Editing Gandalf (section)

=== Name ===
When writing ''[[The Hobbit]]'' in the early 1930s Tolkien gave the name ''Gandalf'' to the leader of the [[Dwarf (Middle-earth)|Dwarves]], the character later called [[Thorin Oakenshield]]. The name is taken from the same source as all the other Dwarf names (save [[Balin (Middle-earth)|Balin]]) in ''The Hobbit'': the "[[Norse dwarves#Dvergatal: the list of the Dvergar|Catalogue of Dwarves]]" in the ''[[Völuspá]]''.<ref>{{ME-ref|Solopova|p. 20}}</ref> The [[Old Norse]] name ''{{lang|non|Gandalfr}}'' incorporates the words ''{{lang|non|gandr}}'' meaning "wand", "staff" or (especially in compounds) "[[Magic (paranormal)|magic]]" and ''{{lang|non|álfr}}'' "[[elf]]". The name ''[[Gandalf (Norse mythology)|Gandalf]]'' is found in at least one more place in Norse myth, in the semi-historical [[Heimskringla]], which briefly describes [[Gandalf Alfgeirsson]], a legendary Norse king from eastern Norway and rival of [[Halfdan the Black]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://mcllibrary.org/Heimskringla/ |title=Halfdan the Black Saga (Ch. 1. Halfdan Fights Gandalf and Sigtryg) in Snorri Sturluson, ''Heimskringla: A History of the Norse Kings'', transl. Samuel Laing (Norroena Society, London, 1907) |publisher=mcllibrary.org |access-date=22 March 2018 |quote=The same autumn he went with an army to Vingulmark against King Gandalf. They had many battles, and sometimes one, sometimes the other gained the victory; but at last they agreed that Halfdan should have half of Vingulmark, as his father Gudrod had had it before. |archive-date=6 April 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110406185638/http://mcllibrary.org/Heimskringla/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Gandalf is also the name of a Norse sea-king in [[Henrik Ibsen]]'s second play, ''[[The Burial Mound]]''. The name "Gandolf" occurs as a character in [[William Morris]]' 1896 fantasy novel ''[[The Well at the World's End]]'', along with the horse "Silverfax", adapted by Tolkien as Gandalf's horse "Shadowfax". Morris' book, inspired by Norse myth, is set in a pseudo-[[medieval]] landscape; it deeply influenced Tolkien. The wizard that became Gandalf was originally named ''Bladorthin''.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1988|p=ix}}</ref>

Tolkien came to regret his ''ad hoc'' use of [[Old Norse]] names, referring to a "rabble of [[Elder Edda|edda]]ic-named dwarves,&nbsp;... invented in an idle hour" in 1937.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1988|p=452}}</ref> But the decision to use Old Norse names came to have far-reaching consequences in the composition of ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''; in 1942, Tolkien decided that the work was to be a purported translation from the [[fictional language]] of [[Westron]], and in the English translation [[Old Norse]] names were taken to represent names in the language of [[Dale (Middle-earth)|Dale]].<ref>{{cite web |first=Tom |last=Shippey |author-link=Tom Shippey |url=http://www.nordals.hi.is/shippey.html |publisher=Nordals.hi.is |quote=We know that Tolkien had great difficulty in getting his story going. In my opinion, he did not break through until, on February 9, 1942, he settled the issue of languages |title=Tolkien and Iceland: The Philology of Envy |access-date=11 November 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050830092501/http://www.nordals.hi.is/shippey.html |archive-date=30 August 2005}}</ref> ''Gandalf'', in this setting, is thus a representation in English (anglicised from Old Norse) of the name the Dwarves of Erebor had given to Olórin in the language they used "externally" in their daily affairs, while ''Tharkûn'' is the (untranslated) name, presumably of the same meaning, that the Dwarves gave him in their native [[Khuzdul]] language.<ref group=T>{{harvnb|Tolkien|1975}}</ref>