Editing Gandalf (section)

== Names ==

[[File:Emblema Gandalf.svg|thumb|upright=0.5|[[Cirth|Certh]] [[rune]] no. 19 "G", used by Gandalf as a personal [[sign]] or [[seal (emblem)|seal]]]]

=== Etymology ===

Tolkien derived the name ''Gandalf'' from Gandálfr, a [[Norse dwarf|dwarf]] in the [[Völuspá]]'s ''Dvergatal'', a list of dwarf-names.<ref>{{cite book |first=John D. |last=Rateliff |author-link=John D. Rateliff |series=[[The History of The Hobbit]] |volume=2 |title=Return to Bag-End |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |date=2007 |page=Appendix III |no-pp=true |isbn=978-0-00-725066-0}}</ref> In [[Old Norse]], the name means ''staff-elf''. This is reflected in his name ''Tharkûn'', which is "said to mean 'Staff-man'" in [[Khuzdul]], the [[Languages constructed by J. R. R. Tolkien|language Tolkien invented]] for his [[Dwarves in Middle-earth|Dwarves]].<ref name="Istari" group=T/>

=== In-universe names ===

Gandalf is given several names and epithets in Tolkien's writings. [[Faramir]] calls him the Grey Pilgrim, and reports Gandalf as saying, "Many are my names in many countries. ''Mithrandir''{{efn|Meaning "Grey Pilgrim"}} among the [[Elf (Middle-earth)|Elves]], Tharkûn to the [[Dwarf (Middle-earth)|Dwarves]], [[#Valinor|Olórin I was in my youth in the West]] that is forgotten, in the South Incánus, in the North ''Gandalf''; to [[Rhûn|the East]] I go not."<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1954|loc=book 4, ch. 5, "The Window on the West"}}</ref> In an early draft of ''[[The Hobbit]]'', he is called ''Bladorthin'', while the dwarf who was later named [[Thorin Oakenshield]] is named Gandalf.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rateliff |first=John D. |author-link=John D. Rateliff |series=[[The History of The Hobbit]] |volume=1 |title=Mr. Baggins |publisher=[[HarperCollins]] |date=2007 |at=Chapter I(b) |isbn=978-0-00-725066-0}}</ref>

Each [[Wizard (Middle-earth)|Wizard]] is distinguished by the colour of his cloak. For most of his manifestation as a wizard, Gandalf's cloak is grey, hence the names Gandalf ''the Grey'' and Greyhame, from Old English [[wikt:hame|hama]], "cover, skin". ''Mithrandir'' is a name in [[Sindarin]] meaning "Grey Pilgrim" or "Grey Wanderer". Midway through ''The Lord of the Rings'', Gandalf becomes the head of the order of Wizards, and is renamed [[#Gandalf the White|Gandalf the White]]. This change in status (and clothing) introduces another name for the wizard: the White Rider. However, characters who speak Elvish still refer to him as ''Mithrandir''. At times in ''The Lord of the Rings'', other characters address Gandalf by insulting nicknames: Stormcrow, ''Láthspell'' ("Ill-news" in [[Old English]]), and "Grey Fool".<ref name="Istari" group=T/>