Eminence Grise-or "Grey is the new White"

[Lalwendë]

I've often wondered if there is a connection between Gandalf's personality and the colour he is 'assigned'. He is clearly on the side of Light to us as readers, but this is not always the case to the inhabitants of Middle Earth, as some view him as untrustworthy. Interestingly, one of his nicknames, Stormcrow, comes from his tendency to arrive bearing bad news; storms are also associated with the colour grey.

Gandalf can also raise questions about seemingly clear cut moral matters, as shown in his discussion with Frodo about Gollum. Frodo cannot work out why Gollum deserves to live, he is a 'bad guy' and is dangerous. But Gandalf points out that despite all this, who are we to say who ought to live or die? Grey symbolises an area somewhere between absolute good and absolute evil, as in calling a moral matter 'a grey area'. In his advice, he is rarely didactic, instead prompting people to consider matters for themselves.

But then Gandalf is also not always grey, he is also white, and does his personality and behaviour change all that much after the change?

Grey is a gentle colour, which is why I think it may have been chosen as a characteristic eye colour for Numenorian Men. It also has some connotations of wisdom as it is associated with age (though I don't feel any wiser as I get more grey ). Grey is also the colour of mist and fog, which may confer a magical quality to anyone clothed in grey, or who has grey, 'misty' eyes. That Elven cloaks are described as being grey could be a very poetic use of language, associating their camouflaging qualities with mists.

Originally Posted by Anguirel

The Lord of the Rings is a book that so ennobles the underappreciated colour grey that you'd think it had been written by the Civil Service.

It would have been a lot longer if it had been.