To a large extent, this book is concerned with wizards, and the reader will discover in these pages a small part of their business and a short survey about their character, at least such as the small folk may perceive them.1 I shall grant to honesty that a single wizard has been thoroughly and closely studied in a lengthy, although occasional way. But we have been well acquainted with people who met several of them and the trustable testimony of whom is the foundation of the reflexions developed below.
« Istari showed an eminent knowledge of the history and the nature of Arda the World. They had many powers of the mind and of the hand. »
It seems wizards appeared several centuries before the Shire was founded. It is not known where they came from, but it seems obvious that they are not native of our part of the world. Although they outwardly look like aged Big Folk, they indeed tell themselves apart from them thanks to an exceptional long life. Time seems to pass on them as a balm, renewing patience, wisdom and strength, without any trace of wear or tiredness, except some additional wrinkles and a bending of the back. As a matter of fact, all the officially listed wizards raise a long beard, from which they derive an imposing presence and a big authority. It can be inferred that they are alien to Elves, who may wield magic too, although of another kind – never did any Elf raise any beard, if not for, as it is said, Cirdan of the harbors of Lhûn. Wizards are also very different from sorcerers, who acquired their lore from the servants of the enemy of old.
Besides, Hobbit memory does not recall any girl-wizard, which raises an issue - whom were wizards born from, if not wizard-mothers? This mystery is certainly a token of their peculiar origin. All can be said is that they all appeared at about the same time, when they merged into the intrigues and the fights of this world and did not stop since then, without almost aging. Their works and their researches seem to give them experience and wisdom, but without increasing their magic power. Is it possible that a wizard could achieve the fullness of his art from the beginning, unlike the children of Middle Earth, who keep on progressing throughout their lives?
Liable to feelings, sensations and instincts of our world, they restrain themselves to use a power in balance with it. We can imagine that they are forced to, by themselves or a superior authority, contrary to the sorcerers who never stop gathering power and influence for their own sake. Young wizards, if there were ever, would be in great danger to slide towards the ease, the quest for self-indulging power, and to become sorcerers, submitting their spirit and their body to the designs of dark forces. Maybe it is the reason for the old age of wizards, since their appearance in Middle Earth.
But what kind of magic do wizards practise? According to the tales, they would be able to make enchanted items surpassing the weapons of kings of old or the alive toys of the Dwarves. Their skills would extend to drill the subtle charms of elvish queens haloing their forests, or to throw flashes of lightning and immortal flames, or still to lock an enemy into a prison without iron, stone or fire. But in reality wizards are discreet and subtle characters. Their strength does not dispatch in mighty exploits, but lies in their authority, their lore and their experience, which they devote to the humble as the powerful. They only show the extent of their power in case of high necessity, and most of the time in a veiled way. We can even wonder whether their reputation exceeds their real capacity to cast spells. But opinions diverge about this point. To try a thorough check would be careless, some wizards turning out to be… somehow brisk.
A wizard especially has to show leading and orator skills, and knows fire-side edifying tales about giants, dragons, the liberation of princesses and the unhoped-for luck of widows sons. He is certainly a fairyland tumbler, who suspends fireworks at twilight like big lilies or acanthuses. But it seems to me that the real strength of wizards holds in their power of persuasion. It is this capacity that makes them intercessors of the chivalrous or essential causes. Naturally, this influence, which feeds on the reputation of the wizard, has from time to time to be revived by a harmless but wholesome magical demonstration.
I have in memory, for example, a hardly hoisted, very respectable gentry and very old Hobbit Woman, known as a first-class fusspot, always crying out with lads's jokes, quibbling with the food, shying on feasts and playing the killjoy during laughter and songs. She had just publicly called a wizard a " noisy boor " as the wise was launching the final shot of memorable fireworks. Was it by clumsiness or accidentally? A big firecracker – no one knows how it arrived there - exploded in the old lady's folded up umbrella.
