2. If Gandalf was Merlín

2. If Gandalf was Merlín.

Mithrandir and Myrddin are very similar names, ethymologically considered, but they are not synonimous. Is Gandalf the Merlín that Tolkien expected from Arthurian tradition? Maybe, mostly because the legend of King Arthur would be too suffled with Frank-Norman tradition for him so he had to create a 'fix'. So again we come back to the moment when Tolkien discusses with his TCBS mates the need for an English mythology. Where can we prove Gandalf to be (or not to be) Tolkien's Merlín?

2.1 Self-interested or Deliverer of Fate?

One could make a good argument that Gandalf is ultimately responsible for the entire sequence of events that leads to the end of the Third Age; Aragorn says as much at his coronation as king. Gandalf is the one who decided that Bilbo Baggins would be an effective burglar for the dwarves on their quest for the treasure of the Lonely Mountain, thereby both bringing the hobbits to the attention of the wider world and placing Bilbo in the right place at the right time to pick up the Ring. From Bilbo's acquisition of the Ring, Frodo's own quest inevitably follows; it is hard to imagine anyone else succeeding.

Jones, Leslie E. Myth & Middle Earth, 69

It could be a good argument if we focused only in the way Gandalf is introduced in The Hobbit. It is true that the end of the Third Age depends on the Ring, and somehow Gandalf is the responsible for its fate as far as he takes care of the Ringbearer. Evil powers cause, as Ring-makers and responsible for the consequences of its use, the changes in Middle Earth and the end of the age. If the One Ring had fallen into oblivion, elves, dwarves, men and hobbits wouldn’t have had to oppose the evil that claimed it, and the powers of the other rings wouldn’t have perished (which means the end of the elves and whatever else depending on their power) As we are told in the Silmarillion, Olórin was the first Istari who 'disembarked' and took human shape in the name of the Valar, so as a powerful Maia and a messenger of the "gods" at the same time, he could of course act as he pleased or driven by his masters (we won’t discuss here whether the will of the gods is shallow or fair). Choosing Bilbo would be at first direct responsibility of his author and a product of literary needs. As it is a hobbit who started the whole story, it is somehow obvious that he was the main character. And because intentionally, from its origin, it is the one who contrasts the most with any other character. Tolkien introduces us to Bilbo, he chooses him. And then comes Gandalf. It is clear that as an author, Tolkien is the one who makes Gandalf choose Bilbo, and also the one who makes him find the Ring. The following paragraphs and quotes are a review of the process and responsibility of Gandalf in the start of it all by what we are told in the Unfinished Tales.

In first place, a common hobbit is picked up by his interest in legends, and his hunger for knowledge. A wandering lonely creature bound to be an adventurer: notice how Gandalf highlights Bilbo's absence of kin (no relatives nor wife to worry about) as well as his voluntary loneliness. Bilbo is alone, although he doesn't look like nor feel as if he was an unfortunate creature. Comparing him with a classical folk-tale character, for instance Cinderella, he is not in need of improving his personal state, he is in need of adventure just for the sake of it.

Somehow I had been attracted by Bilbo long before, as a child, and a young hobbit: he had not quite come of age when I had last seen him. He had stayed in my mind ever since, with his eagerness and his bright eyes, and his love of tales, and his questions about the wide world outside the Shire. As soon as I entered the Shire I heard news of him. He was getting talked about, it seemed. Both his parents had died early for Shire-folk, at about eighty; and he had never married. He was already growing a bit queer, they said, and went off for days by himself. He could be seen talking to strangers, even Dwarves.
"Even Dwarves!' Suddenly in my mind these three things came together: the great Dragon with his lust, and his keen hearing and scent; the sturdy heavy-booted Dwarves with their old burning grudge; and the quick, soft-footed Hobbit, sick at heart (I guessed) for a sight of the wide world.

