“It will be my turn to get angry soon,” he said. I won’t give my precious away, I tell you,” he cries, and Tolkien writes “His hand strayed to the hilt of his small sword.” First, as in the movie, Bilbo provokes Gandalf by implying that he desires the Ring. It’s also one of the most literally translated moments in Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. This is the duality of Gandalf everything you need to know about his character over all three movies, delivered in about 15 seconds. A line after the “conjuror” bit, the old wizard gives Bilbo a kindly “I’m trying to help you,” and a hug, patting his hair in the manner of a family member or intimate friend. ![]() The back-and-forth ends with Gandalf at his most human, which is kind of the point. Before a single Black Rider has set foot in the Shire, Gandalf transforms into a monster. The scene isn’t the first time we see magic in the contemporaneous (i.e., not a flashback) Fellowship setting - Bilbo popped the Ring on only a few minutes earlier - but it is the first time we see magic being scary. Which is ironic, because this is the first time a new audience is shown that Gandalf is something other than a conjuror of cheap tricks. “Do not take me for a conjuror of cheap tricks!” The room darkens, a wind whips up out of nowhere, Gandalf’s voice grows sepulchrally deep as he calls out a warning: This produces an immediate change in the kindly old wizard, as he bellows Bilbo’s full name at him. Gandalf’s pushing only agitates him until he finally makes a low accusation: Gandalf simply wants the ring for himself. ![]() Bilbo had planned to do that all along, but here in the moment he abruptly changes his mind. Bilbo has just returned from his surprise party disappearance, and he and Gandalf are discussing his old ring, with the wizard very much in favor of Bilbo leaving it behind for his nephew. The line in question is delivered early in The Fellowship of the Ring, before the adventure has even really begun. And deep inside of the line is the key to how Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, and Fran Walsh succeeded at adapting J.R.R. It’s Gandalf at his most puissant and most human. It’s a display of the Grey Wizard’s uncanny power, it’s a moment for McKellen to flex his skills, and it’s a point of high tension for the audience. The thing is: There is a better Gandalf line, one that has all the might of “You shall not pass” and more. This is Polygon's Year of the Ring.Įven McKellen has absorbed “You shall not pass” as is his public catchphrase, just as Leonard Nimoy and “Live long and prosper,” and Mark Hamill and “May the force be with you.” Which is fine. So each Wednesday throughout the year, we'll go there and back again, examining how and why the films have endured as modern classics. Flame of Udûn is a reference to both the fact that the Balrog is a fiery beast, and that he was created in Udûn by Melkor.2021 marks The Lord of the Rings movies' 20th anniversary, and we couldn't imagine exploring the trilogy in just one story. As such, I think Gandalf is simply proclaiming he's one of the Good Guys. Throughout the books, sunlight is given the power to fight evil, Orcs can't handle it, significant arrivals at the last minute tend to be at sunrise. This may be a reference to his magic ring (Narya, the ring of fire), but personally I think that's not it. Anor is Elvish for the sun, so Gandalf suggests he's "wielding" sunlight. His creations don't have this spark of life, this holy spirit, making them tortured and evil beings. The devil-figure, Melkor (who, btw, was seated in Udûn) tried to copy this, but failed. ![]() Gandalf being a servant of this fire implies he serves Iluvatur. It's what Iluvatur (the creator/deity figure) imparted on the world. The secret flame is, in Tolkien's world, a sort of spark of life, the Middle Earth equivalent of what Christians would call the Holy Spirit.
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