Gandalf

Gandalf is the wizard whose presence frames the entire story of the War of the Ring, appearing first as a familiar figure of Shire legend and last as the guide who leads the Ring-bearers to the Grey Havens. In the Shire he is known chiefly for his skill with fires, smokes, and lights, and his fireworks are the great attraction of Bilbo's party, but his real business is far more difficult and dangerous, a fact the Shire-folk never suspect. He is the one who knows the Ring's history, who names the Black Riders as the Ringwraiths, and who carries the burden of knowledge that the hobbits cannot yet bear. His story is one of descent and return, of a fall into the abyss and a rebirth in white, and it is through him that the reader understands the scale of the conflict that the hobbits have stumbled into.