Tolkien, Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth, 169

Frodo undercoverly enquires Gandalf about superior entities commanding the wizard to pick he and his second cousin Bilbo:

Then looking hard at Gandalf he went on: "But who wove the web? I do not think I have ever considered that before. Did you plan all this then, Gandalf? If not, why did you lead Thorin Oakenshield to such an unlikely door? To find the Ring and bring it far away into the West for hiding, and then to choose the Ringbearer – and to restore the Mountain Kingdom as a mere deed by the way: was not that your design?"
Gandalf did not answer at once. He stood up, and looked out of the window, west, seawards; and the sun was then setting, and a glow was in his face. He stood so a long while silent. But at last he turned to Gimli and said: "I do not know the answer. For I have changed since those days, and I am no longer trammelled by the burden of Middle-earth as I was then. In those days I should have answered you with words like those I used to Frodo, only last year in the spring. Only last year! But such measures are meaningless. In that far distant time I said to a small and frightened Hobbit: Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and not by its maker, and you therefore were meant to bear it. And I might have added: and I was meant guide you both to those points.
"To do that I used in my waking mind only such means as were allowed to me, doing what lay to my hand according to such reasons as I had. But what I knew in my heart, or knew before I stepped on these grey shores: that is another matter. Olórin I was in the West that is forgotten, and only to those who are there shall I speak openly."

Tolkien, Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth, 173

Why disturbing hobbits?

"They had begun to forget: forget their own beginnings and legends, forget what little they had known about the greatness of the world. It was not yet gone, but it was getting buried: the memory of the high and the perilous. But you cannot teach that sort of thing to a whole people quickly. There was not time. And anyway you must begin at some point, with some one person. I dare say he was 'chosen' and I was only chosen to choose him; but I picked out Bilbo."
"Now that is just what I want to know," said Peregrin. "Why did you do that?"
"How would you select any one Hobbit for such a purpose?" said Gandalf. "I had not time to sort them all out; but I knew the Shire very well by that time, although when I met Thorin I had been away for more than twenty years on less pleasant business. So naturally thinking over the Hobbits that I knew, I said to myself: 'I want a dash of the Took' (but not too much. Master Peregrin) 'and I want a good foundation of the stolider sort, a Baggins perhaps.' That pointed at once to Bilbo.

Tolkien, Unfinished Tales of Numenor and Middle-earth, 174

There are no records in the history of Middle Earth about divine entities counting on hobbits to fulfil their plans. We don't know whether the Valar become aware of hobbits from the very moment Gandalf counts on them or if they are a part of the music of Ilúvatar. The Silmarillion says nothing about the origins of the race of hobbits. The only reference to that particular matter appears at the beginning of the work, in The Fellowship of the Ring, the moment when Frodo complains about being “chosen” to bear such a burden. In The Lord of the Rings Tolkien puts his “gods” completely aside; “the lurking powers are never allowed to intervene openly” (Shippey, The Road to Middle-earth, 171)

2.2 The Importance of a Good Advice: A God or a Liar?

Gandalf doesn’t give advice just for the sake of it. In fact, despite Saruman and Grima, nobody does it. Inactivity, lack of impulse, would have been terrible in a store like that. Each delay is seen as a tragedy. Gandalf searches, travels, deals, treats, and never acts if not based on circumstances (he may not however be always right, as in the caves of Moria, where he ends up trusting his nose, and not some boosting magic spirit!) The Balrog is a way to independence the characters from a magic force that would have been a source of continuous help for the Fellowship y hubiese restado protagonism to some characters, weakening so the main plot (What would be the hobbit Frodo Baggins worth if the only thing he had done was opening his hand and drop the One Ring to the burning lava?). Since Gandalf disappears in the bridge of Khazad-Dûm, Aragorn as well as Frodo start bearing their true narrative weight individually, reaching complete independence (a través de la responsabilidad de una elección) when separating at Parth Galen by the east shore of the Rauros. From then on the actual role of Ring-bearer starts for Frodo as Aragorn becomes the leader of the armies of free peoples of Middle Earth.

Then, what would be the mythical interpretation of Gandalf’s role? To Leslie E. Jones:

He is a mercurial figure in every sense of the word. Like the god Mercury, Gandalf is a traveler.

[...]

Although Tolkien's readers are always certain that Gandalf is one of the good guys, the Men of Middle-earth, especially the Rohirrim, are less sure. To them, he appears somewhat to the Norse trickster-god Loki. [...] He is also a character who likes to set events in motion and then watch as others carry out his work; although less malicious than Loki and with better cause, Gandalf also often sets events in motion and departs to allow events to follow their course without him.

