"I am one reason"

Lincoln Alpern

Active Member
When explaining why Frodo has a place of honor in the house of Elrond, Gandalf jokingly says he himself is one reason; his endorsement alone is sufficient cause to hold a person in high regard. (I can't find my copy of the book right now, so I can't quote the text directly, but that's the gist.)

This got me thinking. Gandalf can be humble, but I can't think of any instances of him displaying false modesty. On the other hand, I can think of plenty of instances of Gandalf asserting his own authority and status, often in a position of superiority over others. Often, as here, he tempers the assertion with humor, but not always, and even those times, the sense I get is more of Gandalf mixing the truth with levity, rather than being straight sarcastic.

I think we can safely conclude that while boasting is not a virtue in Middle-earth, being forthright about one's own status and superiority is not necessarily a vice.
 
Yeah that's fair. There's no moral failing in accurately assessing and acknowledging your place in the world, despite the trend toward false modesty in some circles of polite company.
 
I think that is totally true! And really interesting to watch. Like his line: "You may not have noticed[the boulders]".
 
I recall after the "resurrection" of Gandalf the White, he is described as "less grumpy" or "more joyful" (or something to that effect) than Gandalf the Grey. When I think of the lack of humility you're referring to above, this is the kind of "grumpy" thing I think about (along with "fool of a Took!"). I can't recall offhand, but I'd be interested to see if there are any similar situations with Gandalf the White?
 
When I think of the lack of humility you're referring to above, this is the kind of "grumpy" thing I think about (along with "fool of a Took!"). I can't recall offhand, but I'd be interested to see if there are any similar situations with Gandalf the White?
Gandalf seems a bit "grumpy" in the scenes with Pippin and Denethor. . . but the grumpiness is mostly directed at Denethor: he's pretty gentle towards Pippin.
 
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