Jul 12, 2026 · 1 hr 52 min · 16 segments
Some people believe that “Gandalf” was the last appearance of Manwë; Alan is convinced Shawn is the last appearance of Oromë. Join The Man of the West and The Lord of the Mark as they conclude their…
But before we get to today's chapter discussion, well, we've had first philology fair, yes.
What about second philology fair? [upbeat music] Now, of course, last time we got into the many names of the other, shall we say, less lovable Istari.
This time it is all about the many names of everyone's favorite silver fox, Gandalf.
[laughs] Now, while he doesn't have quite... [laughs] Silver badger just doesn't have the same ring to it.
"Many are my names in many countries: Mithrandir among the Elves, Tharkûn to the Dwarves; Olórin I was in my youth in the West that is forgotten, in the South Incanús, in the North Gandalf, to the East I go not." So lots of names to choose from, Sean.
Well, why don't we go ahead and start with the last one, because it is the name we tend to use the most often, and that, of course, is Gandalf.
Now, that was said by Gandalf himself, if Faramir is quoting him accurately, to be his name in the North.
So like Saruman, we talked about last time, we probably shouldn't be surprised to learn that the name Gandalf comes from a Germanic source.
As Tolkien himself tells us in a passage in the section of this chapter that we're reading tonight, that source is actually not Old English, but Norse.
... actually got from a list of names in a poem in the Poetic Edda called the Völuspá.
And although in that Norse original, uh, source, it's the name of a dwarf, it actually means, of course, as we all know, grand elf.
But before we get to today's chapter discussion, well, we've had first philology fair, yes.
What about second philology fair? [upbeat music] Now, of course, last time we got into the many names of the other, shall we say, less lovable Istari.
This time it is all about the many names of everyone's favorite silver fox, Gandalf.
[laughs] Now, while he doesn't have quite... [laughs] Silver badger just doesn't have the same ring to it.
"Many are my names in many countries: Mithrandir among the Elves, Tharkûn to the Dwarves; Olórin I was in my youth in the West that is forgotten, in the South Incanús, in the North Gandalf, to the East I go not." So lots of names to choose from, Sean.
Well, why don't we go ahead and start with the last one, because it is the name we tend to use the most often, and that, of course, is Gandalf.
Now, that was said by Gandalf himself, if Faramir is quoting him accurately, to be his name in the North.
So like Saruman, we talked about last time, we probably shouldn't be surprised to learn that the name Gandalf comes from a Germanic source.
As Tolkien himself tells us in a passage in the section of this chapter that we're reading tonight, that source is actually not Old English, but Norse.
... actually got from a list of names in a poem in the Poetic Edda called the Völuspá.
And although in that Norse original, uh, source, it's the name of a dwarf, it actually means, of course, as we all know, grand elf.
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