What Happened To Gandalf Between The Hobbit & Lord Of The Rings

The events of The Lord of the Rings transpired quite a long time after The Hobbit, and Gandalf was busy between the two trilogies. However, fans don’t necessarily understand what he got up to. Peter Jackson’s Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies were both set in the Third Age, with The Hobbit centering on Martin Freeman’s Bilbo Baggins and his quest to reclaim Erebor with Thorin and his company. In encountering the ring, Bilbo set up his nephew, Frodo, for his own adventure about 60 years later. Gandalf bridged the gap between these two adventures.

Although most fans don’t know what the most famous member of Lord of the Rings’ five Istari got up to in the decades between the trilogies, the LotR appendices can clarify this somewhat. The time jump between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings is 59 years, so Gandalf had a whole lifetime to fill, by mortal standards. But Gandalf was, of course, no mortal. An ancient Maia of the Ainur species, this Wizard was of the first-created species, accountable to the Valar. According to the appendices, he served them well between The Hobbit and LotR.

Gandalf Reunited With The White Council

Gandalf Met With Other Powerful Wizards & Elves

While Bilbo Baggins returned to the Shire with Lord of the Rings’ One Ring in the year 2942 of the Third Age, Gandalf reconvened with the White Council in 2953. A fair bit of time passed between these events in human terms, but ten or so years would have been the blink of an eye for Gandalf. The White Council consisted of Gandalf, Saruman, Galadriel, Elrond, and Círdan, and they all met in 2953 for the last time. Crucially, the Council’s demise had been nearing its critical mass for a while.

While Bilbo and Thorin were adventuring in The Hobbit in 2941, Gandalf managed to get Saruman and the White Council to attack Dol Guldur. Although not an element of The Hobbit book, this note was included in LotR’s appendices, so Peter Jackson wasn’t unfaithful to include it in his Hobbit trilogy. Regardless, Saruman had agreed to attack Dol Guldur as he sought to distract Sauron from searching the Gladden for the Ring, which is what he started doing in earnest after the last Council meeting in 2953. Saruman turned from the Council for good after this meeting.

Gandalf Met & Worked With Aragorn

Gandalf Helped Aragorn During His Time In Gondor

In T.A. 2951, Elrond told Aragorn about his true ancestry, and from then on Aragorn started becoming the Ranger known in the movies, including during his time spent with Gandalf. Aragorn proved that he was Gondor’s rightful king in LotR through his travels after his coming of age, and getting to know Gandalf guided him. Their friendship beginning in 2956, Aragorn undertook errands undercover, serving in Gondor under the name Thorongil. Together, Aragorn and Gandalf alienated a young Denethor, who saw them as a threat to his ruling stewardship. They were, but he had no reason to believe that yet.

Crucially, in 3001, many things happened – Bilbo and Frodo had their joint birthday and farewell party, for one. This marked the start of the events of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring movie, but also, Aragorn started hunting for Gollum with Gandalf that year. The upcoming Warner Bros. Lord of the Rings movie is set to cover these events, which will involve Gandalf and Aragorn looking for Gollum throughout Anduin, Mirkwood, and Rhovanion. Trying to ascertain what Gollum knew about the ring and who he may have revealed it to was a large concern of Gandalf’s.

Gandalf Continued To Visit The Shire & Bilbo Baggins

Gandalf Traveled Middle-earth Before Lord Of The Rings

Gandalf traveled back and forth to the Shire in the time between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Gandalf was known as the Grey Pilgrim for good reason – he continuously traveled Middle-earth in the hope of growing his knowledge, protecting the realm, and opposing Sauron. This was his duty, as per the guidance of Lord of the Rings’ 15 Valar. After Gandalf ensured that Bilbo returned home to the Shire safely near the end of The Hobbit, he continued to keep a close eye on one of his favorite places in Middle-earth.

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Frodo was born in T.A. 2968, creating the heir to Bilbo’s most precious legacy – the One Ring. While Bilbo got older and frailer, slowly but surely, despite the life-prolonging effects of the ring, Frodo gradually inherited his uncle’s adventurous spirit. When the time came for Bilbo to finally say his goodbyes, Frodo was more than ready to take his place in the storybooks as the next great Hobbit adventurer. Gandalf’s love of Hobbits was never destined to be focused on Bilbo alone, and Gandalf probably knew he would have his hands full with Frodo, so watched him closely.

In T.A. 3004 onward, Gandalf visited Frodo in the Shire. He would have been 34, meaning Gandalf was getting to know Frodo from a very young age, in Hobbit terms. He would have been educating him from the get-go, and visited him over intervals across the next four years. In many ways, Gandalf had always been preparing Frodo for what lay ahead, even though he wasn’t aware of the future, despite the odd premonition. Shepherded by the Valar, Gandalf naturally stuck by the most important species of the Third Age in The Lord of the Rings.

The Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is a multimedia franchise consisting of several movies and a TV show released by Amazon titled The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. The franchise is based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s book series that began in 1954 with The Fellowship of the Ring. The Lord of the Rings saw mainstream popularity with Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies.

Created by

J.R.R. Tolkien

Cast

Norman Bird, Anthony Daniels, Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Sean Bean, Ian Holm, Andy Serkis, Brad Dourif, Karl Urban, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Benedict Cumberbatch, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans, Morfydd Clark, Mike Wood, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Charlie Vickers, Markella Kavenagh, Megan Richards, Sara Zwangobani, Daniel Weyman, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Lenny Henry, Brian Cox, Shaun Dooley, Miranda Otto, Bilal Hasna, Benjamin Wainwright, Luke Pasqualino, Christopher Guard, William Squire, Michael Scholes, John Hurt

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