From "The Istari" [i.e. "the wizards") chapter of Unfinished Tales (1982) we know that Gandalf's name was derived from an Old Norse name list, having the presumed Icelandic meaning of approximately "elf with a staff"; and this is supposed to be a translation into modern English of the Common Speech word of the Men of Northwestern Middle Earth.
Tolkien explains: "Gandalf was not an elf, but would be by Men associated with them, since his alliance and association with them was well-known." And also because Gandalf was observed to have lived many lives of Men.
We also learn that "Men perceived that [wizards] did not die, but remained the same (unless it were that they aged somewhat in looks)..."
From The Nature of Middle Earth, 2021 - in the chapter "Beards"; we discover "the fact that the elvish race had no beards".
Putting together elvish beard-less-ness which was presumably obvious to Men (who, the "Beard" chapter says, all had beards except for the Numoreans and those of other elvish descent such as Aragron and Imrahil); with the fact that Gandalf had been given the name of "elf" with a staff; it seems we must infer that Gandalf had no beard at the time he was given the name Gandalf.
Probably the characteristic Gandalfian beard was one of the signs by which men observed the Wizards had "aged somewhat in looks"?
3 comments:
Sounds reasonable
Are you familiar with Voluspá? If not, seek it up. Tolkien and Lewis and the Inklings were familiar with the old Norse works and It actually felt a little childish for me as a Norwegian that Tolkien used the name lists of it to name characters in his own invented stories. However, he was stuck with the names for the development of the stories. 'gand' in Gandalf (f sounds like v sometimes as in the Norse Olaf which is always pronounced Oo-lav) may mean either staff or the shamanic magic and survives to this day in the vocabulary of the Sami people and therefore also in Norwegian. Samis are known to 'gand', pronounced 'gaa-nye', that is to cast spells that has nothing to do with evil, but are acts like stopping blood running from a wound, stop the rain, etc. It works and I have practised it small scale myself. Gandalf certainly means an elf that knows how to cast spells, but it must be emphasized that this is a NAME and not a descrption. Norwegian name tradition still uses the old Norse names which are magic, god-inspired attributes. It means that you inherit the attributes of your name. My name is Geir, which not only means a hunting javelin or lance that can be thrown, but it also means 'the hunting javelin of Odin'. Consequently I am sharp, stinging if I wish, and my body is slim. Most men given the name Bjørn which means 'bear' end up with a round shape like a bear, they are huge, have big muscles and as they grow older more body fat, and they seem almost the ultimate protector typ that women want. In Norway, names have consequences.
@Geir "It means that you inherit the attributes of your name. "
Or more likely that the giving of the name is a kind of inspired prophecy - as is described for the elves in the Chapter The History of Galadriel and Celeborn, in Unfinished Tales.
Post a Comment