She gave a shriek of surprise and choked. When she recovered, she could not utter more than guttural groans and hoarse sounds that reminded the song of the crow. This affection, fortunately temporary, had all the urchins and a selection of their elder laugh, but it also refreshed the memory of old tales in which wizards took revenge in a much harsher way.
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Another distinctive feature of wizards is their annoying inclination to get their big nose in everybody else's business. It is obvious that they are not the only ones, but they reach such a degree of perfection in this art, that only the most curious, the most obstinate and the slyest idle Hobbits can hope to equal. This so to speak professional power, feeds on the nature of the wizard and on his ease to leverage the condolence, the humor, the guilt, the small faults or the high qualities of anyone, to reach his own purposes. Of course, most of the time, it is for the wise to amend wrongs, to give advice or revive a fighting spirit on the decline. But fact remains that some wizards often show an exasperating curiosity.
Thus do wizards foster close links with characters who detain some authority, implied or explicit, legal or informal. One of them became familiar with the Thain2 of the Shire, the head of the Took clan, which since Isumbras is the vested charge of captain of the muster and Hobbitry-in-arms. This same wizard is also in business with the Mayor of Michel Delving, who assumes the duties of master of the posts and first shiriff. Of course, he has also forged relationships with the powerful Brandybuck family, whose authority is recognized beyond the river Brandywine, as well as, probably, with the notoriously influent local figures known to assess foreign news with wisdom.
They keep asking on and on - tireless as a gossip, sneaky as a dragon and incisive as a young hungry Hobbit! The inhabitants of the Shire confined their natural curiosity within the limits of decency and respect they are known for. Dwarves, meanwhile, mind their own business and have few questions to share with strangers. For their part, Big Folk are a very changing kind, ranging from avid interest to remote indifference. But no one exceeds wizards curiosity. The wizard always seems to know better, even if he only had guesses. And what he does not guess, he gets by constantly asking his questions. At the end it is unclear to us whether he did so for learning anything, or for educating us.
Yet this professional grievance would be forgivable, if some wizards did not set new standards for impropriety and sans-gêne. Savvy people suspect they sometimes involve boys and girls in wacky and positively daring adventures. Visits to the Elves in the woods at dusk are their least fantasies! But we suspect that they risk their followers in mischievous places and dangerous escapades. We have already, for example, seen a wizard frolicking on a skiff, say you! Who knows the creatures they attend outside the borders? There are enough perils without fetching them away, out of pure curiosity!
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There are obviously several kinds of wizards, that custom entitled by color, and distinguished by their affinity with nature, material or people. All are able of wonders, it is said, but not necessarily in the same areas. If all share a venerable and austere appearance, one proves a master of change of hues, the other indulges himself with the mysteries of the forge, a third one grew a master of spirits.
Their exact number is unknown but wizards are certainly not very many. Thus do they know each other, occasionally helping or consulting each other in case of danger, although they are by nature quite independent.
As a matter of fact, do wizards always agree? Can lore gathered by the dint of curiosity build consensus around the goals and means of action against the odds and ills of this world? It seems not. Fortunately, wizards are part of an ancient and venerable order, "Heren Istarion", which wisely provides with how to exceed their discord and harmonize their efforts: the chief has the final say! Not that he is abusing his authority, but his arguments and rhetoric end invariably up as the most compelling. We were not able to discover the headquarters of the order of wizards. We assume that if this place exists, it is held among the most secret in Middle-Earth.
The wizard we have best known was apparently only a stooge of the venerable congregation, and of a particular kind: an everlasting vagabond probing into the heart of people, the spark of worth that he lit and encouraged until it blossomed. His perpetual wandering seemed to harden his inquisitiveness, because during each of his irregular visits, he inquired about events in the Shire, pretending to remember all the details gleaned during his previous whereabouts.
