April 25, 2002

Gandalf the Clear White
Roger McE.

The previous artilce asked questions regarding Gandalf and his immortality and so on. Most of his questions can be answered in the Essay on The Istari in Unfinished Tales, and also in the Silmarillion.

Gandalf does die bodily/physically, but his spirit, like Sauron- another member of the Maiar order- cannot be destroyed. In fact no elf, dwraf or man or Maiar or Vlar can be destroyed, as they go to different places after death. Elves go to the Halls of Mandos, Men leave the world altogether to be with Eru (the one).

Gandalf is the Maiar Olorin in the Silmarillion. After he dies physically in the LOTR, his spirit goes to the west -to the land of the Valar-porbably to the Halls of Mandos, but i don;t think this is clear. But he is sent back with a new body, a new authority, and a new form-now in white. Hos powers have slightly changed also, and he has also prelaced Saruman as head of the special order fo Istari sent to Middle Earth. These kinds of details inicate that his spirit was sent back by the Valar, to finish his task.

As for his power "over gravity"-he doesn;t really have this at any time in bodily form (the Istari are specifically stated to be subject to the trevails and weaknesses of men), his staff, together with his mind, has power over certain things, but not to make himself fly. The Saruman episode where Gandalf is lifted up on top of Orthanc, is not in the books. The books just say he was imprisoned on top of the tower.

His red ring of fire does not make him immortal in body, but neither do the other rings of power-eg the ring "wraiths", these wraiths do not have an ordinary body anymore. Gollum simply hadn't yet passed into the wraith world, like the nine, as I understand it. But at any rate Gandlaf is immortal in spriti anway, and although his body "can be slain", his sprit cannot.

After Saruman and Sauron are slain/vanquished, their spirits, as Maiar probably go to the Halls of Mandos, until the final days, but are unable to take bodily shape again, due to their corrupted spirits.