this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2025
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[–] DragonTypeWyvern@midwest.social 8 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

Wrong.

Some of Tolkien's specific inspirations were the Germanic Sagas, including the Nibelungenlied and Volsunga Saga.

A theme of both is that heros are often descendants of the Aesir, specifically Odin, and Gandalf is patterned after Odin to an undeniable degree, a wise and enigmatic warrior-mage often depicted as grey cloaked, proficient in rune lore, carrying a staff or spear.

Not only that, Gandalf means elf with a stick, and a common theory for his origin among the men that knew he lived longer than mortals is that he was literally just an elf.

Tolkien may or may not have specifically intended it, but he'd certainly agree that you could read it that way with the influences he drew from, and it is also a special point of his Middle Earth (aka Midgard btw) that the history they tell isn't necessarily the history that happened. The hobbits having forgotten that it was Gandalf banging GranGran Took or mistaking him as an elf isn't just a likely theory, it's a probable one. Further, we also know that Maia WILL marry and have children from some of his other histories.

Or not, and it was just an elf who died or returned to Valinor, with Gandalf just keeping an eye on the line! He's tricky like that.