Κυριακή 21 Ιουνίου 2009

HEROES OF TOLKIEN-GANDALF'S FRAME PART 7

Hi everybody! Firstly, my apologies to all of you for not having uploaded anything for so long but i had my exams and the only thing I was doing was to study all the time from noon till the early morning hours. You know how hard it is to succeed in the exams! Anyway here i am again! This time I will develop one of my favourite characters: Gandalf the Grey!
Let's start with the basics, Gandalf comes from the race of the Ainur, something less than the Valar! He is a Maiar of Manwe, Nienna and Irmo! He is known with various names between the circles of Middle-Earth: His long forgotten name, the one he was called in Valinor, when he was young was Olorin, this was his name in the High Tongue, Quenya. in Sindarin he was called Mithrandir which means Grey Pilgrim.Gandalf Greyhame was another name of his, Gandalf was his name in the North, meaning Elf with the Staff and Greyhame meaning Greycloak. After he defeated the traitor Saruman he was called Gandalf the White. He is also known as the White Rider beacause he rides the great Shadowfax as a contrast to the Black Riders, the Nazgul.Stormcrow he was also named as, because his appearance was associated with trouble and problems, between the dwarves he is known as Tharkun, Greybeard for the servants of Sauron.
In the unfinished tales, Tolkien describes Gandalf asthe last of the wizards to appear in Middle-Earth one who: "seemed the least, less tall than the others, and in looks more aged, grey-haired and grey-clad, and leaning on a staff". Yet, when Cirdan, met him he saw in Gandalf a strong and extremely wise spirit, and gave him the Ring of Fire, Narya! Eversince, he was the guardian of the Fire of the Ainur!
In the Valaquenta, we learn that Gandalf, who was then named Olorin was a Maiar of Valinor and he was one of Manwe's people. It is said that he lived in the gardens of Irmo under the guidance of Nienna. When the Valar decided to send an Order of Wizards to Middle-Earth in order to offer help to those who opposed to Sauron, Manwe proposed Gandalf since he was said to be the wisest among the Maiar.
Once in Middle Earth he landed in Mithlond. Although he was of poor appearance Cirdan saw the wisdom and majesty of his spirit and gave him the ring of fire, Narya. Gandalf hid it well and the fact that he was the Secret Guardian of the Spirit of Fire wasn't revealed until the day he sailed to Valinor along with the other two remaining ring-bearers, Frodo and Bilbo, at the end of the Third Age!
Gandalf was the one who suspected that the Necromancer of Dol Guldur was not a Nazgul but Sauron himself. When the White Council was formed in order to help the races of Middle-Earth to defeat Sauron, Galadriel hoped that Gandalf would be the leader of the Council but he refused to bound himself to anyone else apart from the Valar! So Saruman took the leadership instead.
Gandalf was also mainly involved in The Quest of Erebor. In this adventure, Gandalf, along with thirteen dwarves persuades Bilbo Baggins to follow him in their Quest in order to regain the stolen treasure which lay hidden in the cave of a dragon named Smaug. This treasure was stolen from the Dwarves centuries ago and in this Quest they claimed it back, fought and won the mighty dragon due to Bilbo's smartness and took the treasure back. In the Quest of Erebor, Gandalf finds his lost sword, Glamdring and Bilbo happens to find the One Ring. By the time he found it no one knew that it was the One Ring that could restore the Black Lord Sauron back to his original power.In the Lord of The Rings, Gandalf is a very important character since he guides the Fellowship and offers great help and information. He is imprisoned in Orthanc by the traitor Saruman but he is eventually saved by his friend Gwaihir the King of The Eagles. In the Fellowship of the Ring he is taken down by a demon of the old times, a Balrog, in their way through the mines of Moria. Everybody believes him to be dead but he reappears in the two Towers. He had beaten the Balrog and after having travelled beyond space and time he returned as Gandalf the White. He beat Saruman and took his Palantir and kept it all the time with him hidden. The Nazgul fear him and even Sauron considers him a very powerfull enemy!
Gandalf is a mighty and wise wizard. Many of the deeds of the fellowship are due to him. he is a substantial hero and carries great history on his shoulders. Everyone admires and respects him!