Jones, Leslie E. Myth & Middle Earth, 70

Concerning the second affirmation, let us focus again in the hypothetical narrative “mistake” of having continuously depended on Gandalf as a superior creature and guaranty of help/success. All along the whole story, the only “Deus Ex-Machina” (together with the intervention of the army of the Dead from the Dunharrows) takes place at the end when the Ring is destroyed and its power perishes/fades (if the Ring does not disappear defeat is unavoidable and irreversible) The proximity of Gandalf is not by force always fruitful in the circumstances in which men of Middle Earth are. A Messenger is needed as trascending characters are sometimes set far from one another and cannot keep in touch, and so narrative-breaks would be continuous (a magical means of communication should have been introduced and so the despairing effect of tension coming from "human failure" would have vanished). Who else but him? Gandalf is the first Istari to reach Middle Earth, and that (theoretically) guarantees he has met, and so he knows how to deal with, every race he becomes related to. And it is exactly the product of those interactions what Leslie Jones calls "to set events in motion". The consequences of what Gandalf says or does are the exclusive responsibility of those who accept or decline his cause. And again we enter the same moral debate: dying without knowing it could have been avoided, or trying to be free in spite of whatever the price was? Fear or not, no one hesitates choosing the second option (or at least Tolkien never speaks about someone renouncing the first time he is asked) Concerning all this, let us check the opinion of Tom Shippey on the narrative weight of Gandalf:

From The Silmarillion we can infer that Gandalf is a Maiar, a spiritual creature in human shape sent for the relief of humanity; much later than he finished the trilogy Tolkien indeed reportedly said ‘Gandalf is an angel’. During the action of The Lord of the Rings, though, Gandalf never looks very much like an angel, or at least not one of the normal iconographic kind. He is too short-tempered, for one thing, and also capable of doubt, anxiety, weariness, fear. Obviously, too strong a flurry of angelic wings, too ready recourse to miracles or to Omnipotence, would instantly diminish the stature of the characters, devalue their decisions and their courage.

Shippey, The Road to Middle-Earth, 171

A creature who relied easily on the superhuman would impoverish the rest of characters and their roles in the story. Even so, from a literary viewpoint, the comeback of Gandalf is essential and by extent logical. If he has been sent to assist and give advice, his presence will again refresh the characters and materialize the necessary hope to get them going on and make them take decisions to preserve the rhythm of the story.

About the word "trickster" Leslie Jones is using one should rather be cautious. Loki was a selfish god who took advantage on his nature for his own profit. By any means would have Loki fought a demon of fire to save mortals. Under human shape, Gandalf can be considered to be just a magician, an illusionist (not a wizard, who is able to cast spells, to actually alter nature), he can mesmerise men and hobbits, play tricks on them, definitely cheat and fool, whether to entertain or benefit, but he doesn’t do it to bad ends. He just blows crackers and rockets, if we consider that a trick (gunpowder is still an actual substance whose nature has a chemical explanation) At the beginning of The Hobbit, Gandalf’s attitude is certainly puzzling through Bilbo’s words, as we are still very far from knowing his later narrative depth and importance:

“Gandalf, Gandalf! Good gracious me! Not the wandering wizard that gave Old Took a pair of magic diamond studs that fastened themselves and never came undone till ordered? Not the fellow who used to tell such wonderful tales at parties, about dragons and goblins and giants and the rescue of princesses and the unexpected luck of widows’ sons? Not the man that used to make such particularly excellent fireworks! […] Not the Gandalf who was responsible for so many quiet lads and lasses going off into the Blue for mad adventures? Anything from climbing trees to visiting elves – or sailing in ships, sailing to other shores! Bless me, life used to be quite inter- I mean, you used to upset things badly in these parts once upon a time. I beg your pardon, but I had no idea you were still in business.”

