Transcription
What is the difference between Gandalf the Gray and Gandalf the White? Is Gandalf the White just a powered-up version of the Gray, or is there something more going on?
Hi everyone, this is Robert. Welcome to InDeep Geek. On this channel, we do breakdowns and lore explainers about Tolkien's world, as well as A Song of Ice and Fire, The Witcher, and much more.
Welcome! We often talk about Gandalf getting a power-up when returning to Middle-earth as Gandalf the White, but what does that actually mean?
Well, to be clear at the outset, this is the same Gandalf. He's not been replaced or reincarnated. He is different in many ways, but he is still fundamentally the same person, or Maia. And yes, he did die there on the mountaintop above Moria.
Besides a change of wardrobe, he seems to still look the same. His beard was always white in the books, even when he was the Gray. He seems perhaps a bit more serious and focused, understandably perhaps given the situation, and apparently had a bit of memory loss.
But he retains roughly the same personality after the change. However, he is undoubtedly different—more powerful. And this is Tolkien we're talking about, so know this wasn't just giving him an XP boost and changing the color of his robes.
This is what Gandalf himself says about his death and return: "Then Darkness took me, and I strayed out of thought and time, and I wandered far on roads that I will not tell. Naked I was sent back for a brief time until my task is done, and naked I lay upon the mountaintop. There I lay staring upward while the stars wheeled over, and each day was as long as a life age of the Earth. Faint to my ears came the gathered rumor of all lands—the springing and the dying, the song and the weeping, and the slow everlasting groan of overburdened stone.
And so at the last, Gwaihir the Windlord found me again, and he took me up and bore me away. 'Ever am I fated to be your burden, friend,' I said. 'A burden you have been,' he answered, 'but not so now. Light as a swan's feather in my claw you are. The sun shines through you. Indeed, I do not think you need me anymore. Were I to let you fall, you would float upon the wind.'"
Which all sounds rather ethereal. Gandalf is still a physical being; Gwaihir still has to carry him. But Gwaihir, rather poetically, says that the sun shines through him and that he is lighter than a swan's feather. He also seems more in tune with the world around him, even hearing the groan of overburdened stones.
The spirit-based part of him is more to the fore. Perhaps we'll come back to that thought because Gandalf says more: "I have forgotten much that I thought I knew and learned again much that I had forgotten. I can see many things far off, but many things that are close at hand I cannot see. Yes, I am white now," said Gandalf. "Indeed, I am Saruman, one might almost say Saruman as he should have been."
Curiouser and curiouser! But let's pick up on that last point first because I think it tells us a lot about what is really going on. Gandalf has not just been sent back with more power, but a promotion.
The order of the Istari, or Wizards, are the five who were sent around the year 1000 of the Third Age to help guide and support the free peoples of Middle-earth against Sauron. As we know, Saruman, who wore white, was their leader.
So Gandalf saying that he is white now and is Saruman as he should have been basically means that he is now the head of the order, which brings with it power and authority. We see evidence of this when the two of them meet.
Sauron, besieged in the tower of Orthanc, engages in some to-and-fro with Gandalf, then stalks back inside. Gandalf commands him to come back because he has not finished with him or given him permission to leave. Sauron turns around, his face lined and shrunken as if compelled to do so, dragged against his will.
Then Gandalf formally casts him from the order and states that "your staff is broken," which it then is. It's a massive power play from Gandalf, given how easily Saruman overpowered him earlier in the story.
This, I'm sure, all looked cool, but it also hints at what has happened to Gandalf. He doesn't just have more power; he has more authority. There's a big rabbit hole for you there to go down if you wish about the link between Wizards and their staffs and power, and the source of their power coming from their commission by the Valar or Eru himself.
But for now, let's just rest with the idea that after emphasizing how powerful Sauron's voice was, Gandalf accomplishes all this with the power of his own voice, forcing Sauron to come back and breaking his staff.
It's not an accidental literary choice by Tolkien. So when Gandalf says that he is now Saruman, or Saruman as he should have been, it wasn't just Gandalf being poetic; there's a truth underlying it.
Taking it another level, Sauron wasn't Sauron's real name back in Valinor; that was Curumo or Tendor. Gandalf's real name was Olórin. Sauron and Gandalf were the names people gave them when they arrived in Middle-earth.
So you could say that Sauron was the name or identity that Curumo had in order to fulfill the commission of the Valar. Gandalf was now taking on that role—the role of Saruman. He was now the leading representative of the Valar in supporting the free peoples of Middle-earth in resisting Sauron.
