Gandalf Was the Only Wizard Who Didn't Fail
Why Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange recommends it
Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange users link it as a quick visual summary of Middle-earth's creation myth and hierarchy of beings when answering or framing lore questions.
Recommended by 1 people across 1 different months, 2014 to 2016.
What it is
A 4-minute CGP Grey explainer on Tolkien's legendarium, arguing from the mythology that Gandalf was the only one of the five wizards (Istari) who succeeded in his mission. Along the way it lays out the hierarchy of beings in Middle-earth, from Eru and the Valar to Maiar, Istari and the races.
What people said
Recommends Tim S. · 2014-12 · Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange · on “In The Hobbit, what was the first race created?”
You'll probably be interested in this 4 minute video summary of the LOTR/Hobbit mythology [this video] (consisting largely of what races were created when, by who).
Cites hawkeye · 2015-01 · Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange · on “Were the Hobbit-Five armies rock-eating-worms a Jackson invention or do they have a precedent in middle earth Lore?”
In the Jackson movie "Hobbit - The Five Armies" there appears to be a race of rock-eating worms (similar to Tremors [LINK] ) that assist the Orc army. Now I'm aware Jackson is contractually barred from using Silmarillion material [LINK] . I'm also aware that throughout the books, the dragons are referred to as 'worms' - and that in the ' hierarchy' of Middle Earth [this video] - Balrogs are similar to an Istari [LINK] ('lower angel') similar to Saruman, and Dragons are on the same level as Orcs (not an Istari). We also know that the Orcs [LINK] , Trolls and Goblins were the constructs of Morgoth/Melkor, which he had made by corrupting and breeding humans, Elves and other creatures. My question is
Cites PipperChip · 2015-03 · Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange · on “Origin of Arcane Magic”
I apologize for the length of this post, but it's a burning question. To see the actual questions, scroll down to the quoted text. I advise against this, though, as the intermediary text is pertinent background information. I was intrigued by a question over on the worldbuilding stack exchange [LINK] . To sum up, this question asks about "divine" magic, or magic that involves a deity as a patron who provides the magic effects. In answering that question, I realized that most ancient forms of magic were, at least according to most D&D and other classifications I could think of, "divine." (For those not in the know: Divine magic involves a deity, spirits, or other supernatural creatures, where
Cites Matthew Stevenson · 2016-07 · Science Fiction & Fantasy Stack Exchange · on “Was Sauron always evil?”
Short answer, no. Sauron was a maiar, all of which were created to aid the Valar in creating Arda. Sauron and the Balrogs are Maiar that were corrupted by Morgoth. There is a youtube video explaining most of the Silmarillion and evidence for this answer is given there. In the books the exact quote supporting this is: "But he was not alone. For of the Maiar many were drawn to his splendour in the days of his greatness, and remained in that down into his darkness; and others were corrupted afterwards to his service with lies and treacherous gifts...Among those of his servants that have names the greatest was the spirit whom the Eldar called Sauron, or Gorthaur the Cruel." Whether Sauron was co