by Ethel Smith

Created on: August 15, 2008

There are so many great characters in J R Tolkien's fantasy trilogy, the Lord of the Rings, that it is hard to pick one single character as a favourite. What with Frodo Baggins who is a Hobbit, Gimli the dwarf, Aragorn a hero from the Fellowship of the Rings and many, many more. However I think I can pick just one, but first I will tell you of two runners up for this prestigious title. In third position I would place Bilbo Baggins and in second position I would have to put Gollum.

Bilbo plays a central character in the Hobbit but only a relatively small role in the Lord of the Rings. However I love his quirky character. As a Hobbit he is naturally small and his character has the naughtiness of a child in the guise of a man. He is unusual to look at but is just an ordinary Hobbit. However his life begins to have many strange adventures and happenings.

Gollum, also known as Smagol, is a strange, unpleasant character. He turns into a much more nasty character as the books move on. He looks barely human eventually and has a strange way of talking. He always refers to himself as 'we' and mispronounces many words so that they sound almost childlike and musical. However, I love this character simply because of his strangeness.

So my favourite character?

Well for me it has to be that most superior wizard Gandalf. He has so many different aspects to his character. He is wise, clever, articulate, brave and more. At times he is like a kindly old grandfather to the Hobbits and the reader. Yet, when needed, he can be fearsome and powerful. Whether from illustrations in the books or on the big in the recent screen version Gandalf is just such an appealing character. Sir Ian McKellen played Gandalf in these recent films and brought this character to life very successfully. He had the right look, voice and presence to perfectly portray this character from the Lord of the Rings books.

Gandalf is central to the stories told in this trilogy of books. He can be kind yet tough, strong yet gentle, magical yet down to earth and it is hard to imagine these tales without his character. In being a central character he has been involved in the ongoing fight for middle earth and the quest to return the Ring to it's rightful place from the very start. He is larger than life in every sense of the word and, to coin a current term, is quite simply 'Awesome'. Yes I think that sums up Gandalf the Great. Awesome!.

Learn more about this author, Ethel Smith.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.