Gandalf: The Man Behind the Staff

Guardsman Bass · Post by **Guardsman Bass** » 2005-10-11 04:36pm

NecronLord wrote:And no, Sauron left the Ring behind when he went to Numenor.

Are you certain? I just finished reading Tolkien's published letters, and I'm pretty sure that he mentioned in response to a reader that Sauron took the One Ring with him to Numenor, since it would be unlikely that Ar-Pharazon would recognize it, and even if he did, it would be almost impossible for a human to take it from him.

Post by **NecronLord** » 2005-10-11 04:41pm

Guardsman Bass wrote:Are you certain? I just finished reading Tolkien's published letters, and I'm pretty sure that he mentioned in response to a reader that Sauron took the One Ring with him to Numenor, since it would be unlikely that Ar-Pharazon would recognize it, and even if he did, it would be almost impossible for a human to take it from him.

The published form of the Silmarillion contradicts this, where it states that upon his return to the Dark Tower he 'took up the one ring again' or some such. It may be that this was changed in intent after writing of course...

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2005-10-11 05:00pm

Maybe I'm wrong, but I was told that the Silmarillion isn't internally consistent.

Post by **NecronLord** » 2005-10-11 05:25pm

The Silmarillion is an unfinished work, and contains some parts that should be considered definately non-canon, as there are notes written later (sometimes on the manuscript itself) that contradict it. Such an example is the 'elves became orcs' line, which has an annotation 'change this, orcs are not elvish.'

Post by **Surlethe** » 2005-10-11 05:48pm

NeoGoomba wrote:-Can create artifacts that trap souls (the Nine Rings), give immortality (all the Rings), dominate others (again the Nine, the One), render invisibility (The One)

Two points: do the Nine really trap souls? And, IIRC, all the great rings render invisibility (the Nine specifically come to mind).

CaptainChewbacca · Post by **CaptainChewbacca** » 2005-10-11 06:48pm

I gotta say, this thread title should be a VH1 special.

Balrog · Post by **Balrog** » 2005-10-11 07:25pm

CaptainChewbacca wrote:I gotta say, this thread title should be a VH1 special.

lol I never thought of it like that, it would be an interesting special though

spongyblue · Post by **spongyblue** » 2005-10-11 08:58pm

Didn't Gandalf also have a kind-of counter to the Nazgul fear affect? I remember reading how when the guards of Minas Tirith where striken with fear from the Nazgul, when Gandalf came by, not only where they no longer afraid, the where filled with hope and courage. Or something dramatic like that.

Balrog · Post by **Balrog** » 2005-10-11 09:12pm

spongyblue wrote:Didn't Gandalf also have a kind-of counter to the Nazgul fear affect? I remember reading how when the guards of Minas Tirith where striken with fear from the Nazgul, when Gandalf came by, not only where they no longer afraid, the where filled with hope and courage. Or something dramatic like that.

Yeah, you must've missed this part:

some of the stuff such as being unaffected by the Nazgul’s terror and some very minor quips were left out, forgotten or simply not found when I skimmed the book.

Dark Hellion · Post by **Dark Hellion** » 2005-10-11 09:30pm

I gotta say, this thread title should be a VH1 special.

During the late 60s and early 70s, after his old friends Bilbo and Frodo Baggins had been sent overseas, Gandalf began to delve heavily into narcotics. This continued until October 11, 1975, when Gandalf was caught wondering aimlessly through the shire, lighting fireworks and causing other disorder. In his robes, a large bag of substance known as "Old Toby" was found, along with numerous other bits of paraphenelia. It would be months of hard rehab before this grey and worn Gandalf would be back to his normal, shimmering white self. Next of Gandalf, behind the Staff.

Balrog · Post by **Balrog** » 2005-12-19 11:57pm

New update added to relevant sections.

Balrog · Post by **Balrog** » 2006-07-02 12:12am

Once again updated info added.

Jade Falcon · Post by **Jade Falcon** » 2006-07-06 03:53pm

One thing I'd like to have seen was the origin of the Nazgul. All we hear is they were 'great kings of men', but were they evil initially, or were they corrupted by the Ring?

The only two who are ever named are the The Witch King of Angmar, and Angmar itself existed after the Nazgul as the whole purpose of the realm of Angmar was to destabilise Arnor and destroy the successor kingdoms. The other named Nazgul is Khamul the Easterling. What were these mens realms for instance?

I'm totally ignoring the ICE card game that even had non canon names and had IIRC, a female Nazgul.

Balrog · Post by **Balrog** » 2006-07-07 10:02pm

One thing I'd like to have seen was the origin of the Nazgul. All we hear is they were 'great kings of men', but were they evil initially, or were they corrupted by the Ring?

It is said that there were some who were evil and some who were good, and the rate that they fell under Sauron's control depended on their disposition. As for their origins, Tolkien never talked about them beyond WK's and Khamul's.