So J.R.R. Tolkien introduces his readers to what is probably his most memorable character Gandalf, Mithrandir, the Grey Wanderer. Also known as Olórin "in my youth in the West that is forgotten" — he is in fact known by many names in many lands. Tolkien calls Gandalf a wizard in THE HOBBIT, but he is more than that. He is an adventurer extraordinaire, an explorer, a warrior at need, a friend to all the Free Peoples of Middle-earth.

Gandalf was a member of a special order of Wizards, the Istari, sent as emissaries by the Angelic overseers of the world, the Valar, who dwelt in the Uttermost West. Arriving one or two at a time in the 11th century of the Third Age, the Istari were "members of their own order, but clad in bodies as of Men." The mission of the Istari was to "advise and persuade Men and Elves to good, and to seek to unite in love and understanding all those whom Sauron, should he come again, would endeavour to dominate and corrupt."

Gandalf was most trusted by the Elven Wise, the lords of the Eldar, those Elves who answered the summons of the Valar many ages in the past to migrate to Valinor and live in peace and harmony with them. Some of the Eldar had stayed in middle-earth, and some had returned. In Gandalf’s day they were in decline, having suffered through many wars. But those who remained were still powerful and concerned in the affairs of the world. Gandalf was their ally and Cirdan, lord of Mithlond and Lindon, gave to him the Ring of Power called Narya, the Kindler, which Gandalf used to help hearten the Free Peoples.

Of Gandalf’s first thousand years in Middle-earth Tolkien says nothing. But after Sauron’s victories against the Dúnedain of the North and the South, Gandalf ventured into Sauron’s stronghold of Dol Guldur. He learned nothing certain, for Sauron withdrew to the eastern lands, leaving the Free Peoples in peace for several hundred years.

When Sauron returned to Dol Guldur 400 years later the Elf-queen Galadriel formed the White Council, a body of great Elf lords and Istari, to watch over and guide the councils of those Free Peoples who would continue to oppose Sauron throughout the Third Age of Middle-earth. Galadriel would have chosen Gandalf to lead the Council, but the decision was not hers. Gandalf did not wish the leadership for himself, having no ambition but to fulfill his duty.

During the Long Winter of 2758-9 the hobbits of the Shire suffered tremendously from the bitter colds and Gandalf befriended them, providing aid and comfort. Through the following centuries Gandalf broadened his relationship with hobbits, visiting the Shire and encouraging, perhaps, the adventurous traits of the Took family. It seems that Gandalf's interest in Bilbo Baggins had something to do with his Tookish blood. Bilbo was the son of Belladonna Took, daughter of Gerontius Took (the Old Took), Thain of the Shire from 1248 to 1320 in Shire Reckoning (2848 through 2920).

To the hobbits Gandalf was a source of curiosity and wonder, a wizard of fireworks and a scalawag who would entice young respectable hobbits into going off on adventures. Beyond their sight he worked closely with the Dúnedain of the North, who guarded the Shire from evil creatures. And Gandalf took an interest in the Dwarves of Durin's Folk, forced into exile through a series of misfortunes which began when they encountered a Balrog of Morgoth in their ancient homeland, Khazad-dum.

But Gandalf's association with Durin's Folk became closer when he agreed to help Thorin II Oakenshield do something about Smaug, the great dragon which had destroyed their last kingdom in Erebor. This mountain was far from the Shire and on the very edge of the northern lands to which Gandalf confined his services. He introduced Thorin to Bilbo and persuaded the Dwarves to take Bilbo on their journey. Though Thorin and his nearest kinsmen perished in the attempt, Smaug was destroyed and the Dwarves' kingdom under the mountain was restored.

Something of the great power Gandalf wields is hinted at in the adventure with Bilbo and Thorin's dwarves, but only a little. When Gandalf persuades Bilbo's heir, Frodo Baggins, to take the One Ring (which Bilbo had found on his own adventure) to the Elves at Rivendell, Gandalf is nowhere to be found. He has been betrayed by one of his own order, Saruman, chief of the Istari. Yet Gandalf escapes and confronts Sauron's most terrible servants, the Nazgul, in his desperate search for Frodo in the wilds of the North.

In the ensuing War of the Ring, Gandalf led the Free Peoples through many battles, helping many to redeem themselves who had been brought to the brink of corruption by Sauron's evil plots. But he did not succeed in all cases, and his final victory over Sauron was won only with great loss and suffering. It was Gandalf's strategy which led to the downfall of Sauron, and he strengthened the resolve of the leaders of the West to fight to the very end.

And yet Gandalf himself failed in his task. The mission he and the other Istari had been sent to achieve was defeated. Gandalf himself sacrificed his life to save Frodo and their companions from the Balrog of Khazad-dum, which had by the end of the Third Age become infested with Orcs and Trolls. Only through the intervention of a greater power (Iluvatar, the All-Father, the Creator) could Gandalf return to the world, with increased strength and authority, to finish his work.

One of the far-reaching effects Gandalf's work had occurred in the Shire. Against the advice of Elrond, Elven-lord of Rivendell, Gandalf included Meriadoc Brandybuck and Peregrin Took in the Company of the Ring. Their adventures with the Fellowship brought them into contact with the wider lands of the world and propelled the future leaders of the Shire into the Councils of the Great. When they returned to the Shire to find that Saruman's agents had subverted their homeland, they roused their people and led a rebellion which swiftly threw off the yoke of oppression.

In the end Gandalf took ship with Elrond, Galadriel, Bilbo, Frodo, and many Eldar who were no longer content to remain in Middle-earth. His last words were spoken to hobbits "Go in peace! I will not say do not weep; for not all tears are an evil." Yet his spirit undoubtedly remained with them ever afterward, watching over them.