[Gammit]

Originally posted by Sir Exxon: </font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by esquire: Ahh...But I think he did actually die in the movie, as he does mention something about coming back to finish one last task before he has to leave again - so this kind of implies that he is not the same human gandalf...but was he human in the first place? He also mentioned that he had the experience of 300 human lives...hmmmm I am really pumped up about the extended version... think about it, there is a possibility of 30 min of extra footage, what do you think they will add in?

<font color="gold">Tolkien-lesson of the day (contains Silmarillion-spoilers):

Gandalf is not a Human. Neither is he an Elf or Half-Elf.
At the beginning of the Third Age, when Sauron appeared again, the Valar sent five istari, or wizards, to help the people destroy Sauron once and for all. It is uncertain what these istari were, most likely they were lesser Maiar, spirits who were the Valars helpers and servants.
These five istari were: Two Unnamed, who wore blue robes, Radagast the Brown, Saruman the White, and Gandalf the Grey.
The colours of their robes represented their rank in the Order. The two Unnamed were the weakest, Radagast came after them, Gandalf was the second strongest, and Saruman were the strongest of them.
However, when they first entered Middle-Earth, Gandalf came last, and looked more wise and heavied by age than the others. Therefore, Círdan the Shipbuilder recognized him as the strongest of them.
The two Unnamed first went with Saruman to the east, and have never been seen again. When Saruman returned, he simply said that the two others had decided to stay there. Radagast first went to the South, and have never had any specific place to stay. Gandalf travelled around in the north, and became a friend and helper to many kingdoms, especially Gondor and Rohan. Saruman first went to the east, before he returned to the north, where he have stayed since.

You can all read much more about it in Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales of Númenor and Middle-Earth, this is simply a quick summary from the top of my head. [img]smile.gif[/img] </font></font>[/QUOTE]The two unnamed wizards were Alatar the Blue, and Pallando the Blue. My computer's name is Alatar (and it's blue!) It was believed that they formed the first magic cults (teaching humans about "magic").