Wizards... masters of the mind and giants of thought

What is the first picture to come to mind when you think of a Wizard: an ancient man whose eyes reveal more than that which can even be comprehended on earth (I mean deep wells of wisdom), the pointy hat and staff or the silver river of a beard?

If you as a human have one free decision to make in this life, then let it be that of choosing how your imagination should visualise your own pictures!

Many people see them as the male witch... I suppose you can but don't forget that witches and wizards have taken two completely different courses in time and they (as Witches) have been redefined a countless number of times before. (By the way, a "Sorcerer" is a person believed to do magic by using the power of evil spirits - so there seems to be a difference.)

Another thing that makes Wizards so absolutely inhuman - when one recognises their other origin (whatever that might be) as opposed to the human - is the fact that they don't usually seem to be in possession of the need to show (off) their capabilities, whereas it seems a natural urge of humans to let others know what they can do. My explanation: they know no other way than their own, they are "made" of their capabilities and don't seek to be renowned for the amazing things they do. The human pokes and prods at life until he finds something in it worth showing others in order to gain status.

Wizards have always seemed to melt into the background of the "goings on" in historical events, see the legend of Merlin, of Gandalf as the magical "string pullers" of history (and yes, I do see Middle-earth as an historical event!)

For all of those Lord of the Rings readers - did you know that there were in fact originally five Wizards on Middle-earth? There was Radagast the Brown - a master of birds and beasts of the forest, Saruman the White - was counted the greatest for a time and was skillful and wise, Gandalf the Grey - the most famous and also thought of as the wisest of the Wizards, and then there were Alatar and Pallando the blue Wizards - unfortunately very little is known of their fate and deeds.

There is one exception to the "selflessness" of all Wizards - Saruman. He was the Lucifer of Wizards, he just seemed to evolve backwards. Given such importance in Middle-earth, he obviously didn't quite know what to do with himself other than to demand more and more and more. Saruman the White was the head of the Istari (an order of Wizards who came to Middle-earth). His original goal was to overcome the Dark Lord but as time passed he wished to gain power for himself and got big-headed. Saruman manipulated and used many evil methods to gain absolute power over Middle-earth and it's inhabitants. Fortunately he was annihilated in the War of the Rings.

Saruman's counterpart was Gandalf the Grey - I'm sure everyone reading this page has already been aquainted with this powerful personality. He was called Gandalf the Grey in Westron, to the Elves he was Mithrandir ("grey pilgrim"), Tharkun by the Dwarves and to the Haradrim he was Incánus. He has an enormous presence in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and yet no one can actually "explain" him. There certainly is something very mistifying about this Wizard. We like to think we know everything about him and yet we know just as much as a person would know something about another just by looking at their picture - nothing! He is the guardian and friend of many and certainly has the right to call wisdom his own. But on the other hand he enjoys his weakness for tobacco, good company and fun events. Gandalf definetly is a Wizard worth mentioning!

Merlin - another interesting subject - first appears in the early 10th century as a prophet also known to take over the roles as magician and advisor. He was active as administrator in the affairs of King Arthur's kingdom. It is difficult to reveal the true meaning of Merlin, as is the case with Gandalf. There are so many different explanations for him. He was apparently originally called Emrys. Merlin was supposed to be the illegitimate son of the monastic Royal princess of Dyfed. It is said hat Merlin's father was an angel who had visited the Royal nun but Merlin's enemies swore that his father was in fact an evil spirit. In that particular case Merlin provided another, darker side to the divine meaning of Jesus Christ. After being baptized at a farely young age, the evil in his nature was destroyed but his powers stayed intact.

So... "Wizards", I ask you - fiction or fact? Tell me what difference it makes to call them one way or the other!

If you would like to see more of my images of wizards then please click on the "Image Gallery" link in the navbar.