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Old 02-19-2003, 04:39 PM   #60
Keeper of Dol Guldur
Shade of Carn Dûm
 
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Sting

I'm not so certain Gandalf is so close to the sun, so to speak. I'd tend to say by wielding the flame of Anor, he meant the ring, because from an 'elemental' standpoint, he as Olorin was a servant and helper of Manwe, who was the lord of winds. This of course explains Gandalf's friendship with the great Eagles, (though as Gandalf the Istari he is somewhat different from Olorin). Limited to the confines of human physicality, he could not truly wield flame in the same manner one would expect, although in "The Hobbit" he threw down bolts of flame at the howling Wargs and ignited and killed tons of them. But spirit of fire, he is not. Which is why I tended to say the ring Narya, is the flame of Anor. Of course, Vilya was not the water droplet of Anor, nor was Nenya the Adamant of Anor, so it doesn't truly make sense. Of course, the Balrog is flame of Udun, because Balrogs have always represented ravaging fires, and they dwelt in Hell (whether the depths of the earth, or Utumno, or of the later wastes and gates of Angband. Udun is another name for the great volcanic ring that acted as the gates to Mordor, but Sauron was not in command of any of the Valaraukar, ever, for his own purposes. Servant of the Secret Fire? This could not refer to his being Istari, as Radagast was sent to deal more specifically with nature, while Gandalf specialized in aiding Men (and Hobbits), and Saruman elves. So what secret fire, did he serve? The sun was hardly a secret, his ring however, was kept secret until the very end, so I'll say again I tend to believe that the ring is what he refers to.
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