That meant more responsibility, more authority, and more power—so much more than just a power-up. But as we always try to do, let's go to Tolkien's own explanation in his letters.
Gandalf sacrificed himself, was accepted and enhanced, and returned. Yes, that was the name I was—Gandalf. Of course, he remains similar in personality and idiosyncrasy, but both his wisdom and power are much greater.
When he speaks, he commands attention. The old Gandalf could not have dealt so with Théoden nor with Sauron. He is still under the obligation of concealing his power and of teaching rather than forcing or dominating wills.
But where the physical powers of the enemy are too great for the good will of the opposers to be effective, he can act in emergency as an angel—no more violently than the release of St. Peter from prison.
He seldom does so, operating rather through others, but in one or two cases in the war in Volume 3, he does reveal a sudden power. For those not up to speed with their New Testament theology, Tolkien here is referring to the story of St. Peter, who was in prison awaiting trial when an angel appeared and told him to leave. His chains fell off, and he walked out following the angel—a show of power, but still understated.
That's the kind of power Tolkien is saying Gandalf now has access to. The examples Tolkien gives here from his story are when Gandalf twice rescues Faramir, then faces down the Witch-king of Angmar. Each time, the Gondorians couldn't have done it on their own, so Gandalf steps in in a rather obvious way, but still holding back from unleashing Hell—or Heaven, perhaps.
Crucially, although it's clear that Gandalf does indeed have more power, he is still for the most part under an obligation not to use it unless the opposers of Sauron are truly overpowered. And even then, he is to limit his powers to just as much as is needed.
The clear implication is that as much as we talk of Gandalf the White as having an upgrade—which he undoubtedly did—he is actually now much more powerful even than we see. He is holding back.
This brings us back to that point we noted earlier about Gandalf being now more spirit-based than before. The sun shines through him and so on. He is more angelic, in Tolkien's words.
I think that there is one aspect in particular of his greater power and authority that we often overlook—something that had even more of an impact on the story than his authority over Sauron or ability to face down Ringwraiths.
As Gandalf himself says, "I can see many things far off." He obviously here means in the future rather than simply getting better eyesight.
When you think about it, this is probably one of the keys to the subtle personality change between the Gray and the White. Looking back, Gandalf the Gray did second-guess himself and doubt himself quite a lot. He wasn't always sure about which path to take—sometimes literally and sometimes more figuratively.
For example, he admits that he was suspicious about Bilbo's ring from the moment he got it, but it was 60 years before he properly went off to investigate. That's quite a slow response time.
Compare that to the furiously paced certainty of Gandalf the White. It's easy to miss the pace at which Gandalf moves once he gets into his stride.
In just over a week after his return, he meets Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas, journeys to Edoras and heals Théoden, scours Western Rohan for the scattered remains of Brand's army, rallies and leads them to Helm's Deep in time to help defeat Sauron's forces, sets out for Orthanc where he confronts Saruman and casts him from the Istari, rescues Pippin from Sauron's gaze in the Palantír, rides the 450 or so miles to Minas Tirith, parlays with Denethor there, helps organize the defenses of the city, and rides to Osgiliath to save Faramir's life.
It's a lot in not much time. Why was Gandalf acting so swiftly and decisively now? What changed?
Yes, the situation demanded stronger actions, but Gandalf's willingness to engage with it and not second-guess himself is notable. I think it's because he now knows more about what's going on. He doesn't just have to guess anymore; he can see many things far off.
He heard the gathered rumor of all the lands—the springing and the dying, the song and the weeping—and Tolkien specifically says that he now has even greater wisdom to know what to do with all that information.
He knows to march on Mordor even though it seems like folly, and he announces during that climactic confrontation that the end is nigh. "Stand, men of the West!" he says. "Stand and wait! This is the hour of doom!"
He stands on a hilltop, ignoring the battle until roused as if by some vision, and announces that the Eagles are coming even before they can be seen.
As Gandalf the White, he is now in tune with so much more of what is going on. Yes, Gandalf the White was a powered-up version of Gandalf the Gray, but that's just scratching the surface.
He has been given more authority, more knowledge, and more wisdom as well. Yes, he has so much power now that he is really just holding back most of the time.
But where he really now shines is in knowing what to do and when. He is no longer just trying to use his knowledge and wisdom to chart the right course. He is now in tune with the song and the rhythm and the groan of Middle-earth itself.
He can guide and show the way and occasionally step into the action with restrained but unmistakable power, like a biblical angel. He is, figuratively and in some senses even literally, an angel sent by Eru himself.
Gandalf the White.
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