Wandering wizard

The Wandering wizard is a recurring figure in the folklore of the Shire, a being of immense age and power who appears unpredictably to set remarkable events in motion. In The Hobbit, this figure is embodied by Gandalf, whose arrival at Bilbo Baggins's hobbit-hole one morning initiates the entire adventure, and whose interventions at critical moments repeatedly shape the quest's outcome. More than a mere helper, Gandalf embodies the archetype of the wandering wizard: a catalyst who selects unlikely heroes, arranges perilous encounters, and withdraws at key junctures to allow his charges to grow, while his own mysterious purposes—such as his confrontation with the Necromancer—operate on a scale far beyond the dwarves' treasure hunt.

Identity and Reputation

Gandalf is introduced as an old man with a tall pointed blue hat, a long grey cloak, a silver scarf, and immense black boots, carrying a staff. Bilbo, upon recognizing him, recalls a figure from his childhood: the wandering wizard who gave Old Took a pair of magic diamond studs that fastened themselves and never came undone till ordered, who told wonderful tales at parties about dragons and goblins and giants, and who made particularly excellent fireworks that went up like great lilies and snapdragons and laburnums of fire. Bilbo also remembers that Gandalf was responsible for many quiet lads and lasses going off into the Blue for mad adventures, from climbing trees to visiting elves or sailing in ships to other shores. The hobbits had almost forgotten what he looked like, for he had not been down that way under The Hill for ages and ages, not since his friend the Old Took died. Gandalf himself notes that he has been away over The Hill and across The Water on businesses of his own. His reputation is that of a being whose presence inevitably sprouts tales and adventures in the most extraordinary fashion.

Role as Catalyst and Selector

Gandalf's defining function in the story is to choose and propel the protagonist. He tells Bilbo, "I am looking for someone to share in an adventure that I am arranging, and it's very difficult to find anyone." When Bilbo refuses, Gandalf insists, "I will go so far as to send you on this adventure. Very amusing for me, very good for you—and profitable too, very likely, if you ever get over it." He scratches a queer sign on Bilbo's green front-door, a mark that Gloin later interprets as the usual one in the trade: "Burglar wants a good job, plenty of Excitement and reasonable Reward." Gandalf defends his choice to the skeptical dwarves, declaring, "I have chosen Mr. Baggins and that ought to be enough for all of you. If I say he is a Burglar, a Burglar he is, or will be when the time comes. There is a lot more in him than you guess, and a deal more than he has any idea of himself." He also reveals that he obtained Thror's Map from Thrain, Thorin's father, whom he found a prisoner in the dungeons of the Necromancer, a dangerous business from which he himself only just escaped. This establishes Gandalf as a figure who operates on a plane of knowledge far beyond the immediate quest, connecting the dwarves' errand to larger conflicts.

Interventions and Withdrawals

Throughout the journey, Gandalf appears and disappears at crucial moments. He saves the company from the trolls by mimicking their voices and keeping them arguing until dawn turns them to stone. He kills the Great Goblin in the caverns beneath the Misty Mountains, using his sword Glamdring, and leads the dwarves in their escape. He orchestrates the rescue by the Great Eagles when the company is trapped in trees by Wargs and goblins. Yet he also deliberately withdraws. At the Carrock, he announces, "I always meant to see you all safe (if possible) over the mountains... but after all this is not my adventure. I may look in on it again before it is all over, but in the meanwhile I have some other pressing business to attend to." He leaves the company at the edge of Mirkwood, insisting, "I am sending Mr. Baggins with you. I have told you before that he has more about him than you guess, and you will find that out before long." This withdrawal forces the dwarves and Bilbo to rely on their own resources, fulfilling Gandalf's design of fostering growth through ordeal.

Larger Purposes and Final Revelation

Gandalf's other business is revealed only at the end of the tale. In Rivendell, Bilbo overhears Gandalf telling Elrond that he had been to a great council of the white wizards, masters of lore and good magic, and that they had at last driven the Necromancer from his dark hold in the south of Mirkwood. Gandalf says, "Ere long now, the Forest will grow somewhat more wholesome. The North will be freed from that horror for many long years, I hope." This confirms that the wandering wizard's seemingly capricious comings and goings are part of a coherent, larger strategy against evil. In the final conversation of the book, Gandalf tells Bilbo, "You don't really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!" This encapsulates the wandering wizard's perspective: he sees the individual adventure as a thread in a vast tapestry, and his own role as that of a weaver who nudges events toward a pattern only he fully comprehends.