Where did Gandalf live?

[Melilot Brandybuck]

Did Gandalf own a house? Where did he base himself? Yes he did travel a great deal, but I am curious about his private life. Where did he call "home?" I know he had many things to deal with, like driving the Necromancer out of Mirkwood, help the Dwarves in their quest to overthrow Smaug, then the whole business with the Ring, but in between "jobs" where did he go?

[Farael]

I don't think Gandalf had much time "between jobs"... he seemed to be ever travelling and helping out where he was needed. I am guessing that when he needed to regroup and recuperate his strenght he'd head out to either Rivendell or Lothlorien. If there are written indications of what he did I do not know, but given his relationship with both Elrond and Galadriel I'd think that Gandalf would head out to their cities when he needed a break.

[Tuor in Gondolin]

But for some "getaway" holidays how about:

Occasional vacations to the Shire
or Gondor. And of course Thranduil's digs or
Laketown would be a good place to gather news
of doings in Rhovanion and east. And for
some nice seaside air and ocean views how
about the Last Havens and Dol Amroth?

[Boromir88]

Gandalf was thought of (for those who didn't know any better) as an Elf, and it was said that he (as Olorin) would walk amongst them clothed in Elven fashion:

But of Olorin that tale does not speak; for though he loved the Elves, he walked amon them unseen, or in form as one of them, and they did not know whence he came the fair visions or the promtings of his wisdom that he put into their hearts.~The Valaquenta

I can see Gandalf travelling around to a lot of places, I doubt there was much time for him to sit and rest if he was to complete his task. As we see with Radagast and Saruman, who stray from their task and take up dwellings. Gandalf stays true to his mission and is all around Middle-earth directing resistance against Sauron, so I doubt there was much time for him to stay and dwell in one particular place. But, he took a liking to Hobbits and Elves, and so the Shire and Elf havens would be the most likely places, on Middle-earth that is.

Edit:

And eventhough if at first Olorin rather liked the Elves, he comes to love all the races of Middle-earth as he aids and interacts with all of those against Sauron.

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

Although that's true, and Gandalf's Sindarin name Mithrandir even means 'Grey Wanderer' or 'Grey Pilgrim', he did have a permanent home: Valinor. He just didn't go there for most of the Third Age.

During his time in the Hither Lands he lived everywhere and nowhere, dividing his time between the various places to which his mission took him. He even says of Tom Bombadil in LotR: "He has been a moss gatherer ; and I have been a stone doomed to rolling".

In HoME XVI, the Valinórean land of Dun Rómin is named as the place of Olórin's retirement after his return from the War of the Ring. *
















* Not really

[Mithalwen]

The only thing that I wonder (and I am suprised Boro hasn't thought about this ) is where did he make his fireworks .... that isn't really something you can do on the road ....

[Essex]

Gandalf has been VERY busy if he hasn't had a home in the 2000 odd years he was in Middle-earth.......

That's a LONG time!!!!

Maybe 'wherever I lay my hat, that's my home' is his moto.....

[Mithalwen]

Don't you get the feeling that he may hbave outstayed his welcome at Rivendell though .... Elrond is pretty keen to get him on any quest going ...

[The Squatter of Amon Rûdh]

Perhaps Elrond was receiving complaints about the smell of sulphur from an impromptu fireworks factory. After all, Rivendell is as good a place as any.

Returning to your point, Essex: the fact that Gandalf didn't really settle anywhere doesn't mean that he didn't live somewhere on a temporary basis, although I don't remember any mention of that. To my mind he had his work cut out for him inspiring and guiding the enemies of Sauron throughout North-Western Middle-earth, travelling thousands of miles on horseback or on foot and still managing to attend meetings of the White Council. No wonder he tried to get out of it by claiming to be afraid of Sauron.

[A_Brandybuck]

I agree with you, that Gandalf hadn't really a 'home' in his time in Middle-Earth. He was wandering and helping and wandering and helping all the time, so it is understandable, that there was no need to build, buy or whatever a house to live in.

But I've ever thought, that the Shire was the home of Gandalf in a far sense. The Shire is a place, where Gandalf can find diversion from the sorrows of Middle-Earth. The Shire with its merry folk is a place Gandalf loves. There exists a special binding between Gandalf and the Shire.

