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.

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.

Gandalf hid the ring well, and it was not widely known until he left with the other ring-bearers at the end of the Third Age that he, and not Círdan, was the holder of the third of the Elven-rings.

Gandalf had for some time foreseen the coming war with Sauron, and knew that the North was especially vulnerable.

It was on this Quest of Erebor that Gandalf found his sword, Glamdring, in a troll's treasure hoard, and that Bilbo found the One Ring, in a chance meeting with the creature Gollum ( though at the time it was thought to be a lesser ring ).

Aragorn eventually succeeded, and Gandalf questioned Gollum, threatening him with fire when he proved unwilling to speak.

Gandalf left a letter to Frodo ( urging his immediate departure ) with Barliman Butterbur at the inn in Bree, and headed towards Isengard.

After a short exchange of blows, Gandalf broke the bridge beneath the Balrog with his staff.

Gandalf then set off to gather Erkenbrand of the Westfold and his warriors to assist Théoden in the coming battle with Saruman.

After the ensuing battle, Gandalf and the king rode to Isengard, which in the interim had itself been attacked and conquered by Treebeard and the Ents, along with Merry and Pippin.

Wormtongue made an indecisive attempt to kill Gandalf or Saruman with the palantír of Orthanc, but missed 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 then took the chastened Pippin with him to Minas Tirith to keep the young hobbit out of further trouble.

Together with Prince Imrahil of Dol Amroth, Gandalf led the defenders during the siege of the city.

Two years later, Gandalf — who by now had spent about 2, 000 years in Middle-earth — departed with Frodo, Bilbo, Galadriel, and Elrond across the sea to the Undying Lands.

In The Hobbit, the Wargs appear twice, once by working with goblins, in hunting Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf, and the dwarves just east of the Misty Mountains, and once at the Battle of Five Armies.

Thus, upon recovery from the wound inflicted by Angmar on Weathertop, Gandalf speculates that the Hobbit Frodo " may become like a glass filled with a clear light for eyes to see that can ".

As Bilbo prepares finally to leave the house, he reacts with panic and suspicion when Gandalf tries to persuade him to leave the Ring with Frodo.

After Sam and Rose's first child was born it was revealed that Frodo would leave Middle-earth, along with Bilbo ( Sam's old hero ), Gandalf and most of the remaining High Elves ( Wood Elves had no part of this exodus from Middle-earth ), for the Undying Lands.

In The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins stopped off at Rivendell with the dwarves on the way to the Lonely Mountain and also on the way back to the Shire with Gandalf.

He was also friends with the skin-changer Beorn, who deemed him to be " not a bad fellow as wizards go " and also said to Gandalf that he " used to see him now and again ".

However, Christopher Tolkien indicates that his father intended to change this derivation and bring Radagast in line with the other wizard-names, Gandalf and Saruman, by associating it with the old language of the Men of the Vales of Anduin.

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.

After Bilbo, as a prank on his guests, put on the Ring and disappeared, Gandalf strongly encouraged his old friend to leave the Ring to Frodo, as they had planned.

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.

Gandalf is so overjoyed to hear that the hobbits are alive and well, however, that he actually embraces the old fellow and puts a blessing on his beer.

For this is the Ring of Fire, and herewith, maybe, thou shalt rekindle hearts to the valour of old in a world that grows chill " ( Círdan the Shipwright to Gandalf ).

In fiction, due to the influence of Merlin, a wise old man is often presented in the form of a wizard or other magician in medieval chivalric romance and modern fantasy literature and films ( e. g. Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Gandalf, or Albus Dumbledore ) See List of magicians in fantasy for more examples.

In Norna-Gests þáttr, it is said that Sigurd Hring was very old when Sigurd's sons-in-law, the sons of Gandalf, asked him to help them fight against Sigurd Fafnisbani and the Gjukungs.

In the Rankin-Bass adaptation of The Return of the King, Denethor revealed a future that may be in his palantír to Gandalf, some time before he died.

If it refers to Sauron's most recent return to Mordor, the Mouth of Sauron would have served Sauron for some 68 years when he encountered Aragorn and Gandalf.

Note that wands fill basically the same role as wizards ' staffs, though staffs generally convey a more ' serious ' image ; a fairy godmother would often use a wand, possibly with a star or some form of decoration on the end, while Gandalf would most likely not ( however, in The Hobbit, he is said to use a wand, referring to his staff, to fight the goblins of the Misty Mountains and their Wargs ).

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.

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" Toward the end of his possession of the Ring, Bilbo begins to show some of the obsessive tendencies of Gollum — calling the Ring " my precious ," and showing flashes of dark hostility when asked by Gandalf to give the Ring to his heir, Frodo.

The character of Gandalf, for example, roamed freely around the game world ( some fifty locations ), picking up objects, getting into fights and being captured.

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 ).

Returning to the Shire, in, Gandalf confirmed his suspicions by throwing the Ring into Frodo's hearth fire and reading the writing that appeared on the Ring's surface.

As his friends looked on in horror, Gandalf fell into the pit, crying " Fly, you fools!

Gandalf and the Balrog fell into the deep subterranean lake under Moria.

After failing to climb over the mountains, the Fellowship passed eastward through Moria, the former realm of the Dwarves, where Gandalf fell into a deep abyss while fighting a Balrog.

The warning beacons are not lit until Gandalf and Pippin arrive in Minas Tirith ; they take matters into their own hands and light the first beacon themselves.

Had the Nazgûl not captured Gríma, they would instead have pursued Gandalf into Rohan, and possibly not found the Shire until much later, giving the Hobbits and then the Fellowship a considerable head start.

Gandalf explained to Frodo that, with great concentration and training, even he could tap into the Ring's power, but probably at the cost of his sanity.

Also, in the narrative, it says that Gandalf thought that Sauron was quite capable of bringing all of Middle-earth under his sway even without the One Ring, perhaps explaining at least in part Gandalf's opposition to throwing the One Ring into the Sea at the Council of Elrond.

Gandalf fell with the Balrog into the uttermost depths of Moria and fought the Balrog all the way up the Endless Stair, finally slaying it by throwing it from the peak of Celebdil, but sacrificing his own life in doing so.

In Vingulmark, the sons of Gandalf of Vingulmark, Hysing, Helsing, and Hake, attempted to ambush Halfdan at night, but he escaped into the forest.

The defenders suffer heavy losses, but hold out until dawn, when Gandalf arrives with 2, 000 riders led by Éomer, who finally turn the tide of the battle and send Saruman's forces into retreat.

But while Gandalf guides through his wisdom and legendary status, Fizban is far more awkward and seemingly senseless, constantly putting the characters into worse trouble than they were in before.

He tried to trick Gandalf into believing Sauron held Frodo captive, displaying as evidence items that had belonged to Frodo and Sam ( Sam's sword, an Elven cloak, and Frodo's mithril shirt.

The Army of the West divided itself into two rings upon two great hills of rubble opposite the gate: Aragorn, Gandalf, and the sons of Elrond " with the Dúnedain about them " were on the left ring, with Éomer, Imrahil, and the Knights of Dol Amroth on the right.

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Instead, it is Éomer whom Gandalf sets out to find and returns with in the dawn of the final battle at Helm's Deep, to force the Uruk-hai into the Huorns that appeared overnight.

A cart, like the one Gandalf rides into Hobbiton on at the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring, is set up, using the principle of forced perspective.

With the collapse of Carter ’ s health in the 1980s the anthology series, the Gandalf award, and likely SAGA itself all went into abeyance.