, Gandalf being a possibly unreliable narrator) involves no explicit battle.
In The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Jackson expands Théoden's predicament into being actually possessed by Saruman; Gandalf's staff is given more significance also, as it is used to free Théoden from Saruman's influence.
In The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Gandalf drives off the flying Ringwraiths with a beam of light from his staff; in the book, the light came from his hand. There is also a deleted scene (added in the Extended edition) in which the Witch-king breaks Gandalf's staff. The confrontation is based loosely upon a similar scene in the book, where Gandalf briefly confronts the Witch-king at the gate of Minas Tirith only to be interrupted by the arrival of the Rohirrim; however, in the book his staff is not broken. Notably, Gandalf retains his sword Glamdring (the only weapon at his disposal for his fight against the Balrog, a more powerful foe than any Nazgûl).
This scene proved controversial for fans, since in the book Gandalf claims he is stronger.
In a dialogue with Denethor in the book, Gandalf himself appears unsure if he was stronger than the Witch-king, or even if he could defeat him in battle:
Denethor: Then, Mithrandir, you had a foe to match you. For myself, I have long known who is the chief captain of the hosts of the Dark Tower. Is this all that you have returned to say? Or can it be that you have withdrawn because you are overmatched?
Gandalf: It might be so. But our trial of strength is not yet come.
—The Return of the King, "The Siege of Gondor" (dialogue only)
However, Gandalf was also trying to placate Denethor in his wrath during this confrontation, which is hinted by his stating "It might be so". Therefore this is not a clear admission that he could actually be defeated by the Witch-king. When earlier he replies to Gimli's remark that Fangorn is a dangerous wood, he gives a clearer statement:
Gimli: I thought Fangorn was dangerous.
Gandalf: Dangerous! And so am I, very dangerous: more dangerous than anything you will ever meet, unless you are brought alive before the seat of the Dark Lord.
—The Two Towers, "The White Rider" (dialogue only)
Here Gandalf makes clear to Gimli that the only being or power more dangerous than himself is Sauron. Thus, the Witch-king is certainly less powerful than both Gandalf and Sauron, according to this passage. Given that Aragorn drove off several Nazgûl, with the Witch-king at their head, at Amon Sûl (in both the book and movie), but that Gandalf nonetheless described the lone Balrog as "a foe beyond any of you [the Fellowship]," Gandalf clearly finds the Witch-king as, individually, weaker than the Balrog, himself, or Sauron.
Gandalf also says later that he could have defeated the Witch-king if he did not have to save Faramir from Denethor's madness.
In the DVD commentary, Peter Jackson said that they were trying to establish the Lord of the Nazgûl as a particularly grave threat, and demonstrating that he could nearly overpower even Gandalf would show just how powerful he was.
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[edit] See also
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