Gandalf and Thorin Oakenshield met by coincidence in Bree, setting in motion the events recounted in The Hobbit.

Merlin is an important figure in films and television programs, where he functions often as a teacher or mentor figure, a role that he shares with other wizard and wizard-like figures in popular texts, such as Gandalf the White.

Thus, while Gandalf exerts a parental influence over Bilbo early on, it is Bilbo who gradually takes over leadership of the party, a fact the dwarves could not bear to acknowledge.

The plots share the same basic structure progressing in the same sequence: the stories begin at Bag End, the home of Bilbo Baggins ; Gandalf sends the protagonist into a quest eastward ; Elrond offers a haven and advice ; the adventurers escape dangerous creatures underground ( Goblin Town / Moria ); they engage another group of elves ( The Elf King's realm / Lothlórien ); they traverse a desolate region ( Desolation of Smaug / the Dead Marshes ); they fight in a massive battle ; a descendant of kings is restored to his ancestral throne ( Bard / Aragorn ); and the questing party returns home to find it in a deteriorated condition ( having possessions auctioned off / the scouring of the Shire ).

Gandalf () is a character in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.

In The Lord of the Rings, he is initially known as Gandalf the Grey, but returns from death as Gandalf the White.

The name Gandalf is found in at least one more place in Norse myth, in the semihistorical Heimskringla, which briefly describes Gandalf Alfgeirsson, a legendary Norse king from Eastern Norway and rival of Halfdan the Black.

Throughout the early drafts, and through to the first edition of The Hobbit Bladorthin / Gandalf is described as being a " little old man ", distinct from a dwarf, but not of the full human stature that would later be described in The Lord of the Rings.

( This is when Gandalf found Thráin II imprisoned in Dol Guldur and recovered the map and key to Erebor before Thráin died.

The Hobbit relates how Bilbo Baggins, in comfortable middle age at 50 years old, is hired in spite of himself as a " burglar " by the wizard Gandalf and 13 dwarves led by their king Thorin Oakenshield on a quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain and its treasure from the dragon Smaug.

Radagast is also described by Gandalf as " never a traveller, unless driven by great need ", " a worthy Wizard ", and " honest ".

In the Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, Radagast is portrayed as a user of subtle magics, contrasted with the more overt kinds used by Gandalf and Saruman.

It is at Meduseld that Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, and Gandalf meet with King Théoden in the account of the early stages of the War of the Ring.

With the destruction of the Ring, Gandalf believes Sauron is weakened to the point that he will never be able to materialize again.

According to Gandalf, it is beyond the skill of both Sauron and Saruman to create the palantíri and that Sauron cannot make the palantíri " lie ", or create false images ( though he could show selective images to create a false impression in the viewer ).

As a consequence of eliminating the Battle of Bywater, Saruman is killed by Wormtongue much earlier ( at the beginning of the extended edition of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ) and the palantír of Orthanc is transferred to Gandalf by means of Pippin retrieving it from Saruman's corpse instead of Wormtongue throwing it from the tower window.

Gandalf and Pippin arrive at Minas Tirith in the kingdom of Gondor, delivering the news to Denethor, the Lord and Steward of Gondor, that a devastating attack on his city by Sauron, the Dark Lord of Mordor is imminent.

Denethor attempts to immolate himself and Faramir on his funeral pyre, but Gandalf and Pippin succeed in saving Faramir, who is subsequently healed by Aragorn.

Knowing that it is only a matter of time before Sauron rebuilds his forces for another attack, Gandalf and Aragorn decide to draw out the hosts of Mordor with an assault on the Black Gate, providing a distraction so that Frodo and Sam may have a chance of reaching Mount Doom and destroy the One Ring, unseen by the Eye of Sauron.

Gandalf's plan to distract Sauron from the Ring is successful: Mordor is almost empty as all the remaining Orcs have been summoned to defend the land against the assault of the army led by Gandalf and Aragorn.

