Yesterday I reread an old
Mythlore Magazine (sponsored by the Mythopoeic Society) article about the Trickster in fantasy and myth. The author identified Gandalf, in
The Hobbit, as fitting the Trickster archetype, in the following ways:
- he tricks Bilbo into joining the Dwarves as a thief
- he disappears suddenly with no explanation just before the party meets up with the Trolls
- he reappears - again with no explanation - to get the Dwarves and Bilbo out of their fix with the Trolls
- he disappears just when the Goblins capture the party
- he reappears to save them from the Goblins
- he tricks Beorn into hosting a hobbit and 13 dwarves
- he again leaves without explanation just before they enter Mirkwood
The last thing one can say about a Trickster character is that he is boring! But it's clear that Tolkien had to change, or at least explain, this kind of behavior in the context of his more serious sequel to
The Hobbit.