Eminence Grise-or "Grey is the new White"

[Anguirel]

The Lord of the Rings is a book that so ennobles the underappreciated colour grey that you'd think it had been written by the Civil Service.

Firstly, grey is Gandalf's old-and, I would say, his natural, innate-colour. It symbolises his unwillingness to adopt absolute positions; his doubt in himself; and his humility. Truly, it is a colour befitting the Istar who, alone, of his Order, is willing to admit that he fears Sauron. It also links him with the wisdom of the Elves, with Elrond and Galadriel, of which more will be said later.

Of course, the Istar wearing absolute White falls into the trap of pride; though Saruman's fall does not in itself taint white. It only shows that he who believes himself worthy of White can never be so; that pride and self-confidence can be overweening and destructive. Compare this with Gandalf's return after he has truly earnt his White robes; he still veils himself in Grey, and is referred to as Mithrandir, the Grey Pilgrim.

The grey is importantly the Elven colour, and the colour of raiment gifted to Elf-friends. The Men of Gondor and the Dunedain of the North have clean grey eyes, a reminder of the former beauty and honour of Westernesse. Frodo and Sam, even, are exalted by their grey; so that Faramir's rangers consider their being Elves, though Elves are supposed to be "wondrous fair to look upon". Later, Frodo, explaining about Galadriel, says:

"She it was who clothed us in elven-grey."

Yet Grey, and this is important, seems to stand for the unexpected, the enchanted, the stuff of fairytales which startles Men like Eomer and Theoden. in this way the Hobbits themselves are "grey", like Ents, "Quickbeam, a tall grey ent." This contrasts with the practical militarism of the perceived White wielded by Denethor and his armies:

"No travellers pass here, only servants of the Dark Tower or the White."

Here we see how perilously close White and Black have come, as with Saruman; and it is left to Grey to be the true white, and salvation.

So...ah...discuss!

[Rilwen Gamgee]

That's an interesting comparison, Anguirel.

To some cultures, white symbolizes purity, in others but in the case of LotR, and other books by Tolkien, grey is a very noble color, instead of symbolizing tainted white.

This contrasts with the practical militarism of the perceived White wielded by Denethor and his armies:

"No travellers pass here, only servants of the Dark Tower or the White."

Here we see how perilously close White and Black have come, as with Saruman

It's interesting to see how two extremes on either end of the achromatic color scale can be so similar at times...

I can't discuss much now, but I might be able to return later.

[Child of the 7th Age]

It is interesting how Tolkien seems to reject some of the conventional "modern" characteristics that are associated with grey, many of which are negative or at least ambivalent. I looked up 'grey' in an on-line source, and here are some of these associations:

"Grey life", meaning mere existence without much sense or goal.

A "grey person" is someone who goes unnoticed, a wallflower.

In a moral sense grey is either used pejoratively to describe situations that have no clear moral value, or positively to balance an all-black or all-white view (for example, shades of grey = magnitudes of good/bad)

Grey is associated with autumn, bad weather and sadness.

Grey has been used to describe the industrialism, as opposed to green to describe environmentalism.

The hair becomes grey as one ages, and hence grey is associated with senior citizens, and has inspired the name of the Gray Panthers.

The substance that composes the brain is referred to as "grey matter", and for that reason the color is associated with things intellectual. "Theory is grey... "

A great many of these associations don't work well with Gandalf. However, the blending into the woodwork--someone who purposely goes unnoticed--definitely does, since this is the role Gandalf occupied for many years (that is, when his temper didn't flare out!). Also, the association with older age, which connotes the specific form that the istari took on, and the reference to intelligence also seem to fit.

[Lalwendë]

I've often wondered if there is a connection between Gandalf's personality and the colour he is 'assigned'. He is clearly on the side of Light to us as readers, but this is not always the case to the inhabitants of Middle Earth, as some view him as untrustworthy. Interestingly, one of his nicknames, Stormcrow, comes from his tendency to arrive bearing bad news; storms are also associated with the colour grey.

Gandalf can also raise questions about seemingly clear cut moral matters, as shown in his discussion with Frodo about Gollum. Frodo cannot work out why Gollum deserves to live, he is a 'bad guy' and is dangerous. But Gandalf points out that despite all this, who are we to say who ought to live or die? Grey symbolises an area somewhere between absolute good and absolute evil, as in calling a moral matter 'a grey area'. In his advice, he is rarely didactic, instead prompting people to consider matters for themselves.

But then Gandalf is also not always grey, he is also white, and does his personality and behaviour change all that much after the change?

Grey is a gentle colour, which is why I think it may have been chosen as a characteristic eye colour for Numenorian Men. It also has some connotations of wisdom as it is associated with age (though I don't feel any wiser as I get more grey ). Grey is also the colour of mist and fog, which may confer a magical quality to anyone clothed in grey, or who has grey, 'misty' eyes. That Elven cloaks are described as being grey could be a very poetic use of language, associating their camouflaging qualities with mists.

Originally Posted by Anguirel

The Lord of the Rings is a book that so ennobles the underappreciated colour grey that you'd think it had been written by the Civil Service.

It would have been a lot longer if it had been.

[Mister Underhill]

This thread makes me think of a couple of Proverbs:

"The hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness." (16:31)

"The glory of young men is their strength: and the beauty of old men is the grey head." (20:29)

These are both King James versions; in modern English bibles, "hoary head" is typically translated as "grey hair" or "grey head".

And there's also the Elder Eddas:

I rede thee, Loddfafnir! | and hear thou my rede,--
Profit thou hast if thou hearest,
Great thy gain if thou learnest:
Scorn not ever | the gray-haired singer,
Oft do the old speak good;
(Oft from shrivelled skin | come skillful counsels,
Though it hang with the hides,
And flap with the pelts,
And is blown with the bellies.)