There is a quote from UT, The Quest of Erebor, which seems to underline my theory:
"Those were my dark thoughts as I jogged along the road. I was tired, and I was going to the Shire for a short rest, after being away from it for more than twenty years. I thought that if I put them out of my mind for a while I might perhaps find some way of dealing with these troubles. And so I did indeed, though I was not allowed to put them out of my mind.

It sounds like coming home after a long time being absent.

[Raynor]

Originally Posted by A_B

It sounds like coming home after a long time being absent.

Interesting indeed; it could also reffer to a cottage where you retire for taking a break...

[The Mouth of Sauron]

Maybe he couldn't get a mortgage .

[Ghazi]

Originally Posted by The Squatter of Amon Rûdh

In HoME XVI, the Valinórean land of Dun Rómin is named as the place of Olórin's retirement after his return from the War of the Ring. *

* Not really

[Alcarin]

Forget the house...did he ever had a girlfriend?

[Raynor]

Originally Posted by Alcarin

Forget the house...did he ever had a girlfriend?

Well... he was a follower of Nienna, who "dwells" alone, so that might have influenced him. It should be noted , moreover, that the spouses of the valar "means only association", according to the Annals of Aman, HoME X. I guess that Melian was the one time exception among the gods...

[Sardy]

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

The only thing that I wonder (and I am suprised Boro hasn't thought about this ) is where did he make his fireworks ....

I was always under the impression (though I can't back it up with any passages) that the Dwarves, specifically those of the lonely mountain, created the fireworks and other trinkets, which Gandalf eagerly collected in his travel. I would assume that his fireworks were often augmented with elven magic and charms of his own

Originally Posted by Mithalwen

that isn't really something you can do on the road ....

Why not? I can easily see Gandalf, resting by his campfire while on the long road, sitting back and meditating on the "bigger picture" while tinkering with his fireworks...

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Being in Middle-earth for that length of time would be like going out for an afternoon's hike to an Ainu.

[Boromir88]

The only thing that I wonder (and I am suprised Boro hasn't thought about this ) is where did he make his fireworks

I guess I can comment now, though Gandalf's fireworks is always something I took a special interest in...you know me and my pyrotechnic connections.

Gandalf's fireworks I've always assumed had to of been in some way magically enhanced, as there is no way we have the chemical capability or knowledge to make a huge stinkin' mountain or a flying dragon. I mean heck, my company is struggling trying to make such a simple design as a Walmart smiley face. Think about making a huge mountain and a dragon would be like?

Therefor Gandalf's fireworks probably was gunpowder as Gandalf says 'I can't melt snow,' he has to have an object to work with, it can't just be some energy mass of magic. But his magic enhances in this case the entertainment purposes to make really styling and complex fireworks.

[Morsul the Dark]

well i would Say...(very little knowldge of such things) he would have made fre works in the mountains wth sulfur(thats mined right?) as for a home it's in mirkwood(why else would he want the ncromancer out?)

[CSteefel]

Originally Posted by A_Brandybuck

I
There is a quote from UT, The Quest of Erebor, which seems to underline my theory:
"Those were my dark thoughts as I jogged along the road. I was tired, and I was going to the Shire for a short rest, after being away from it for more than twenty years. I thought that if I put them out of my mind for a while I might perhaps find some way of dealing with these troubles. And so I did indeed, though I was not allowed to put them out of my mind.

It sounds like coming home after a long time being absent.

This is the quote that struck me. It really does sound like he is going home for his rest. He meets up with Thorin in Bree, but I assume he was heading west from there? In fact, he did continue on to Thorin's place in the mountains.

The other thing is that Gandalf was apparently hanging around in the Shire even well before there was any obvious need to do so (i.e., the Ring). He helped the hobbits out in the Great Famine and knew Bilbo as a young adult, so it seems he was there off and on much earlier than the events that take place in LOTR...

Still, if he hasn't been back in 20 years, one could hardly think of the Shire as his "home base". I would guess that Rivendell would be closer to that. Gandalf seems to be very much at home when Frodo first sees him sitting next to Elrond and Glorfindel at the banquet...

[Mattius]

Home is where the pipe weed is...

[JennyHallu]

How old does one have to be before he or she can be away from home for twenty years? I'm sure Gandalf hit that aeons ago.