Tolkien, The Hobbit, 7

Her approach is based on a summarized classification William J. Haynes develops in his book Mythical Trickster Figures. Jones is not wrong at all, but he takes for granted an important feature of behaviour which conditions the classification: will. Some of the qualities attached to the labels are inherent to the nature of characters or accidental. The six labels Haynes assigns a trickster are (quoted by Jones):

- Ambiguous and anomalous

- Deceiver and trick-player

- Shape-shifter

- Situation-inverter

- Messenger and imitator of the gods

- Sacred and lewd bricoleur

The first label is a valid one in the case of Gandalf for he is a cryptic-speaking angelic creature. As said some lines before, as a wizard he is by force a trick-player, but NOT a deceiver for he doesn't cheat or lie. Jones considers him a shape-shifter as he comes back from 'death' under a different colour (p. 77) Unlike Beorn in The Hobbit, Gandalf DOESN'T change shape at will, but he's given a new physical shape by the Valar. Concerning the term 'situation-inverter', the idea is not unproper at all, but something must be made clear: Gandalf is not responsible for the 'making' of situations, so he hasn't got the power to undo them. Gandalf CAN'T arrange fates. He can help solve problems, as he is an advisor with no permission to display his overhuman powers. Of course, for instance, at Helm's Deep he makes a decissive appearance in the morning of the fifth day, but he's not inverting the situation, or else the fight would stop as he had made the armies of Mordor disappear (for that would be a proper inversion for a demi-God)

Leslie Ellen Jones goes on:

Gandalf's closest mythological counterpart, however, is the magician Merlin, known in Welsh as Myrddin (pronounced "Murthein"). Merlin is best known as King Arthur's wizard, and popular conceptions of him are much affected by the absent-minded, backwards-living greybeard of The Sword in the Stone (in both T. H. White's 1938 novel and the 1963 Disney animated movie), the sharp, slightly mad druid/wizard played by Nicol Williamson in John Boorman's movie Excalibur (1981), or the stately counselor and doomed, doting lover of Victorian poetry, especially of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's Idylls of the King (1859)

Let us now find out who Merlin was by the way he acted in his original literary appearances:

THE COUNCIL OF CARLYON

And within xv dayes ther came Merlyn amonge hem in to the Cyte of Carlyon / thenne all the kynges were passyng gladde of Merlyn / and asked hym for what cause is that boye Arthur made your kynge / Syres said Merlyn / I shalle telle yow the cause for he is kynge Vtherpendragons sone borne in wedlok goten on Igrayne the dukes wyf of Tyntigail / thenne is he a bastard they said al / nay said Merlyn / After the deth of the duke more than thre houres was Arthur begoten / And xiij dayes after kyng Vther wedded Igrayne / And therfor I preue hym he is no bastard / And who saith nay / he shal be kyng and ouercome alle his enemyes / And or he deye / he shalle be long kynge of all Englond / and haue vnder his obeyssaunce Walys / yrland and Scotland / and moo reames than I will now reherce / Some of the kynges had merueyl of Merlyns wordes and demed well that it shold be as he said / And som of hem lough hym to scorne / as kyng Lot / and mo other called hym a wytche

From this point on we can trace another comparative idea of Gandalf's role and the feelings he arises in the peoples of Middle-Earth. Same as Merlín to Sir Thomas Malory, Gandalf is to Tolkien the king's counsellor as well as a guaranty for his legitimacy. We may also notice that as it happens to Malory's Merlin, all those opposing Gandalf treat him as a fearful sorcerer or an old madman they laugh at. This is how Théoden, Grima and Denethor address to him:

’I greet you,’ he said, ‘and maybe you look for welcome. But truth to tell, your welcome is doubtful here, Master Gandalf. You have ever been a herald of woe. Troubles follow you like crows, and ever the oftener the worse ... Here you come again! And with you come evils worse than before, as might be expected. Why should I welcome you, Gandalf Stormcrow? Tell me that.’

Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 501

"Lathspell I name you, Ill-news; and ill news is an ill guest they say."

Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 501

"Follow whom you will, even the Grey Fool, though his hope has failed. Here I stay."

Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 806

Éomer, King Theoden's nephew, shows the misconfidence Rohan feels about Gandalf. But as soon as Aragorn informs him Gandalf has (supposedly) passed away, he cautiously reveals his true side in ambiguous words:

