Abstract
We are used to seeing emotions in Tolkien as coded morally. Lust or possessiveness is evil whereas care and forbearance are good. There are some emotions, though, that cross these moral boundaries and one of these is anger Moreover, anger in Tolkien is very coded in terms of gender, as it is nearly always male rage. After examining the cases of Saruman and Wormtongue (angry because the world will not cooperate with their plans) and Thingol (angry because he realizes he has just postponed his doom rather than staved it off), we will examine the case of Gandalf. Gandalf is represented as humble, altruistic, succoring other people not in it for himself. Yet Gandalf is frequently angry, especially at the ninnyish behavior of the very Hobbits he elsewhere champions. Gandalf actually hurts Pippin’s feelings when he calls the Hobbit ”tom-fool of a Took:” after a miraculous reunion, and his rage at Donator terrifies Pippin as much as does Denethor himself. Why do we love and admire this irascible, cranky character? One can trace aspects of Gandalf’s anger back to the thumos of the ancient Greeks and the saeva indignatio of Roman satirists and Hebrew prophets; but there is also something modern and, dare one say professorial, in Gandalf’s anger as well. Gandalf represents everything that is positive in Tolkien’s value-system; yet a spectator watching an actor play Gandalf might have the same question famously posed by a first-time viewer of King Lear: why is that man so old and so angry? Is there something about Gandalf’s articulation of masculinity which makes him angry even when every pore of him seems to want to do good for others?
Recommended Citation
Birns, Nicholas
(2025)
"Fears and Pains and Rages: The Psychology of Gandalf's Anger,"
Journal of Tolkien Research: Vol. 21:
Iss.
2, Article 2.
Available at:
https://scholar.valpo.edu/journaloftolkienresearch/vol21/iss2/2
