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FAQ / What are all the names of Gandalf

Gandalf the Grey - A title of Gandalf, probably derived from the long grey cloak he wore.

As is told in The Hobbit, there came one day to Bilbo's door the great Wizard, Gandalf the Grey, and thirteen dwarves with him: none other, indeed, than Thorin Oakenshield, descendant of kings, and his twelve companions in exile.
Fellowship of the Ring: Prologue

Of this Order the number is unknown; but of those that came to the North of Middle-earth, where there was most hope (because of the remnant of the Dunedain and of the Eldar that abode there), the chiefs was five. The first to come was one of noble mien and bearing, with raven hair, and a fair voice, and he was clad in white; great skill he had in works of hand, and he was regarded by well-nigh all, even by the Eldar, as the head of the Order. 1 Others there were also: two clad in sea-blue, and one in earthen brown; and the last came one who seemed the least, less tall than the others, and in looks more aged, grey-haired and grey-clad, and leaning on a staff. But Círdan from their first meeting at the Grey Havens divined in him reverence, and he gave to his keeping the Third Ring, Narya the Red.
Unfinished Tales: The Istari


Gandalf the White - The title given to Gandalf once he became the head of the Wizards in Middle-earth.

'I did not give you leave to go,' said Gandalf sternly. 'I have not finished. You have become a fool, Saruman, and yet pitiable. You might still have turned away from folly and evil, and have been of service. But you choose to stay and gnaw the ends of your old plots. Stay then! But I warn you. you will not easily come out again. Not unless the dark hands of the East stretch out to take you. Saruman!' he cried, and his voice grew in power and authority. 'Behold, I am not Gandalf the Grey, whom you betrayed. I am Gandalf the White, who has returned from death. You have no colour now, and I cast you from the order and from the Council.'
The Two Towers: The Voice Of Saruman


Greyhame - A name given to Gandalf in Rohan.

'Gandalf!' Éomer exclaimed. 'Gandalf Greyhame is known in the Mark: but his name, I warn you, is no longer a password to the king's favour. He has been a guest in the land many times in the memory of men, coming as he will, after a season, or after many years. He is ever the herald of strange events: a bringer of evil, some now say.
The Two Towers: The Riders of Rohan


The White Rider - A name given to Gandalf whilst riding Shadowfax after becoming The White.

LotR: TTT - The King of the Golden Hall 'I thank you, Théoden King,' said Gandalf. Then suddenly he threw back his grey cloak, and cast aside his hat, and leaped to horseback. He wore no helm nor mail. His snowy hair flew free in the wind, his white robes shone dazzling in the sun. 'Behold the White Rider!' cried Aragorn, and all took up the words. 'Our King and the White Rider!' they shouted. 'Forth Eorlingas
The Two Towers:The King of the Golden Hall


Láthspell - Gríma’s insulting name for Gandalf.

Stormcrow - A name given to Gandalf in Rohan.

'You speak justly, lord [Théoden],' said the pale man sitting upon the steps of the dais [Wormtongue]. 'It is not yet five days since the bitter tidings came that Théodred your son was slain upon the West Marches: your right hand, Second Marshal Of the Mark. In Éomer there is little trust. Few men would be left to guard your walls, if he had been allowed to rule. And even now we learn from Gondor that the Dark Lord is stirring in the East. Such is the hour in which this wanderer chooses to return. Why indeed should we welcome you, Master Stormcrow? Láthspell I name you, Ill-news; and ill news is an ill guest they say.' He laughed grimly, as he lifted his heavy lids for a moment and gazed on the strangers with dark eyes."
The Two Towers: The King Of The Golden Hall


Grey Fool - The name given to Gandalf by Denethor.

LotR: RotK? - The Pyre Of Denethor 'Pride and despair!' he [Denethor] cried. 'Didst thou think that the eyes of the White Tower were blind? Nay, I have seen more than thou knowest, Grey Fool. For thy hope is but ignorance. Go then and labour in healing! Go forth and fight! Vanity. For a little space you may triumph on the field, for a day. But against the Power that now arises there is no victory. To this City only the first finger of its hand has yet been stretched. All the East is moving. And even now the wind of thy hope cheats thee and wafts up Anduin a fleet with black sails. The West has failed. It is time for all to depart who would not be slaves.'
The Return of the King: The Pyre Of Denethor


Mithrandir - The name of Gandalf among the Elves.

Grey Pilgrim - A common translation of 'Mithrandir'.

Grey Wanderer - Another common translation of 'Mithrandir'.

Incánus - Gandalf’s name in the south of Middle-earth.

Tharkûn - The name given to Gandalf by the Dwarves.

Olórin - Gandalf's name before he came to Middle Earth.

His own statement (or a version of it, and in any case not fully understood) is preserved that his name in youth was Olórin in the West, but he was called Mithrandir by the Elves (Grey Wanderer or Grey Pilgrim), Thârkun by the Dwarves (said to mean "Staff-man"), Incánus in the South, and Gandalf in the North, but "to the East I go not." "The West" here plainly means the Far West beyond the Sea, not part of Middle-earth; the name Olórin is of High-elven form. "The North" must refer to the North-western regions of Middle-earth, in which most of the inhabitants or speaking-peoples were and remained uncorrupted by Morgoth or Sauron. In those regions resistance would be strongest to the evils left behind by the Enemy, or to Sauron his servant, if he should reappear. The bounds of this region were naturally vague; its eastern frontier was roughly the River Carnen to its junction with Celduin (the River Running), and so to Núrnen, and thence south to the ancient confines of South Gondor. (It did not originally exclude Mordor, which was occupied by Sauron, although outside his original realms "in the East", as a deliberate threat to the West and the Númenóreans.) "The North" thus includes all this great area: roughly West to East from the Gulf of Lune to Núrnen, and North and South from Carn Dûm to the southern bounds of ancient Gondor between it and Near Harad. Beyond Núrnen Gandalf had never gone.
Unfinished Tales: The Istari


Authored by TTFMember:Aulë


Comments and Annotations

Old Greybeard - Nasty title given to Gandalf by the Mouth of Sauron. At the parley before the Black Gate, this is how Sauron's ambassador, a BlackNúmenórean, refers to Gandalf:

'Then thou art the spokesman, old greybeard? Have we not heard of thee at whiles, and of thy wanderings, ever hatching plots and mischief at a safe distance? But this time thou hast stuck out thy nose too far, Master Gandalf; and thou shalt see what comes to him who sets his foolish webs before the feet of Sauron the Great...'
LotR - The Black Gate Opens

-- [TolkienWikiMember AlDarion]


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