'Gandalf!' Éomer exclaimed. 'Gandalf Greyhame is known in the Mark: but his name, I warn you, is no longer a password to the king's favour. He has been a guest in the land many times in the memory of men, coming as he will, after a season, or after many years. He is ever the herald of strange events: a bringer of evil, some now say.
'Indeed since his last coming in the summer all things have gone amiss. At that time our trouble with Saruman began. Until then we counted Saruman our friend, hut Gandalf came then and warned us that sudden war was preparing in Isengard. He said that he himself had been a prisoner in Orthanc and had hardly escaped, and he begged for help. But Théoden would not listen to him, and he went away. Speak not the name of Gandalf loudly in Théoden's ears! He is wroth. For Gandalf took the horse that is called Shadowfax, the most precious of all the king's steeds, chief of the Mearas, which only the Lord of the Mark may ride. For the sire of their race was the great horse of Eorl that knew the speech of Men. Seven nights ago Shadowfax returned; but the king's anger is not less, for now the horse is wild and will let no man handle him.'
'Then Shadowfax has found his way alone from the far North,' said Aragorn; 'for it was there that he and Gandalf parted. But alas! Gandalf will ride no longer. He fell into darkness in the Mines of Moria and comes not again.'
'That is heavy tidings,' said Éomer. 'At least to me, and to many; though not to all, as you may find, if you come to the king.''

Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 425

Later on Gandalf wakes Théoden from his letargy, casting a spell in the name of Galadriel and then talking to him openly about the situation. At the same time, we can compare this happening in the book with the film, where Gandalf “disenchants” Théoden and pulls the spirit of Saruman out of his body. Peter Jackson turns Gandalf into a wizard where Tolkien turns him into an ambassador (one mistifies what the other humanizes).

‘Now Théoden son of Tengel, will you hearken to me?’ said Gandalf. ‘Do you ask for help?’ He lifted his staff and pointed to a high window. There the darkness seemed to clear, and through the opening could be seen, high and far, a patch of shining sky. ‘Not all is dark. Take courage, Lord of the Mark; for better help you will not find. No counsel have I to give to those that despair. Yet counsel I could give, and words I could speak to you. Will you hear them? They are not for all ears. I bid you come out before your doors and look abroad. Too long have you sat in shadows and trusted to twisted tales and crooked promptings.

Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, 503

Denethor, Steward of Gondor, knows, like Grima, that Gandalf means the coming of trouble, but at the same time he means the unveiling of the whole truth. He is the "Grey Fool" because he will lead all those who listen to him straight to death, in the name of false hope (nothing can be said again, morally-wise). Théoden is not insane as Shakespeare's King Lear, but somehow he can't rule his kingdom with full-conscience. Lear never gains his wits back and dies mad, unlike Théoden, who dies in the glory of the battlefield, though painfully aware of everything around him.

'Éowyn, Éowyn!' he cried at last. 'Éowyn, how come you here? What madness or devilry is this? Death, death, death! Death take us all!' [...] Over the field rang his clear voice calling: 'Death! Ride, ride to ruin and the world's ending!'

Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 826

After all this… what did Tolkien say about Gandalf? What was his criterium about the character? To Tolkien, Gandalf the wizard, as a Maiar spirit, has the moral obligation to help the creatures of Arda, though not displaying his power at all. Gandalf's limitations are defined by the rules of his nature, and that is something Tolkien is continuously reminding us of along the story. The only super-human power 'shown' by Gandalf is maybe his “resurrection” (though he is brought back by someone more powerful). Save for this, he is nothing but a mere counselor. But of course in Tolkien's universe, the term mere counselor keeps many important connotations behind. It can be resumed by the following excerpts from his Letters that for him, Gandalf was a god-sent advisor.

But Gandalf is not, of course, a human being (Man or Hobbit). There are naturally no precise modern terms to say what he was. I would venture to say that he was an incarnate 'angel'[...] By 'incarnate' I mean they were embodied in physical bodies capable of pain, and weariness, and of afflicting the spirit with physical fear, and of being 'killed', though supported by the angelic spirit they might endure long, and only show slowly the wearing of care and labour.
[...]
Why they should take such a form is bound up with the 'mythology' of the 'angelic' Powers of the world of this fable. At this point in the fabulous history the purpose was precisely to limit and binder their exhibition of 'power' on the physical plane, and so that they should do what they were primarily sent for: train, advise, instruct, arouse the hearts and minds of those threatened by Sauron to a resistance with their own strengths; and not just to do the job for them. They thus appeared as old 'sage' figures.
[...]
In any case none of my 'angelic' persons are represented as knowing the future completely, or indeed at all where other wills are concerned.

Tolkien & Carpenter, Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, 202