Thread: So who do you be? Hobbit, dwarf, wizard or elven?
Must be why they're wandering, can't see the shire folk being too impressed 
[b:1pyi8ylb]GB[/b:1pyi8ylb]
[quote="Gandalfs Beard":105l0kes]A Hobbit Wizard of course.
[b:105l0kes]GB[/b:105l0kes][/quote:105l0kes]
There are no such things, GB, and you know it. I sometimes wonder what's going on in that fertile brain of yours -- actually, I prefer not to wonder... ).
Wizards are Istari[color=#BF0000:32f2o3qy]*[/color:32f2o3qy], Maiar, which is to say lesser Valar. And they could take the shape of any being of Middle Earth. So of course one could be a Hobbit Wizard.
[quote:32f2o3qy]Wikipedia:
Being of divine form and possessing great power, the Maiar could wander the world unseen or shape themselves in fashion of Elves and other creatures; when wearing a mortal guise their bodies could be killed, but their spirit would live on.[/quote:32f2o3qy]
[url:32f2o3qy]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maia_(Middle-earth)[/url:32f2o3qy]
The Wikipedia entry is well sourced and can be verified on other Tolkien based sites.
It is true that most Istari took on the guise of elderly men, but as you can see they can take the form of any creature of Middle Earth.
[color=#BF0000:32f2o3qy]*[/color:32f2o3qy](Istari, by the way, is one of the many iterations of the name of the Goddess Ishtar, aka Isis aka Astarte)
[b:32f2o3qy]GB[/b:32f2o3qy]
The Wikipedia entry includes among its sources Unfinished Tales, which is why I posted the link so that you could also check the references.
Once a physical form was chosen, they were stuck with it, and the Maia's power was of course limited--hence their physical "shell" could be killed. None of that is in dispute. The fact remains that an Istari could just as easily have chosen to be a Hobbit Wizard...[i:2z8kzru8][b:2z8kzru8]so there[/b:2z8kzru8][/i:2z8kzru8]!!! 
Anyway, it's MY Fantasy choice to make ...it just so happens that Tolkien's Lore allows for the possibility.
[b:2z8kzru8]GB[/b:2z8kzru8] [/quote:39sfstsz]
I think Unfinished Tales was pretty clear that the Valar set the rules for the Istari, including their forms, but I'm way too tired to go back and check right now. Either way, I'm not trying to say that you can't say you're a Hobbit Wizard if you want to, but I don't think the idea has much of a basis in Tolkien's writing. ). There is no reason whatsoever that there couldn't be an Istari in hobbit form. Indeed it's bloody likely.
And when it comes right down to it, if there was a call for it, there's no real reason there couldn't be a Dwarf Wizard too.
What better way to unite the races of Middle Earth than to have Istari representatives of each? 
[b:2bmjrrn4]GB[/b:2bmjrrn4]
Very interesting. Well met, new friends in PT. However, as you can read in various threads here, there is plenty of evidence in Tolkien that the Istari were sent by Manwe to oppose Sauron during the Third Age. Of these five Istari, the "blue wizards" wandered into the East and did not return. Now, we might write some great fanfic about them, but Tolkien did not bring them back. The remaining three we already know about, and none of them was hobbit, elf, or dwarf. It was Gandalf who helped the various peoples forge the alliances that they were supposed to forge in order to successfully resist Sauron. It was Gandalf who saw to the defense of the various places that needed defending, conferring with the Dunedain of the North to guard the Shire, with the elves to use the Three to best effect (especially once Cirdan had delivered to him Narya), with the Rohirrim to ride to the aid of Minas Tirith, etc. So I believe it would have been superfluous to have had other wizards in the form of different races doing work that was already being done by the known wizards, or at least by the one that was doing his duty.
Gandalf
Yes, we have had plenty of threads establishing the same thing ourselves. If you re-read GB's post carefully, you might note that he acknowledges that Tolkien's wizards took human form. His point was more that it was simply possible under the rules of Tolkien's world. 
I would be a dwarf. I don't hate hobbits or elves in fact i love them but if I was one I would have to kill myself. No facial hair....... I love dwarves and would want to fight for my fellow dwarves in the deepest of mines and caverns against massive hordes of goblins and trolls. I would want to be the last of my dying race and defend whatever I have left to call home.
Hooray for my first post! Thank you Planet Tolkien!
I think I do understand his point. Mine is that "under Tolkien's rules," the wizards could only be what they were shown to be. They were always "old men" in order to denote wisdom that mortals would listen to. So that leaves out the ageless elves, whom men and dwarves had come to distrust from long being separated from them. They were men, not hobbits, because hobbits were unknown outside the Shire and no one would listen to a hobbit, much less take serious advice from one. They were men, not dwarves, because dwarves were not children of Illuvatar, but of Aule, and were not respected as leaders by the other races. So it is that the appearance of mortal men was given the Istari that they might be acceptable to all who needed them.
Gandalf
They were always "old men" in order to denote wisdom that mortals would listen to.... So it is that the appearance of mortal men was given the Istari that they might be acceptable to all that needed them.
Can you quote where Tolkien says that? The only thing like that I can remember from UT is that the Istari were sent to Middle-earth "in shapes weak and humble", which clearly does not suggest that it was necessary for them to take the form of men.
