A secret weapon? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

littlemanpoet · 04-23-2007, 03:33 PM

Ever seen a really old man whose wife did not clip his eyebrows? I've had to yank mine now for the last 5 years, and I'm only in my 40s. Imagine a Gandalf the Grey who has been around for thousands of years, his eyebrows constantly growing like an old man's does, and he not giving tuppence about it because he has more important things to worry about. It's part of Tolkien's means of hinting at how old Gandalf is, or at least how long he's been around. Sorry for a rather "Books" post, but I thought I'd suggest what Tolkien probably meant by it.

04-23-2007, 03:33 PM	#7
littlemanpoet Itinerant Songster Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: The Edge of Faerie Posts: 7,066	Ever seen a really old man whose wife did not clip his eyebrows? I've had to yank mine now for the last 5 years, and I'm only in my 40s. Imagine a Gandalf the Grey who has been around for thousands of years, his eyebrows constantly growing like an old man's does, and he not giving tuppence about it because he has more important things to worry about. It's part of Tolkien's means of hinting at how old Gandalf is, or at least how long he's been around. Sorry for a rather "Books" post, but I thought I'd suggest what Tolkien probably meant by it.