Two Questions about Gandalf in the Undying Lands

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Alfirin

So my question is as follows; once the boat got to Tol Erresea, do you think Gandalf stayed around there for a while (defined as "until Bilbo, Frodo, Sam and Gimi died) or did he immediately head off for Aman itself. On one hand, he might stick around so that the hobbits and gimli wold have some familar faces around.

I don't see an issue with Gandalf traveling back and forth from Aman to Eressëa as he pleased. As you note, Gandalf was in a different category than any other of the ship's passengers, and he could presumably keep the hobbits and Gimli company as long as their natural lives endured.

Originally Posted by Alfirin

(I still maintain that Elrond, Gadriel, Gandalf and two hobbits is a rather small crew to sail a grey havens boat (especially as neither hobbit probably knows much of sailing) (Yes, Legolas manages with a crew of two, but he built his boat so he probably bult a smaller one than an official "grey havens special" so I think they may have been other elves on the boat of lesser importance (members of Elronds, Galdriels and Cirdan's courts also making the journey) to do the actual crew work.

I think you're right. The reader isn't told the total number on board the ship, and I always for the idea that Elrond, Gandalf, et. al, were not required or expected to contribute to the actual sailing tasks.

Originally Posted by Alfirin

2. Once he gets to the Undying lands, does Gandalf stay....well....Gandalf. The Unfished Tales say the Ishatri came to Middle Earth in the guise of old men, which seems to indicate that that is not their default appearance (I know maiar can shapeshif in thier non-incarnate state, but the meetings between them and the rest of the people seem to indicate that most have some body form that is a preferred "default" one. Presumaby, now that Gandalfs mission is over, and he is no longer under the strictures of the mission, he is no longer obligated to keep that form. So do you think he does. I can sort of imagine him keeping it as long as Frodo and Bilbo are around, for the same reason I stated above for him possibly sticking around Tol Erresea, so they have something familar. But has Gandalf gotten so used to being Gandalf that that is how he will stay, or will he turn back into whatever he looked like when he was Olorin?

Well, we are told in The Silmarillion that the Valar and Maia were capable of presenting themselves in any form, or in no perceivable form, at all. The difference with the Istari in Middle-earth was that they were bound to permanently inhabit those bodies while there. After Gandalf's return to the West, he should have no longer been subject to that rule.