In J.R.R. Tolkien’s magnum opus, The Lord of the Rings, one of the core central figures is Gandalf, described as the Grey Wizard. Knowing that Tolkien was a devout Christian, one may be surprised that he brought in a character type like a wizard, a magic user that the Bible so clearly speaks against. However, Gandalf is no mere wizard, and this fact is central to not only understanding Tolkien’s story, but in grasping the man’s spiritual viewpoint. Who, exactly, is Gandalf?
The movies give us very little hint, not even in the massive extended editions. We do find out that Gandalf seems to be a figure sent on a specific mission, somehow related to the overthrow of Sauron, the central evil figure in the story though not actually the main “bad guy” (more on that in a moment). In The Two Towers, we learn that somehow Gandalf, last seen previous falling to his death in the Mines of Moria, had been resurrected. He tells us that “I’ve been sent back until my task is done.” So, we discover that he at least has someone very powerful who watches out for him. He was indeed killed, at least in bodily form—later in the movie he says to another character, “I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a witless worm!”
Just who is Gandalf? The answer is found in the deeper aspects of Tolkien’s world. Gandalf is an angel, sent to Middle Earth to work as best he can to oppose Sauron. Understanding that Gandalf is such a being begins to help make more sense of the world. While watching the movie, it is easy to get frustrated with Gandalf because he rarely seems to use his power at all; one could think that either he is a very weak wizard or maybe Tolkien does not understand the concept of wizard—both ideas would be wrong….he is not a wizard at all. As an angel, both in Biblical terms and in Tolkien’s worldview, the “wizards” were told that they could not use power openly nor could they ever reveal themselves in their true forms of majesty.
One of the most popular aspects of Christianity is the notion of angels, special beings who, while not gods themselves, live and operate in the spiritual realm, able to move between God and man. Back in the early 1990s, a very popular TV show was Touched by an Angel that featured angels who made their way through the world, interceding in various ways, helping people through situations. The fascination with this aspect of the spiritual realm is perhaps best explained that many people see angels as either mere messengers or helpers, beings who show up to assist us in times of need. Note, the absence in popular thought that angels might actually expect something in return, hence a non-religious person, or even an intense atheist can still respect the idea of angels without worrying that in some way a religious expectation might be assumed in return.
The Bible is full of stories of angels, either beings who are moving through the world openly yet veiled, or hidden from the eyes of humans yet still active in the world. In the Bible book Numbers, we are told the story of the talking donkey carrying the prophet Balaam. Chapter 22:21-35 recounts the story of how Balaam was finally allowed to see that his donkey had been trying to protect him from an angel “standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand,” there to kill Balaam. II Kings 6:8-23 recounts another story where a man was finally given open eyes to see a massive army of angels there to protect him and the prophet Elisha. Other stories about angels include the angel who came to Gideon, the famous encounters around the birth of Jesus and a meeting between an angel and Daniel.
The last story helps us understand what Tolkien is working to show with Gandalf. In Daniel 10, we are told that Daniel had been asking God for insight and information. In verse 10, an angel arrives with information, but more than that, the angel let’s us behind the curtain between our visible world and the invisible spiritual world. He says, “since the first day you began to pray for understanding….your request has been heard in heaven…I have come in answer, but for 21 days, the [demon angelic] spirit prince over the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael [had to come] to help me [in battle], and I left him there [in conflict, in order to come to you].” The angel sent by God had been waylaid due to a military style conflict between the forces of good and those of evil; after 3 weeks of conflict, God finally sent reinforcements in the form of one of the chief angels in the Bible, Michael.
So, what has that got to do with Gandalf and why do we need to care? In the entire cosmology of Tolkien’s world, as I have explained elsewhere, Eru, or as he is called by the elves, Iluvatar, “The One” is Tolkien’s God who created all things. Through Eru, the chief angelic beings, the Ainur (“The Holy Ones”) came to being, and ultimately were given the task of maintaining Middle Earth. These chief angelic beings had an order of beings, with the strongest 15 seen by the people of Middle Earth as the Valar. However, a lower order of “angel” were the Maiar. In Tolkien’s stories, there are a few noteworthy Maiar who do various things, but the most famous are actually found in the main story of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
What we discover is that of the original 15 Ainur, one of them, Melkor, becomes the dark angel or for Tolkien, the “devil” of the Bible. He comes to Middle Earth to pervert and destroy everything. Just like the Devil in the Bible, Melkor is able to subvert many of the angelic beings from among the Maiar to follow him instead of the true worship of Eru. Tolkien’s work, The Silmarillion describes how at the end of the First Age, Melkor is finally defeated and banished from the world. However, his chief lieutenant escaped, a Maia named Sauron. So, for the rest of Middle Earth history as Tolkien presented it, Sauron is the “bad guy.” He is considered the most powerful of all of the Maiar, and he is bent on continuing the perversion and destruction of Middle Earth started by his master. As the rest of Middle Earth history unfolds, the Ainur attempt to find a way to send aid; they cannot come themselves. Thus, they sent other Maiar to oppose Sauron.
Few knew then who Gandalf really was—remember, the angels sent (a group known collectively as The Istari) were forbidden to reveal their full majesty. The elven leaders Elrond, Cirdan and Galadriel all seemed aware, but the rest, including Aragorn remained blind, and this is where the second part of our question comes to light. What does this matter to me?
Well, one of the things that seems to bother many who read or watch Tolkien’s work is how, from a human point of view, things work out far too easily. It is as if we cannot accept that the same actually does happen in our own lives, yet they do. Often, in small and big ways, the hand of God is as actively at work in our world as Tolkien’s God, Eru, was at work in that world. As I plan to demonstrate in a later post, the eagles do not just randomly or magically show up in a deus ex machina kind of way. You may not be able to see it, or them—blind like many others before…remember what Hebrews 13:2 tells us:”Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it!” Yet, they are there.
If nothing else, as you go through your life, be conscious of the fact that you may have interactions with wise figures like Gandalf who have more going on with their wisdom and advice than you can tell from the outside. Pay attention; God may have indeed sent aid your way, visible or invisible. And it may come in the form of an old man who looks slightly disheveled.