Posted: October 31, 1999 at 11:16:37: by ulmael the long-winded
: All through The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Gandalf seems to have only a limited inventory of magical powers (at least compared to e.g. Merlin).In The Hobbit Gandalf continuously ensures us that he has the best fireworks ever, but what else? However, I have the distinct impression that he is capable of more than he actually performs. What do you think?just a thought -- it might be helpful to make some sort of distinction between magic (the "supernatural" or the sort of abnormal abilities and talents we normally associate with the word) and magick (the expression of an individual's inherent power in relation to the natural world). we live in a different world, with an entirely different mindset than the one tolkien wrote of, and while the world as a whole is not necessarily less magickal all around, we do tend to see it as such, and deny the inherent relationship between the self and the world. i could go on forever with a sort of philosophical/metaphysical discussion of this point, but i'll stop there, since that seems the relevant bit. the magic gandalf performs throughout the books was certainly greatly limited by his status as an istari -- his mission was not to dazzle middle earth into conformity with eru's ideals through parlor tricks and big explosions and mind control and whatnot; he was not in fact allowed to do these things to advance his purpose. his role was to walk the land in the guise of a mortal (sort of) and through his influence to bring the peoples of middle earth together in opposition to the shadow, and allow them to fight their own fight (his dealings with the balrog and saruman contradict this idea, but are coherent with it insofar as these two were of his own rank as maiar, using the same sorts of magic he himself was forbidden to use in everyday interaction, and must have been fought directly on their own grounds if at all). gandalf's magick, however, was very obvious throughout the books, expressed through his sheer power of presence, the influence and intimidation he exercised everywhere he went. his mission was not to control but to influence, and in this he succeeded splendidly -- love him, hate him, or fear him, everyone who met him remembered him ;) his power resided more in what he was, and how he was, than in the specific things he did, and in this his strength was shown. perhaps i'm completely off the mark...perhaps not. either way, it's a little something to chew on, i guess.
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