I have read the phrase “I am known by many names” in Bored of the Rings, and it seems that they are quoting it as a well known quotation. I googled it, but all of our little d&d friends seem to have rendered google inert for my purposes.
can anybody tell me from where it came…originally?
thanks,
hh
In LOTR, Gandalf says that at some point, though I don’t remember where, and tells the names by which he is known to various peoples and countries…Mithrandir to the Elves, Gandalf to Men and Hobbits, and Incanus to the Haradrim.
Maybe influenced by Luke 8:27-30:
Or the opening lines of Godspell:
Faramir quotes Gandalf “many are my names” when he first meets Frodo.
From The Two Towers, Book Four, Chapter V, “The Window on the West”
Frodo and Sam have met up with Faramir, who says:
So for those more familiar with LotR than I am, I have a question. I’ve always been curious about this statement - what is the “west that is forgotten”? And who calls him “Incanus”? Why doesn’t he go to the east? Can anyone explain the entirety of that quote? Is there context for it in The Silmarillion or something?
The context for almost all of it is in Appendix A of The Return of the King. The “west that is forgotten” is Numenor, the previous kingdom of men that was “thrown down and swallowed in the Sea” for trying to attack the Undying Lands at the end of the Second Age.
The appendix doesn’t say who lives in the South. Someone does, but they don’t play any part in LotR’s plot.
Gandalf doesn’t go to the East because that’s where Mordor is, and he wouldn’t exactly be welcome or safe.
The ‘West that is forgotten’ is Valinor, where he was known as Olorin. The Istari (wizards) were emissaries sent to Middle Earth by the Valar, and were themselves probably on the level of Maiar, or lesser divine beings. Unfinished Tales, compiled and edited by son Christopher Tolkien, says that there were five Istari:
Gandalf the Grey,
Radagast the Brown,
Saruman the White,
and Two ‘Blue Wizards’ who went East and there possibly became the origin of various magic cults.
Incanus was his name in the far south, probably among the Haradrim. It means “northern spy”. The East, marked “RHUN” on the maps which simply means “east”, was the home of the Easterlings and Wainriders, and Gandalf had little reason to go there. He usually didn’t accomplish his mission by spying out the enemy, but rather by using his powers to motivate Aragorn and other allies with whom he came in contact, and to encourage them. This is seen, for examle, in the cure of Theoden, and in a more lighthearted vein, in egging Bilbo on to adventure in the begging of The Hobbit
Incidentally, the West is “forgotten” because it’s been removed from the Circles of the World. Valinor used to actually lie to the West of Middle-Earth, but the landing of the Armada of Ar-Pharazon led the Valar to lay down their guardianship and allow Eru to reshape the world, so that Valinor could only be gained via “the Straight Road”, in Elven ships that left the bounds of Arda. Since the mortal races had no way to get there (except in a very small number of very special cases), it was “forgotten” by the majority of the world.
It seems to be generally accepted that Gandalf’s identity as Olorin is identical to the Maia Olorin who spent much time in the Gardens of Lorien in Valinor when the World was young.
Evocative of John 14:2, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”
And when Tolkien wrote of the names for Gandalf, I’m pretty sure he had Odin in mind. From the Grimnismal,
I am called Grim, I am called Traveler,
Warrior and Helmet-Wearer,
Agreable, Third, Thuð and Uð,
High-One and Hel-Blinder.
Truth, Change, and Truth-Getter,
Battle-Glad, Abaser, Death-Worker, Hider,
One-Eye, Fire-Eye, Lore-Master, Masked, Deceitful.
Broad-Hat, Broad-Beard, Boat-Lord, Rider,
All-Father, Death-Father, Father of Victory,
But by one name I have never been called
Since I came among men.
Masked I am called in the courts of Geirrod,
But Jalk in Asmund’s Hall,
Keeler they say of the sledge-drawer,
Stirrer-of-Strife at Things,
Vidur on the field of battle,
Equal-High, Shaker, Shout and Wish,
Wand-Bearer, Grey-Beard among gods.
Wise and Sage at Sokkmimir’s
When I hid the old giant:
When I came to Midvitnir’s
The Killer of the Famed One’s Son sat there alone.
You are drunk, dead drunk, Geirrod,
Deprived of reason, deprived of my help,
Of the favor of the fallen, of the favor of Odin.
I have told you much, you remember too little,
Friends betray your trust:
Already I see the sword of my friend,
A blade dripping with blood.
Soon shall Ygg have your sword-struck corpse,
Your life race is run:
Hostile are the incubi, Odin can see,
Draw on me if you dare.
I am now Odin,
I was Ygg before,
Thud my name before that,
Wakeful and Heavens-Roar,
Hanged and Skilfing,
Goth and Jalk among gods,
Unraveler, Sleep-Bringer: they are really one,
Many names for me.
That is from the Auden-Taylor translation.
In 200 Motels, Rance Mohammitz, the Peter Ustinov character (understood to be the Devil) often says, “I have many names.”
He sure does. Old Scratch, Old Nick, Satan, Lucifer, The Prince of Darkness, The Master of the Underworld, etc.
Oy. Once again, I’ve answered a question that was not asked. Sorry. I’m not being helpful when I do that.
This tradition goes way back. Another person of many names:
I am she that is the naturall mother of all things, mistresse and governesse of all the Elements, the initiall progeny of worlds, chiefe of powers divine, Queene of heaven! the principall of the Gods celestiall, the light of the goddesses: at my will the planets of the ayre, the wholesome winds of the Seas, and the silences of hell be diposed; my name, my divinity is adored throughout all the world in divers manners, in variable customes and in many names, for the Phrygians call me the mother of the Gods: the Athenians, Minerva: the Cyprians, Venus: the Candians, Diana: the Sicilians Proserpina: the Eleusians, Ceres: some Juno, other Bellona, other Hecate: and principally the Aethiopians which dwell in the Orient, and the Aegyptians which are excellent in all kind of ancient doctrine, and by their proper ceremonies accustome to worship mee, doe call mee Queene Isis.
From The Golden Ass by Lucius Apuleius “Africanus” (c. A.D. 123/5 - c. A.D. 180)
Translation by William Adlington (First published 1566)