Scarce time
I've always assumed that J.R.R. Tolkien referred to Saruman as 'Saruman of Many Colours' because 'Many Colours' was a metaphor for the subtle nature of evil. Similarly, Gandalf is 'Gandalf the White' and 'White' represents goodness...
So was there a reason that Gandalf was 'Gandalf the Grey' before he became 'Gandalf the White' after his battle with the Balrog?
I have a lot of things to write about, but there's so little time =(
So was there a reason that Gandalf was 'Gandalf the Grey' before he became 'Gandalf the White' after his battle with the Balrog?
I have a lot of things to write about, but there's so little time =(
posted by moet at 9:08 AM
7 Comments:
White wizards were ranked higher than Grey wizards? At least that was the impression I had when I read the books way back in the day. It was also marked by the robes they wore, i.e when Gandalf returned after his battle with the Balrog he was no longer in Grey Robes but in White.
Not sure if there was an order of Grey/White/other colored wizards.
It's a wizard ranking? But in my Dragonlance books, Takhisis (Evil God) is represented as a 5-headed dragon of many colours...
I still think it has some sort of meaning along the lines of good/evil rather than rank...
im basing my comment solely on the movie.
gandalf was moved up the ranks, is one way of looking it.... as ant puts...
but he could also have become a ghost of sorts.. as in he 'died' and then was sent back to them at the turn of the tide etc etc...it seems to fit better cos he had to sail off into the awesome place we don't get to see at the end.. meaning he doesn't get to stay in the the real world. besides, frodo had to also go with him, cos his wound wasnt healing, ie he was dying... maybe... i think...
"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."
taken from wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wizard_(Middle-earth)
further more, the wizards are actually representatives of a higher race(the Istari) that wanted to influence the events that were happening on Middle-Earth, Gandalf died in his fight with the Balrog and was resurrected by the Istari to replace Saruman(who at that time had already revealed his intentions).
At that point Gandalf took on the title of Gandalf the White.
Hmmm... ok true true...
But Saruman the White became Saruman of Many Colours... To me the colors have significance; Saruman's coat actually shimmered with many colors, but from a distance most people (Gandalf included) perceived it as pure white... So I think that it means that evil is subtle and oftentimes hard to distinguish.
It'd be great if the gray to white change meant something... but perhaps its just rank within that hierarchy of colors...
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