Skip to main content

tolkiens legendarium - How much of Gandalf's power is tied to his staff?


Before Gandalf freed Théoden from Saruman/Gríma's hold, he refused to give away his staff.



Háma: I cannot allow you before Théoden King so armed, Gandalf Greyhame... by order of Gríma Wormtongue.
[Gandalf nods, and they hand over their weapons]
Háma: Your staff.
Gandalf: Oh... you would not part an old man from his walking stick?



After that, while he was breaking theirs hold on him, Gríma shouted to the guards




His staff! I told you to take the wizard's staff!



But what if he was denied the use of his staff? How much of his power is tied to his staff? Is he harmless/defenseless without his staff? If his staff is taken by an other magically capable being, how much of Gandalf's power would it have?



Answer



I couldn't find anything directly related to this in canon, but circumstancially, the staff seems to be needed to help express the magic of the Istari, but is not required/critical to it.


In this way, it seems somewhat akin to wands in Harry Potter - a good wizard can do magic without a wand but the wand helps focus the magic.


On the side of the staff helping magical usage:





  • Gandalf uses his staff to break the bridge on which the Balrog is advancing




  • Gandalf's staff is used to send a signal to the Giant Eagle to help escape from Orthanc.




  • Gandalf the White breaks Saruman's staff after asking to surrender it.


    This is a really weak and inconclusive data point, since it may have had more of a symbolic/moral meaning than practical.





On the side of the staff not being critical:




  • As per FotR, Gandalf was allowed by Saruman to keep his staff when captured (see the quote below pertaining to Frodo's seeing Gandalf's escape in a dream). If the staff was so critical to his ability to do magic, surely Saruman would have taken it from Gandalf!



    In the dead night, Frodo lay in a dream without light. ... The figure [Gandalf] lifted his arms and a light flashed from the staff that he wielded. A mighty eagle swept down and bore him away...





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more