Lord of The Rings...Final thought...

As I began to analyze Harry Potter a little more, I too began to wonder as to why Lord Of The Rings didn't catch on as much. In my personal belief, I absolutely love Lord Of The Rings. I love reading the books and watching the movies and seeing how intense they got. They certainly made the movies so well and remember first reading them and getting so hyped to read them! I even remember how Legolas was and still certainly is my favorite character. Legolas is just so badass and makes any situation seem that much more hardcore and diehard. However, when I was analyzing I did of course forget to realize the obvious, Lord Of The Rings books and movies were not made necessarily with the intention of having readers and viewers as young as the Harry Potter stories. But believe it or not, I found that Lord Of The Rings and Harry Potter share a lot of the same qualities.....in the sense that they both have "underdogs" or small characters that end up doing great things and taking on big, they are written in a fictional work that is easy to tap into and understand, and there is huge and apparent theme of good versus evil- with good always triumphing in the end. Yay or nay, thoughts on this one guys?

Earth, Wind, & The Shire- Too Funny Not To Use As A Title!

I can't even begin to explain how happy and excited about having Lord of The Rings and Harry Potter as some of the required readings for this course. The Lord of The Rings movies are among some of my favorite. I think it is interesting viewing the central ideas of Harry Potter and the central ideas in Lord of The Rings- because believe it or not they're not terribly different because they contain a lot of similar elements. I also thought it was awesome to see how schooling or the topic of being in school takes an effect or role in Harry Potter because the book was initially created as a children's book and so therefore the idea of school certainly makes it a lot more relatable. It also allows for a place in a story where kids can be with other kids and certainly away from their parents and it provides them an opportunity to figure out who they are and where there are going in their lives. As Harry Potter develops from a shy and quiet boy, you see a growth towards a confident and certainly courageous young man. Or better known as a bildungsroman, as Dr. Mitchell-Buck stated, it is definitely a coming of age story- a story as to where you see someone develop and grow up through age. Being at a school implies that it has a lot of structure as well- they have a school, ministry, sports, hospitals, etc. Further on, I thought it was definitely interesting to see why there was an importance of having a clear cut separation- as far as having a muggle world and a magic or wizard world. The world is just viewed as amazing and spectacular because the muggle world is just so plain, bland, and ordinary. As to where the muggle world also has that element of surprise and mystery and you can always expect something unique, extraordinary, and new happen.

Who is Gandalf?

At the end of our last class we were asked to think about Gandalf’s powers and where they came from. That question caught me a bit off guard as I had never really questioned the source of Gandalf’s magic. To fully answer this question, we have to go far back into Middle Earth’s past to a time before even The Hobbit.

              

 First and foremost, Gandalf is not human, nor is his name actually Gandalf. He is a Maia (plural Maiar), which were spirits that helped the Valar (More spirits. These were created by Ilúvatar, the supreme deity that created Middle Earth, to help him keep order in creation.) shape the world. The Maiar are immortal, so Gandalf was not only around the first time Sauron (Also a Maia) fell, but for thousands of years before that. Gandalf’s true name is Olórin and he is the wisest of the five Maiar sent to Middle Earth. These five Maiar are the five wizards of Middle Earth and were sent solely to help the people of Middle Earth overcome Sauron. While in Middle Earth, they appear as old Men, but are capable of changing their appearance at will. All five of the wizards have a staff, and their powers are focused through this staff. The exact extent of his powers are uncertain, especially since the Valar instructed him not to use his full power while in Middle Earth, but the abilities he does show include controlling lightning, creating a magic shield, making fire, communicating with animals and destroying the bridge when facing the Balrog.

So long story short, where does Gandalf’s power come from? In a way it comes from himself, but ultimately it comes from Ilúvatar, the creator and supreme god of Middle Earth. And despite how rarely he uses it, I have a feeling Gandalf is more powerful than most people assume.

(P.S. This is the barest of summaries of Gandalf and the Maiar and doesn’t even scratch the surface of most of the backstory to Middle Earth. I would definitely check these links out if you want to know more)

Sources:
http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Gandalf
http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Maiar
http://lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Wizards