He reappears to three of the Fellowship and helps to counter the enemy in Rohan, then in Gondor, and finally at the Black Gate of Mordor, in each case largely by offering guidance.

His best-known portrayal is by Ian McKellen in Peter Jackson's 2001–2003 The Lord of the Rings film series, where the actor based his acclaimed performance on Tolkien himself.

Mithrandir[a] among the Elves, Tharkûn to the Dwarves, Olórin I was in my youth in the West that is forgotten, in the South Incánus, in the North Gandalf; to the East I go not.

At times in The Lord of the Rings, other characters address Gandalf by insulting nicknames: Stormcrow, Láthspell ("Ill-news" in Old English), and "Grey Fool".

Merry he could be, and kindly to the young and simple, yet quick at times to sharp speech and the rebuking of folly; but he was not proud, and sought neither power nor praise ... Mostly he journeyed tirelessly on foot, leaning on a staff, and so he was called among Men of the North Gandalf 'the Elf of the Wand'.

For they deemed him (though in error) to be of Elven-kind, since he would at times work wonders among them, loving especially the beauty of fire; and yet such marvels he wrought mostly for mirth and delight, and desired not that any should hold him in awe or take his counsels out of fear.

When the Valar decided to send the order of the Wizards (Istari) across the Great Sea to Middle-earth to counsel and assist all those who opposed Sauron, Olórin was proposed by Manwë.

The Wizards were commanded to aid Men, Elves, and Dwarves, but only through counsel; they were forbidden to use force to dominate them, though Saruman increasingly disregarded this.

[T 10] He turns up again before the walls of Erebor disguised as an old man, revealing himself when it seems the Men of Esgaroth and the Mirkwood Elves will fight Thorin and the dwarves over Smaug's treasure.

[T 13] Returning to the Shire, Gandalf confirms his suspicion by throwing the Ring into Frodo's hearth-fire and reading the writing that appears on its surface.

Gandalf leaves a letter to Frodo (urging his immediate departure) with Barliman Butterbur at the Prancing Pony, and heads towards Isengard.

Théoden, under the evil influence of Gríma Wormtongue, Saruman's spy and servant, tells Gandalf to take any horse he pleases, but to leave quickly.

Taking charge of the Fellowship (comprising nine representatives of the free peoples of Middle-earth, "set against the Nine Riders"), Gandalf and Aragorn lead the Hobbits and their companions south.

Gandalf is about to pursue, but is stopped by Pippin, who requests his intervention to save Faramir – Denethor in desperation was seeking to burn himself and his son on a funeral pyre.

But we must at all costs keep his Eye from his true peril... We must call out his hidden strength, so that he shall empty his land... We must make ourselves the bait, though his jaws should close on us... We must walk open-eyed into that trap, with courage, but small hope for ourselves.

After the battle, Gandalf counsels an attack against Sauron's forces at the Black Gate, in an effort to distract the Dark Lord's attention from Frodo and Sam; they are at that moment scaling Mount Doom to destroy the Ring.

Gandalf, Aragorn and the other leaders of the West lead an army to the Black Gate, meeting the nameless lieutenant of Mordor, who shows them Frodo's mithril shirt and other items from the Hobbits' equipment.

He boards the Ringbearers' ship in the Grey Havens and sets sail to return across the sea to the Undying Lands; with him are his horse Shadowfax and his friends Frodo, Bilbo, Galadriel, and Elrond.

[4] An additional influence may have been Väinämöinen, a demigod and the central character in Finnish folklore and the national epic Kalevala by Elias Lönnrot.

[T 1] When writing The Hobbit in the early 1930s Tolkien gave the name Gandalf to the leader of the Dwarves, the character later called Thorin Oakenshield.

[7] The Old Norse name Gandalfr incorporates the words gandr meaning "wand", "staff" or (especially in compounds) "magic" and álfr "elf".

[T 33] Tolkien came to regret his ad hoc use of Old Norse names, referring to a "rabble of eddaic-named dwarves, ... invented in an idle hour" in 1937.

[13] The Tolkien scholar Charles W. Nelson described Gandalf as a "guide who .. assists a major character on a journey or quest .. to unusual and distant places".

In English literature, Nelson notes, Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur has the wizard Merlin teaching and directing Arthur to begin his journeys.

Given these precedents, Nelson remarks, it was unsurprising that Tolkien should make use of a guide figure, endowing him, like these predecessors, with power, wisdom, experience, and practical knowledge, and "aware[ness] of [his] own limitations and [his] ranking in the order of the great".

He notes that both Gollum and Gandalf are servants of The One, Eru Ilúvatar, in the struggle against the forces of darkness, and "ironically" all of them, good and bad, are necessary to the success of the quest.

[17][18][19] The philosopher Peter Kreeft, like Tolkien a Roman Catholic, observes that there is no one complete, concrete, visible Christ figure in The Lord of the Rings comparable to Aslan in C. S. Lewis's Chronicles of Narnia series.

However, Kreeft and Jean Chausse have identified reflections of the figure of Jesus Christ in three protagonists of The Lord of the Rings: Gandalf, Frodo and Aragorn.

While Chausse found "facets of the personality of Jesus" in them, Kreeft wrote that "they exemplify the Old Testament threefold Messianic symbolism of prophet (Gandalf), priest (Frodo), and king (Aragorn).

[29] Ian McKellen portrayed Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings film series (2001–2003), directed by Peter Jackson, after Sean Connery and Patrick Stewart both turned down the role.