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im always get confused when gandalf does something or more importantly CANT do something...allrigth hes like almost all powerful and move stuff with his stick.....shouldnt he be more than a cane-weilding old man when in battle? any other comments about how wizards work in LotR are appreceiated

oh and one more thing, did gandalf really really die or just pass death by....more about Wizards i dont get....and why did he ride a horse so slowly...being dead and all i figured he could will to be somewhere and it would happen....did sauramon die earlier before LotR to become a white wizard? jw

Tolkien-Wizards are not like Harry-Potter-Wizards.
They cant take their staff, say some stupid words and than some magic happens, they use the power that is given to them by the earth - gandalf is also supported by the undying flame of arda, which together with his Narya makes him quite powerful in fiery things (see fireworks, balrog: "I'm a wielder of the flame of Anor" or something... Anor is the Sun...)

No, Gandalf really died, but he was sent back to finish his work.

Saruman hasnt died (or better its not known that he died), he was the white wizard and head of the white council from the beginning, but then (not in the film) he became Saruman the colourful (he says that white light actually contains all colours) while gandalf changed his colour to white, leaving behind his old grey life.

well i knew he wasnt a HP wizard but still...he seems to only be able to use proportional forces...like he cant throw a muskrat across the room like he could sarumon or somethign like that....he has to be "fair" (i think thats the best word for it)

yes, there are no "Fireball" spells in middle earth, all the magic of the lands are drawn from the rings that Sauron made. Gandalf is an immortal more or less, but he is still bound by the laws of nature, hence he cant warp to different locations. He had to leave for Valinor because when the Ring was destroyed so was all magic in Middle Earth. This is Also why the elves left.

But Sauron did not create the magic
He just captured it and thus parts of it were destroyed.

and if you recall he is very dangerous in battle, duel wielding his staff and sword. How many wizards do you recall carrying a sword??? not many, but in middle earth he has too.

True exa but the Rings harnessed the magic, much like the Carcker jack prize harnessed the Shwartz in spaceballs!!!

yeah i saw him with a sword...but i just kept thinking "just blow them into tiny bits liek you tried to do with sauramon in FotR!"

Gandalf was the pimp with that sword and staff in RotK at Minas Tiroth.

well i always think the reason gandalf does not just use his magic to destroy everything in his way, I.E orcs, because he is sent as a type of guardian, to watch over the peoples of middle earth and make sure they arent destroyed, to help but also let people fight there own battles, so they wouldnt become overly dependent