Gandalf also reasoned that the Ring-bearer would go through Morgul to reach Mount Doom, thus it was preferable not to draw attention to Morgul by attacking it.

Gandalf states that his name in " the south " is " Incánus " ( which is obviously Latin and means " very grey-haired " and thus may be simply a translation of the original Olorin's name among the Haradrim, just like name " Gandalf " itself is an anglicized Old Norse translation of a Westron name ), thought by some to be a Haradrim name, but speculated by Tolkien to actually be a Westron or Sindarin form from Gondor.

The armies of the West, led by Gandalf and Aragorn, on the brink of defeat and annihilation, thus claim victory.

The names of Gandalf and all but one of the thirteen dwarves were taken directly from the poem Völuspá of the Poetic Edda.

The series ' creators feel that " Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest should be treated as ' classic ' characters like Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman, Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings or even Hamlet, Othello or Romeo.

In, Gandalf arranged ( and frequently accompanied ) a band of thirteen dwarves and the Hobbit Bilbo Baggins to reclaim from the dragon Smaug the Dwarves ' lost treasure in Erebor.

As explained in The Fellowship of the Ring, Gandalf spent the years between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings travelling Middle-earth in search of information on Sauron's resurgence and Bilbo's mysterious ring, spurred particularly by Bilbo's initial misleading story of how he had obtained it as a " present " from Gollum.

Outside the Shire, Gandalf encountered Radagast the Brown, another of the Istari, who brought the news that the Nazgûl had ridden forth and crossed the River Anduin — and a request from Saruman that Gandalf come to Isengard.

Gandalf broke Saruman's staff and expelled him from the White Council and the Order of Wizards, and assumed Saruman's place as head of both.

After the group left Isengard, Pippin took the palantír from a sleeping Gandalf, looked into it, and came face to face with Sauron himself.

Gandalf would have ridden to their aid, but he too was suddenly required elsewhere — to save Faramir from Denethor, who sought in desperation to burn himself and his son on a funeral pyre.

Aragorn and Gandalf then led the final campaign against Sauron's forces at the Black Gate, in an effort to distract the Dark Lord's attention from Frodo and Samwise Gamgee, who were at the same moment scaling Mount Doom to destroy the Ring.

In a parlay before the battle, Gandalf and the other leaders of the West met the Mouth of Sauron, who showed them Frodo's mithril shirt and other items from the Hobbits ' equipment.

Gandalf led the Eagles to rescue Frodo and Sam from the erupting Orodruin.

* The painting from which Tolkien drew inspiration for Gandalf

The fan-series ' creators feel " Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and the rest should be treated as ' classic ' characters like Willy Loman from Death of a Salesman, Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, or even Hamlet, Othello, or Romeo.

Shakespeare also borrowed heavily from a speech by Medea in Ovid's Metamorphoses in writing Prospero's renunciative speech ; nevertheless, the combination of these elements in the character of Prospero created a new interpretation of the sage magician as that of a carefully plotting hero, quite distinct from the wizard-as-advisor archetype of Merlin or Gandalf.

They planned to use the secret door, whose key Gandalf had managed to obtain ( from Thráin, whom he had found in the pits of Dol Guldur ).

Gandalf Alfgeirsson ( Old Norse: Gandálf Álfgeirsson ) was a legendary king of the petty kingdom Vingulmark, in south-eastern Norway.

Other commentators have also compared Gandalf to the Norse god Odin in his " Wanderer " guise — an old man with one eye, a long white beard, a wide brimmed hat, and a staff.

; or in the case of Gandalf, the Norse figure Odin.

* Gandalf ( Norse mythology ), a dwarf in Norse mythology

Gandalf is a Dvergr ( Norse dwarf ) in Norse mythology, appearing in the poem Völuspá, the Poetic Edda, and the Prose Edda.

# REDIRECT Gandalf ( Norse mythology )