The association of grey with wisdom fits comfortably with Gandalf, and extends without too much trouble to the Elves and the Dunedain.

[lindil]

Well A. you did such an excellent job on an excellent topic I can only say,
Yeppers. [w/ a capital Y]

Nice to see you Underhillo, and thanls for the ref's.

JRRT indeed reached into the twiligt [a grey variant imo] to rescue European mythology from dusty academia and bring it into the Light. Not by translating but by a masterful creative/assimilaitive act unparralled in the history of the world. Only Gurdjieff's All and Everything attempts something on that scale imo. [ though Gurdjieff was building his cosmology from different more 'historical, if more obscure and esoteric elements than the Prof.] And I trust JRRT's theology more.

But I see parallels to the outrage post now next door.

If we see [if it can rightly be called that] only in terms of Black and White, we miss reality in which almost nothing in this world is so. Did not Christ say, 'God alone is good'. And yet we must continually traffic in much that is not God. OF course we have to try and do so wisely, and it is here that we either stay enmeshed in a dualistic fantasy world that demonizes anything 'other' just as ROhan and Gondor was well on the way to doing with the Elves, or we fall into a Lorien-like isolationism cut off even from our nearest kin just up the river and down the path.

Feanor was another example that could only see the Valar in black and white terms, and once one Vala had done him wrong he made them all guilty by the association of similar origin.

[Anguirel]

Originally Posted by lindil

OF course we have to try and do so wisely, and it is here that we either stay enmeshed in a dualistic fantasy world that demonizes anything 'other' just as ROhan and Gondor was well on the way to doing with the Elves, or we fall into a Lorien-like isolationism cut off even from our nearest kin just up the river and down the path.

Interesting point-you bring up the matter of extreme greyness, which can also be detrimental. We see this in the lethargy and self-absorption of Lorien, in the diminished grandeur of Lindon and Rivendell, and, perhaps most clearly, in the treeishness overcoming the Ents and Huorns. While the "grey" forces of enchantment and fairy tale are potent, they are their own worst foe, and in the end are bound to diminish, along with everything they touch. Frodo, Sam and Gimli, once clothed in elven-grey, cannot escape it.

In this way Radagast the Brown was perhaps "greyer" than Gandalf the grey; or perhaps grey leads to brown, the brown of decay, of death, of stagnation, yet indispensable to nature. Perhaps when the Elves fear becoming rustic and go into the West, they are preferring to depart grey than linger brown.

[Morsul the Dark]

no allegory just applicable is LOTR may may I say the white is Evil in disguise base in my my opinion the inquisitors of spain consumed by there own piaty buring the unworthy whil gandalf the grey...the color of shadow...the undetected works lowly and unseen hidden in shadow(or grey) to make the world better he is only bested at staing hidden by two peole(the blue wizards )

[davem]

Of course, Grey is seen as being 'lesser' than White in that the Sindar are seen as lesser than the High Elves - the Calaquendi, or Elves of the Light. There is a clear hierarchy of Light Elves, Grey Elves & Dark Elves (Avari). But Middle earth in the Third Age is a 'Grey' world, a 'betwixt & between' world, straddling the 'Light' of earlier ages & the Darkness of later ones, so Gandalf the 'Grey'could be seen as symbolic of the Age in which he was present.

I can't help feeling that Grey is symbolic of 'passing' into the twilight. Gandalf the White is actually further from the world than Gandalf the White had been - he is closer to the Ainur he had been in Valinor, than the wizard he was. White is still the colour of holiness, but it is perhaps an increasingly 'otherworldly' holiness. When extreme 'Black' in the form of Sauron is removed from the world, so, it seems, is extreme White.

Don't know where I'm going with this, but I can't see that Grey is seen as 'superior' by Tolkien to White. I can only think that Grey is meant to symbolise a kind of 'not belonging' to the world - being 'in' the world, but not 'of' it. Grey, therefore, is the colour of those who 'wander', who are without a 'home' - or who are far from their home. The Grey Elves are 'wanderers', sojourners in Middle earth - their 'home' is beyond the Sundering Seas. Gandalf is in the same position. As are the Numenoreans, exiled forever from their lost home. The Fellowship members are all in the same position. So, Grey is the colour of sadness, bereavement & exile.

Or something like that...

[Anguirel]

I think, to coin another horrible piece of neophilia, that what you and I are both groping at is that Grey is in fact the new Green. By that I mean it is linked with the folklore surrounding Faerie-not necessarily Faerie as in Valinor, but Faerie as in ballads like Tam Lin:

"Tonight is Halloween
And the faeries will be in sight
If you wait for them at Mile's cross.
Please come for me tonight.

And later:

At last he was himself again
So she wrapped him in her cloak.
She was rejoicing in her victory
When the Queen of Faeries spoke.

"If I had know, Tam Lin," she says
"that you were up to no good
I'd have taken out your green eyes
and put in eyes of wood."

"If I had known, Tam Lin," she says
"you would have always been alone!
For I'd have taken out your mortal heart
And put in a heart of stone."

This is best exemplified in the perilous forests of Lothlorien and Fangorn, each possessing hidden, ancient powers, sinister and benevolent and once, capricious: the fascinating and beautiful hybrid of Celtic religion and Christianity that are fairies. It is to this strange world, neither Heaven, Earth, nor Hell, that the ambiguous colour grey seems to refer.

Green also functions in this respect, but in a more minor, cheerful, comic and reassuring capacity; we see Glorfindel's gem on the bridge repelling wraiths and Aragorn's Elessar; and green is prominent in Thranduil's jovial woodland court, not yet overcome by Lorien's lovely melancholy.

But the nostalgic and painful grey has altogether more moving qualities. The link with exile from home holds very true.