July 23, 2002

Gandalf the Wiser
Danny

Remember Gandalfs very wise words about Gollum? I don't have a book handy so I can't quote it exactly, but he said that his heart tells him that Gollum still has a part to play in the quest, and that for good or ill, Bilbo's pitty may rule the fate of nations. I was pleased to see that they put those lines exactly from the text into the movie btw.

Okay, here is my argument. First off, Gandalf was Olorin(sp?) who was said to have been the wisest of the Istari. Sauron may have been mightier, but Gandalf was the wisest. Secondly, the wisdom and foresight Gandalf showed in sparing Gollum is what proved to be Sauron's downfall. One could say that Sauron's lack of similar foresight and wisdom is what lead to Gollum being released alive after being captured.

Furthermore, Gandalf was far closer to right about the ring than Sauron. Sure Sauron knew that the ring would drive a bearer to eventually use it for power, but Sauron's greatly misjudged the ability of a halfling to resist, even though he would have heard how frodo resisted the poison of the Morgul Blade (weathertop) for far longer than most men could have. It was only in the heart of his realm where not even Galadriel's phial could give light that the ring finally overpowered Frodo.

Sauron was so intent on finding a rising ruler, that his efforts to second guess Gandalf and the world of men failed him, and caused him to commit the fatal blunder of letting the hobbits into Mordor in the first place. I don't care what you say, but had Sauron even been moderately prudent, he would have taken measures to prevent any spie from reaching mount doom. Even a garrison of Orcs stationed to guard the slopes of Mount doom would have been sufficient, and he certainly could have spared them.

Sauron had news that a halfling had escaped and was in Mordor. He knew the halfling had been to Lothlorien because of the items that were brought to Barad-dur, and he also knew a halfling bore the ring. To not take those hints seriously was a horrendous blunder. Like I said, he certainly could have spared the forces to protect his back, but his malice and desire to crush the force that marched to the Black Gate's (by Gandalf's wisdom) caused him to act very foolishly.

Furthermore, Gandalf was wise enough to guess Sauron's plans very accurately, and play right into those plans. Sauron's attempts to guess Gandalf's thoughts were far from the mark. In a way, Gandalf was the mover of Sauron's schemings and actions because he had Sauron playing into his hands on many occasions.

As has also been said, Gandalf was wise enough to trust in the power of a higher power to work for good where things were out of his reach. That type of trust or faith (not neccesarily in a religous sense) is extremely scary, but it was also a showing of Gandalf's wisdom.

So I submit that the idea that Sauron was the wiser, and Gandalf was just plain lucky is no good. Sauron made so many tremendous mistakes. Victory was in his hands on many occasions, but at every turn, Gandalf's playing of events manipulated Sauron's choices and prevented Sauron's victory.