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Originally Posted by William Cloud Hickli
Ah, but A-S Saemwis translates 'semi-wise, half-wise'........
After all, it's Sam's *lack* of wisdom which thwarts Gollum's near-repentance. Nor does he initially trust Strider or Faramir, whilst Frodo perceives their natures. What Sam has is good plain Hobbit-sense, as well as dogged loyalty; but that's not the whole of wisdom.
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I think his reactions to bearing the Ring are very telling. He seems to know that what he experiences is not 'right' - of course this could be due to him wearing the Ring for the first time, but he has a particularly powerful reaction to it and responds with strength and wisdom. Maybe he has a lot more Hobbit-sense than Frodo...
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Originally Posted by Mansun
Do you wish Gandalf to always be right? The LOTR would be over within 100 pages if that were the case. The wisest need not be always right (& cannot be anyway) - what counts is the means, designs, intelligence, application & knowledge of the Loremaster.
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Well exactly. If Tolkien threw us an all-powerful Wizard out there then it would soon become a boring story, rather like when you are watching a predictable action film and you stop feeling any suspense because it dawns on you that this guy is
just not going to fail to save the girl/world/universe
In Tolkien's work though, we don't get that as even Gandalf can act the buffoon - and there is the masterstroke of having him 'die' in Moria - when I read that for the first time I was convinced he was a goner.
The best and most satisfying heroes, whether intellectual heroes or action ones and Tolkien gives us some great examples, have failings and flaws. Of course, nobody likes a smart arris, so there's another reason Tolkien may have given Gandalf a bumbling side