In LOTR are wizards men?
no
Wizards are Maiar who take the forms of men.
For the Tolkien-impaired, the Wizards (Istari) are a minor form of “angel” equal in power to the Balrog and (technically) Sauron. They were forbidden from using their power directly when they were sent to Middle-Earth, however, which is why they didn’t just assault Sauron and destroy him.
Gandalff also had a ring (one of the “three”)
So the Balrog is the joint top most powerful thing in middle earth too? hmm interesting. Also do we ever learn from where they are sent, or is it the grey havens?
::minor hijack::
Does anyone know if the ‘Lost Tales’ are a good read? I have read and re-read lotr, unfinished tales etc and curious about more Tolkien goodness
yes, and also Silmarillion (sp?)
The Silmarillion Answers the OP’s question and many others.
They are DE-VO!!
Sorry, couldn’t resist…:o
o/They tell us that we gained our staffs evolving up from low seraphs. I say it's all garderobe shafts. Are we not men? We are wiiiizards! Are we not men? M-A-I-A! o/
Please don’t hit me! cringe
The wizards, balrog and Sauron are all Maiar, Maia is the singular. They are of the lesser order of “angels”. They are not necessarily equal in power to each other, and in my opinion that is highly doubtful. As far as raw power goes, I think that Sauron was far more powerful than most of the other evil Maiar. Saruman rather handily bests Gandalf in their first encounter where Gandalf is imprisoned on the roof. Surprise and home court advantage may have had a lot to do with that. But there really is no evidence that they were of equal stature.
I was going to make a point that Sauron appears to have been one of the more powerful Maiar (just as Melkor was initially the greatest of the Valar in power…did Tolkien ever explicitly mention a deliberate correlation between power and corruption in relation to these two?), but thought it might confuse the issue more.
And Saruman was appointed the head of the Istari initially, so would have been granted greater power than the others.
Sauron appears to have been particularly powerful, although he is bested by Luthien in wizardly combat in the First Age. Luthein is the daughter of the very powerful Maia Melian and the powerful Elf Elu Thingol. IIRC, Huan, the Hound of Valinor, tired Sauron out first.
Gandalf does not appear to have been especially powerful, but rather relied on his considerable wits and inspiring others. This seems a very intentional point Tolkien is making.
I am Sparticus, your point about Gandalf’s powers is correct, but is too limited. All of the Wizards were forbidden to use their powers overtly. All of them were sent to Middle-Earth to inspire the Free Peoples to resist Sauron, not to fight Sauron themselves. It was Saruman’s defiance of this prohibition that caused his downfall, disgrace, and defrocking. His hunger for the Ring was only a symptom of his abandonment of the mandate that the whole order of Istari were given, to inspire and subtly guide rather than to confront the Enemy with power.
So, while I agree that Saruman was the more powerful Maia until Gandalf’s resurrection, Gandalf was hindered as much by his loyalty to the orders of the Valar as he was by any innate inferiority of power.
And it should be noted, as a totally useless aside, that not only did Luthien defeat Sauron, she managed to lull Morgoth (a Vala!) to sleep long enough for Beren to cut a Silmaril out of his Iron Crown.
I’ve always wondered why, if Gandalf was under orders to sort of keep his light under a bushel, he kept one of the rings for so long. The only thing he ever seemed to use it for was for inspiring people like Theoden and Bilbo to be more ambitious. I know it all worked out in the end, but wouldn’t it have made more sense to give it to someone who could use it freely?
he kept it so it wouldn’t used wrongly
it was under the power of the one, too, so any user could have been seduced by the dark side, regardless of good intentions.
the beginning of The Silmarillion reads like a Middle Earth Bible to me. Anyone else?
** NoClueBoy **, I agree that the Ainulindale and the Valaquenta at the start of the Silmarillion can be very dry and bible-like. Whenever I’ve recommended the book to someone I’ve suggested that they just go straight to the Quenta Silmarillion, and dive straight in. I’d also say that any first time reader needs to keep an eye on the genealogical charts as the family relationships between the Elves are important to the narrative, plus it helps to keep track of vthe very large number of characters.
The thing that I’ve always admired most about the Silmarillion is its sheer scope. The events of the Lord of the Rings are dealt with in only a few paragraphs…
One should read The Silmarillion with a copy of Atlas of Middle-Earth on hand. It clarifies the subject quite nicely!