The essential thing to remember is that Olorin was at root an exile, doomed to wander far from his true home until his task was complete. But so are all the rest of the Valar: their home is not Valar, but wherever Eru is, and they are exiled on Arda until their own task is complete: the remaking of the world. Exiled from his own land of exile, I think Olorin must have made his home where he could, whenever he could. Home was a concept impossibly far gone from him.

Perhaps that explains Melian's quickness to attach herself to the Elves, and her zeal in protecting the Greenwood: rather than 'Melian's girdle' being a sign of her strength, it could easily be a sign of her weakness, that she is unable to live as the other Maiar and Valar, as an exile.

[A_Brandybuck]

I agree here with JennyHallu. We must think in other dimensions talking about the behaviour of Gandalf. And of course, not only in things which concerns Gandalf, Elvish things are also 'different'.

Gandalf is really old in thge measurement of Men. So, I think it is just normal for an Istar and for any immortal person, respectively, being absent from home for some decades.

Remember the marriage of Galadriel and Celeborn. It was not a big thing, that they are physically divorced for years as she went to Lothlorien. And after the War of the Ring Galadriel departed into the west and Celeborn remained in Middle-earth.

Of course, love is a diffenrent thing, but I think that is still comparable here for the measurement.

[Alcuin]

Return of the King, “Appendix B”, just before the Tale of Years of the Third Age, there is a passage discussing the Istari which states that

Mithrandir was closest in friendship with the Eldar, and wandered mostly in the West, and never made for himself any lasting abode.

This passage is cited in Unfinished Tales in the essay “The Istari”, which says that

...the last-comer [of the Istari] was named among the Elves Mithrandir, the Grey Pilgrim, for he dwelt in no place, ... but ever went to and fro in the Westlands ...., befriending all folk in times of need. ... Mostly he journeyed unwearingly on foot, leaning on a staff...

Gandalf was in particular alliance with Elrond in Rivendell and Galadriel in Lórien: when he was returned to Middle-earth after his battle with the Balrog of Moria, he had Gwaihir the Windlord take him to Lórien. But the two texts (in Return of the King and Unfinished Tales) would seem to indicate that these were places of rest and recuperation, much as was the Shire in the passage cited by A_Brandybuck.

[Istari]

i am under the impression that Gandalf stole the powder for the fireworks from the dwarves. ha or of course he shop lifted them from sauron's store.

[Boromir88]

Still, if he hasn't been back in 20 years, one could hardly think of the Shire as his "home base".~CSteefel

The quote A_Brandybuck brings up is certainly an interesting one. I would agree that it doesn't seem like a permanent home to stay at...but I think what Raynor says is quite accurate thinking. It sounds like The Shire to Gandalf was like a vacation spot, where he could get away and simply take a break...something he hadn't done in 20 years! And he felt like he needed one.

If we think about The Shire, it's pretty much disconnected from Middle-earth, for the most part Hobbits don't want to have any part in the 'outside' world, they just want to handle their own inner affairs. So The Shire (to Gandalf) is like a secluded vacation home (or cottage) where he can simply take a break from the 'problems' of Middle-earth and find some peace/rest for a while. However, as evident on this occasion, Brandybuck brings up, he was unable to do what he had wanted...'And so I did indeed, though I was not allowed to put them out of my mind.'

[goldfinger]

If you read the chronology of years in Appendix B of RotK, when it is talking about the istari coming to middle earth, it says this:

"Mithrandir was closest in friendship with the Eldar, and wandered mostly in the West and never made himslef a lasting abode."

I hope that answers your question.

[CSteefel]

Originally Posted by goldfinger

If you read the chronology of years in Appendix B of RotK, when it is talking about the istari coming to middle earth, it says this:

"Mithrandir was closest in friendship with the Eldar, and wandered mostly in the West and never made himslef a lasting abode."

I hope that answers your question.

This answers the question of whether Gandalf had a permanent home like Saruman--he didn't. But it is less clear about his destinations for "vacation sojourns", as was mentioned above--that is, places where he could rest. It says that he mostly wandered, but it seems he hung out for extended periods in the Shire, in Rivendell, and perhaps even in Bree when he wasn't wandering the WestLands on foot (as he mostly did)...

[Aaron]

Yes, Gandalf never truly lived anywhere because he did not suffer from apathy (Radagast) or an overabundance of luxury (Saruman) and was the true moral centre of the Quest.