One day I had the opportunity to interview this vagabond wizard - it is by the way extremely rare that he should let anyone question him for a long time - I submitted this observation for fun, arguing that might help reduce his inquisitiveness. He returned the question to me and asked if I could imagine the typical wizard home, which I did:
« In a tower lives the wizard. It is no collapsed tower, blackened and open to winds, nor a war-tower, austere and erected with defenses, without anything to scrutinize stars nor observe around: it is a wizard tower, which implies subtlety. 3 It has wood inlaid, ogival door which opens onto vast halls congested with scrolls, lore books and elaborate instruments. His indestructible rock pinnacle rises up on the plain, and from the master room, the wizard observes the world and converse from mind to mind with the powerful. He ensures the destinies of his neighbors, his friends. Of course, the wizard has a few servants, who help him in his physical activities. Finally his tower is surrounded by a large protected courtyard because the wizard anticipates his own defense. »
The wizard to whom I devised his ideal home plans, posed and looked at me with sly and pleated eyes. He finally answered:
« It may well be that some of us likes precisely the kind of abode you just imagined. Tell me, do you think one absolutely needs to remain in this kind of place to watch over his neighbours? »
I answered that in order to have neighbours, one had to have a home, and if one was to live there, it seemed appropriate that this home should be subtle to serve the purposes of the wizard. This candid answer made him laugh. He reminded me that there were many folks and strange creatures in Middle Earth, and that helping them implied living among them to understand them somehow. It is true that this wise, although he became our friend, was probably an atypical member of his corporation. I long for the twang of his staff hitting the pavement by a stormy night or a spring morning, that brought him back after weeks or years of absence.
His staff! What absurd stories did not spread about it during all these years? One day he was helping shepherds in the North Farthing moors, it was claimed that the wizard's enchanted staff gathered the flock all by itself... Some say that Giles Proudfoot, the Mayor of the Shire, was cleared in time from the rubble of the Town Hall in Michel Delving, thanks to this very staff, the day the Hall collapsed during inauguration. Most of the time, our wizard's staff served as a walking stick, occasionally providing for light or heat. And that was certainly the way it was the most useful, by softening the wizard's pains – by the way this support function was shared between his famous staff and a single other accessory, but this strange topic will be treated in this book.
Wizard's staff, infallible sign of his charge, varies in shape, material and color. This symbolic instrument is both an exaltation and a magical power reserve, but it may also turn, where appropriate, into a formidable two-handed weapon and a speedy palliative against opponents who do not deserve the honor of a devastating lightning bolt. It is unknown to what extent a wizard could use the staff of one of his colleagues, but it is assumed that only the legitimate owner of a wizard's staff may fully control it. Moreover, I can assure you that nobody has ever shown enough heart to try and seize our wandering wizard's staff.
But let us stop digressing - I realize now that the true identity of wizards is still a mystery after all these years. In conclusion, I would risk saying they look like all the free people they came to help : from the Dwarves they hold the beard, endurance and strength of character, from the Elves they hold eternal life, the distant memory, and the taste for beautiful things, from the Big Folk they hold the physical power and a thirst for greatness, and from us the Little Folk they hold common sense and a deep love of the land. We don't know where they are from, but they come and go among the people of Middle-Earth, supporting them in their challenge for a free and beautiful life. Their help is often unexpected and dangerous, but it lies with us to make profit out of it. One thing is certain, however: If any wizard is interested in your business, do not return him the favor! "Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards, for they are subtle and quick to anger. »4
1 The attentive reader has certainly recognized a construction that was borrowed from a famous work by Pr. Tolkien. The author does not beg for forgiveness, since she was not able to resist the temptation.
2 The Thain is a more or less hereditary dignity. In the Hobbits history, the Thain has always been the leader of one of the most powerful clans. When the Shire was establishment, the leader of the Oldbuck clan was the Thain. Then the clan lost influence to the point of exiling itsElf across the Brandywine River and founding an independent enclave, Buckland, and changing their name into Brandybuck. Since Isengrin the first, the Tooks hold the title of Thain.
3 The reader would probably forgive this long passage, the style of which was borrowed in the book « The Hobbit », J.R.R Tolkien. That was overpowering obligation…
4 Proverb the Elf Gildor Inglorion quoted in The fellowship of the ring, J.R.