Comparative Analysis: Gandalf and Dumbledore

All highly respected and powerful wizards we encounter in reading any fantasy book usually have one feature that immediately stands out as a powerful sorcerer to the reader: a long beard. A wizard can’t be very powerful if he isn’t depicted as an elderly man, with a beard so long that he can tuck its end into his belt.

This normal thing about the wise old man with magical abilities derives to a large extent from the depiction of Gandalf the Grey in J. R. R. Tolkien’s fantasy novel: The Hobbit and it’s even more famous successor The Lord of the Rings. The character of Gandalf became not only the primary idea for the description of wizards in literature but it basically created a whole new genre, making Gandalf the grandfather of all wizards, on whose traditional features a lot of authors still rely on.

The less well known and less battle-hardened father of wizard is the certain headmaster of a school for a wizard, invented more than half a century after The Hobbit, J. K. Rowling’s Albus Dumbledore from the Harry Potter series strongly relies on the image of how an experienced magician has to act and look like. In fact, he shares so many similarities with Gandalf that he could be mistaken for his a little less sarcastic younger brother. Not only do they share a striking resemblance when it comes to their appearance, their temper and personality also resemble each other as well as their magical powers and their overall functions within the respective works they come from.

Gandalf and Dumbledore are both extremely old and have had many years of experience when it comes to wizardry in which they can pass on to any loyal followers they have and show them what mistakes they have made and how they can become a better person, both physically, mentally and magically. Dumbledore depicted in the Harry Potter series is much younger then Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings series, he was born in 1881, while Gandalf’s birthdate is unknown but it is known that he is was 2, 019 years old. So it is safe to say the Gandalf has a little more experience when it comes to life. As for their followers which happen to be the main protagonist of the stories, Harry Potter from the Harry Potter series and Frodo Baggins from The Lord of the Rings series, they each have highly amount of respect for both of their masters, and would go to the end of the Earth and Middle Earth for them. When they both eventually pass on in the series, both characters are crushed emotionally and both have to deal with internal conflicts for losing their master.

While Dumbledore is the Headmaster for Hogwarts: School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where young humans that were born with magical powers can go and learn to control and hone in on their magical skills. Gandalf is among the Maia who are among a class of divine beings in Middle Earth, Supernatural and angelic, they are “lesser Ainur” who entered “Eä” in the beginning of time. They both share a very relaxed lifestyle and tell what needs to be told when they are ready. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone on the first day of school, Dumbledore before letting everyone eat has to say four words. He says, “Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!” Gandalf does something very similar in The Hobbit. At Beorn’s camp, Beorn transforms and goes off for two, or so, days and Gandalf disappears for nearly 24 hours. When he comes back the dwarves are desperate to know where has been but before telling them he has to sit down, smoke his pipe and blow smoke bubbles, changing their colors.

They both resist power for they know it would be bad to the rest of the world. Gandalf never touches the One ring because if he becomes attached, he would be unstoppable. Dumbledore falters once with the Gaunt’s ring/ Horcrux (of course it is a ring, but the connection is Voldemort’s soul in the ring), but he resists the Minister of Magic position because he is fearful power will take him over.

Gandalf is the only Wise that knows Hobbit-lore. He is accepting that they are different and likes them. Dumbledore saves Buckbeak the hippogriff from being killed (an oppressed animal) and he allows Lupin to teach at his school (a werewolf). They both have secrets of dark magic that only they know. Gandalf has discovered that the Baggins’ ring is the One Ring. Gandalf knows the most recent happenings of the Ring (from Smeagol thru present) and tells all this to the main character, Frodo. Dumbledore is the only person to discover Voldemort’s secrets and he tells them all to Harry. This would be the full Gaunt story, the orphanage story, and all the other Horcruxes.

Dumbledore uses magic more often. Gandalf uses his powers sparingly (moreso than in the movies but still not that often). Dumbledore is a Transfiguration Master, or we can at least assume so since he taught Transfiguration and the bulk of his ownage of Voldemort utilized Transfiguration. Would he be able to out-magick Gandalf? Dumbledore is a “true wizard”, in the sense that magic is involved. In Tolkien’s world, people call Gandalf a wizard because that’s what they think he is. Gandalf, of course, plays along but he is of a spiritual power. In conclusion, they are both powerful wizards with pure hearts and goodwill, they both aim to make the world a better place. They rose the protagonist of the story up to become better men and taught them how to survive in each of their own worlds.