Concerning Wizards

In my recent review of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, I noted that there aren’t any human characters with speaking roles in the film.  This raised the question, if Gandalf isn’t human then what is he?  And what about Radagast and Saruman?

Glad you asked!  You could, of course, find this information elsewhere, and I don’t purport to be a Tolkien expert, just a lifelong fan.  However, this inquiry gave me an excuse to dust off my copy of Tolkien’s magnum opus,The Silmarillion, as well as his Unfinished Tales.  Both of these works were published posthumously by J.R.R. Tolkien’s son Christopher, and both contain much more detailed information on Middle Earth and its millennia of history.

Here, then, is a very brief (and overly simplified) breakdown of Tolkien’s mythological cosmology.  There is the One, Eru.  He is the Creator of all.  Beneath Him are the Valar, powerful spirits to whom He entrusted the care of His creation.  Of these, Manwë is the leader.  The evil Vala is named Melkor or Morgoth.  He entered creation with the intent of turning it to his own glory and undoing all the beauty which Eru made.  In Christian terms, we would refer to the Valar as angels, and Manwë would probably be the archangel.  Melkor is definitely the Satan figure.  However, Tolkien was creating myth and his Valar have much in common with Greek and Roman gods.  Still, his universe remains monotheistic in that everything is created and exists for the One, Eru or Ilúvatar.

Anyway, getting back to the question of Gandalf, below the Valar in rank are several less powerful spirits.  These are referred to as the Maiar.  They entered the world (or Arda) along with the Valar and they pre-date the creation of Elves and Men.  As far as The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are concerned, readers encounter Maiar of varying levels in the forms of Sauron, the Balrog, Gandalf and his fellow wizards, and possibly even Shadowfax the horse!

So, how did Gandalf the Maia (or Olórin as he was originally called) end up roaming Middle Earth in the body of an old man?  Well, he was sent there as an emissary of the Valar along with four other wizards or Istari.  This was after Sauron had already forged the One Ring and as he was attempting to conquer Middle Earth.  The Istari came from Valinor, the Blessed Realm across the sea, on a mission to encourage and inspire the races of Middle Earth in their struggle against Sauron.

At this point, allow me to quote a passage from Professor Tolkien’s work as his words are far superior to mine.  This is the scene of the Istari’s commissioning in Valinor.  Manwë has called a council of the Valar and the Maiar and is seeking emissaries to send to Middle Earth.

***

“Who would go? For they must be mighty, peers of Sauron, but must forgo might, and clothe themselves in flesh so as to treat on equality and win the trust of Elves and Men.  But this would imperil them, dimming their wisdom and knowledge, and confusing them with fears, cares and weariness coming from the flesh.”  But only two came forward: Curomo [or Saruman] … and Alatar [one of the two blue wizards]…  Then Manwë asked, where was Olórin [Gandalf]?  And Olórin, who was clad in grey, and having just entered from a journey had seated himself at the edge of the council, asked what Manwë would have of him.  Manwë replied that he wished Olórin to go as the third messenger to Middle-earth … But Olórin declared that he was too weak for such a task, and that he feared Sauron.  Then Manwë said that that was all the more reason why he should go and that he commanded Olórin [to serve as the third emissary].  But at that, Varda [Manwë’s wife and Queen of the Stars] looked up and said, “Not as the third.”  And Curomo [Saruman] remembered it.

The note ends with the statement that Curomo took Aiwendil [Radagast] because Yavanna [the Queen of plants and animals] begged him, and that Alatar took Pallando [the second blue wizard] as a friend.

Unfinished Tales, Ballantine Books, 1992.  p. 410

***

Well, I hope that answers the question of Gandalf’s identity.  I’ve been re-reading that chapter on the Istari and I still have several thoughts swirling around.  Perhaps I’ll post them later along with a few more passages from Tolkien.

For now, let me just remark that I see a type of Christ in Gandalf.  Now, I understand that this is certainly not a new or shocking idea.  After all, the wizard later lays down his life for his friends and then is raised in a glorified body, becoming Gandalf the White.  The Christ parallels don’t get much clearer than that!  (Except, perhaps, in the case of a King who has the hands of a Healer and who, well, Returns.)

Anyway, it’s just that as I read over the details of Olórin’s incarnation, I was reminded of the One who took on flesh for me.  Like Gandalf, Jesus left the Blessed Realm, emptying Himself and being found in the form of a Servant.  He faced the confusion, “fears, cares, and weariness coming from the flesh” and yet without sin.  He had no place to call home but was regarded as a wanderer and a pilgrim.  And ultimately, when no one else could, He courageously took a stand against evil and overcame it.

Of course, unlike Gandalf, Jesus isn’t just a lesser spirit or angelic being.  And this is where the True Myth far outshines Tolkien’s legendarium.  Christianity dares to assert that The One, the Creator Himself, all-powerful, limitless, infinite God took on the limitations of flesh and dwelt among us.  And we beheld His glory, glory as of the only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The true Incarnation is simply astounding.  YHWH Himself entered human history and changed everything forever.

Now that is a story worth telling.