The Enchanted Image of Tolkien’s Grey Pilgrim: Myths, Archetypes, and Philosophies of the Wizard Gandalf — A Character Study of Enigmatic Wizard Figures in Myth & Pop Culture

Abstract

This is a dissertation focusing on the character of Gandalf, the wizard of J.R.R. Tolkien’s massively popular The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit, among other titles within the collective mythology of Middle-earth, referred to as the legendarium, and extended to wider depictions and franchises associated with Tolkien’s world and the character. This work utilizes various hermeneutic approaches and lenses, and a multi- pronged methodology focused on mystic philosophy, comparative mythology and pop- culture, archetypal and depth psychological, anthropological, religious, political, and literary critical theory, to enable the interpretation and amplification of major themes and characteristics of a central Middle-earth character, Gandalf, juxtaposed alongside similar figures and characters from across a wide variety of time periods, belief systems, fields of study, genres, and media formats.

I believe this work is part of my desire to develop myself as both a scholar and practitioner of a panentheistic enchanted spiritual education in mythological, psychological, philosophical, mystic, storytelling, fantasy, science fiction, pop culture, creativity, music, the arts, and other overt and subtle magicks of the imagination: simply put, what I call wizardry.