We all know the character of the Istari, one of the five who the Valar sent to confront the threat of Sauron.
Also called Olórin, this Ainur was a tall older man with a long, thick white beard, aquiline nose, long eyebrows, and a deep voice.
Some say that Tolkien was inspired by Odin when creating Gandalf’s appearance since the Norse god dressed like the wizard when he decided to travel among mortals.
As soon as he arrived, Círdan knew that Gandalf was the wisest of the Istari, although a priori, he might seem to be just one more in the service of Saruman the White, the most powerful of the wizards and in charge of leading the rest.
That is why Círdan gave him one of the three magical rings of the Elves, Narya, the Ring of Fire, which would enhance Gandalf’s abilities to instill courage and hope in those lucky enough to cross him.
A member of the White Council, he was among the first to warn of the time of Sauron’s return in the Third Age, beginning his true task for which he had been sent from Valinor: to help the Free Peoples of Middle-earth to put an end once and for all to the Dark Lord’s menace.
During his long years of shadowy battle, his achievements were legendary:
He managed to discover that the ring possessed by Bilbo Baggins was Sauron’s One Ring.
Trusted the hobbits to destroy it.
Guided the Company of the Ring on its mission.
Defeated a Balrog of Morgoth in Moria.
He freed King Théoden of Rohan from his curse caused by Saruman, whom he defeated by taking his place as Gandalf the White.
Participated in the victory of Rohan over Isengard.
Helped Aragorn in his destiny as the future king of Gondor.
Led the defense of Minas Tirith during the Battle of Pelennor.
The list is endless, and these achievements (among others) appear written on the pages of the books. We are direct witnesses to these exploits (although the Balrog would not enter, as the battle begins in the foreground, we will make an exception) in real-time as the plot progresses before our eyes and takes shape in our imagination.
However, the crucial moment of Gandalf’s mission occurred in a secondary plane during the story that preceded the War of the Ring: the adventure he lived with Bilbo and Thorin Oakenshield’s Company in The Hobbit.
It might seem a minor story, simply an adventure that was the circumstance by which the One Ring came out of the shadows to return to Middle-earth’s light after centuries under Gollum’s caves.
But what is interesting about the story of The Hobbit, about that adventure undertaken by Gandalf that seemed far from his primary mission, was perhaps the riskiest move and the one that did the most damage, in an indirect way, to Sauron for a long time.
Gandalf, a true pilgrim moving all over Middle-earth, had information about everything happening in every corner. He knew, for example, of the long and bloody battles in the Ered Mithrin, where Dwarves and Northmen fought for centuries against the surviving dragons of the War of Wrath.
He also knew that one of those dragons fled south and destroyed the Dwarven kingdom of Erebor in the Lonely Mountain. That dragon was Smaug, who stayed under the mountain for a long time during the last two centuries of the third millennium of the Third Age.
A perfect storm of various factors was beginning to converge at the end of the millennium, and Gandalf knew it.
With Sauron re-emerging in force in Mordor (although the White Council expelled him from Mirkwood, his existence was bound up with that of the One Ring), Gandalf knew that the Dark Lord would not hesitate to draw Smaug to his side. However, it would take time because the dragon’s power was ancient and plentiful.
The alliance between the Dark Lord and the dragon was becoming a worrisome possibility. However, the wizard’s tasks were many and in many places, so he could not pay due attention to this threat even though it was always on his mind. At some point, however, he learned that Sauron had already sent emissaries to grope Smaug.
Gandalf decided to act, drawing on all his wisdom and knowledge of the people who populated Middle-earth; he knew every family tree of great families of all races and every heir, petty lord, king, and prince in every corner.
He knew, then, the disgrace of the kingdom of Erebor and the humiliation of the line of Thor, the last King Under the Mountain. He also knew Thorin, his son, and his desire to regain what had been taken from him.
Knowing of the threat in the East and Thorin’s history, Gandalf calculated costs and decided to gamble at that crucial point.
First, it meant putting Sauron on guard and accelerating his plans at a time when the Free Peoples were not prepared to defend themselves. They were not because they were in a fragile military balance, engaged in minor conflicts on their borders, which could not be upset by a mass gathering. The wizard knew he could not raise an army to attack Smaug.
Gandalf knew he could not undertake a big operation; it would take an infiltration action and much luck. Thus he convinced Thorin to assemble a group of dwarves, who would accomplish the feat of slaying Smaug and reclaiming the Dwarven Kingdom of Erebor.
It might seem that Gandalf duped the dwarves to achieve his true intention, to end any alliance between the dragon and Dark Lord. However, it must be said in his favor that the wizard grew fond of them over the millennia in which he had lived with the Free Races.
So we could say that in the Erebor mission, there were two genuine feelings: the one to destroy Smaug and the one to recover the home of Thorin’s house.
Bilbo Baggins’ appearance on the scene was one of those cases in which chance and small decisions lead to something much bigger.
Be that as it may, Gandalf managed with a risky gamble (who would have imagined that a group of 13 dwarves and a Halfling would make it possible for Smaug to be eliminated?) to prevent an alliance between Sauron and one of Melkor’s beasts, which would have meant the absolute defeat of the Free Peoples of Middle-earth.
Curiously, a similar strategy would be employed during the War of the Ring, with the creation of the Company of the Ring and its journey to Mordor.
The Elf Círdan had a good eye, for Gandalf undoubtedly proved with this bold and risky move that he was Middle-earth’s wisest character.