Why did Gandalf fear Sauron? | The Lord of the Rings | Middle earth

During the Third Age of the Sun,  five wizards, known as the Istari, were sent to Middle-earth from Valinor. These  five wizards, who were each a Maia, were sent to be vigilant against the possible re-emergence  of Sauron and, if that happened, to unite the peoples against him. However, one of them did not  want to embark on this journey and was afraid of Sauron.

This individual was Olórin, who would  later be known as Gandalf in Middle-earth. Hello everyone and welcome to Middle Earth  Tales. Drgon here.

Today we will try to understand why Gandalf was afraid of Sauron. In Valinor, a council was convened at Manwë's behest to discuss what should be done in case  Sauron re-emerged. Manwë desired to send three emissaries to Middle-earth, but it was unclear who  these three, equal in power to Sauron, would be.

Initially, two names came forward: Curumo, chosen  by Aulë, and Alatar, who attended the council by Oromë's command. Then Manwë asked where Olórin  was. Olórin, who had just returned from a journey and was standing at the far end of the council,  asked Manwë what he desired of him.

He expressed his wish for Olórin to be the third emissary to  Middle-earth. He mentioned Olórin's friendship with the elves who had once dwelt in Valinor, gone  to Middle-earth, and survived its devastations. but olorin declared that he was too weak for  such a task and that he feared Sauron.

Manwë then stated that this was precisely why he  insisted on sending him and, without further debate, commanded him to go to Middle-earth. But why did Olórin, who would later take on many names including Gandalf, see himself as weak or  inadequate despite being told that the emissaries sent to Middle-earth would be equal in power to  Sauron? And why was he afraid of him?

To answer at least the first of these questions, let's take a  look at Olórin's life before he became Gandalf. Olórin was one of many Maiar living in Valinor.  Like all Maiar, he served one or more of the Valar.

While he spent time with Manwë and Varda,  he spent most of his time with Lórien in his gardens or with Nienna. The Vala Lórien was the  master of visions, dreams, and desires. He lived in gardens known by his own name.

These gardens  were a place where all inhabitants of Valinor, even the mightiest, came to rest, rejuvenate,  and find peace. Nienna, on the other hand, was the Vala of mercy and sorrow, known for  mourning the marring of Arda by Melkor. Given that Lórien and Mandos were known as the Masters  of Spirits and that Nienna was Lórien's sister, we can infer that Olórin's primary abilities  were related to the spirit rather than matter.

In other words, Olórin had not spent his time with  Aulë, the master of smithing and earth; Oromë, the hunter; Tulkas, the wrestler; or Ulmo, the  lord of waters, nor had he learned their skills. Olórin was a thinker, not a man of action.  When Olórin said he was weak for such a task, he likely meant not only that he was less  powerful than Sauron but also that his talents were ill-suited for the mission.

In contrast,  the other two chosen ones, Curumo and Alatar, were aides to Aulë and Oromë, respectively. It  makes sense that Olórin, a thinker, would feel inadequate compared to their practical skills. However, Olórin was also considered the wisest of all the Maiar.

At that moment, wisdom might not  have seemed a sufficient skill for such a daunting task, but as events would later show, wisdom  proved to be the most crucial quality of all. So, why did Olórin, immediately after deeming  himself inadequate, also state that he feared Sauron? It's clear that this fear was not  due to his skills, as he didn't say he feared Sauron because of his inadequacies.

Instead,  he expressed fear as a separate concern. Let's try to uncover the reasons behind this fear. One of the reasons for this is undoubtedly that Sauron was among the most powerful of the Maiar. 

We can think of Sauron's power as being equal to that of Manwë's herald, Eönwë, with these two  being the mightiest of the Maiar. However, in one aspect, Sauron was even superior to  Eönwë: the experience he gained from years spent alongside Melkor. No other Maia, including Melian,  spent as much time in Middle-earth, fought in as many battles, or ruled as extensively as Sauron. 

He knew all the important peoples of Middle-earth, their leaders, strengths, and weaknesses  intimately. He wasn't just innately powerful; he had been tempered by his time in Middle-earth,  making him even more formidable and dangerous. So, it is possible that Olórin feared Sauron's  power and experience.

After all, while Sauron was forged in the fires of war, Olórin  resided in the peaceful gardens of Lórien. On the other hand, Olórin was also a powerful  Maia in his own right, and as mentioned before, the three chosen emissaries would be equal in  power to Sauron. Therefore, perhaps Olórin didn't need to fear Sauron's power so much.

This  would have been true if they were to enter Middle-earth with their full powers. However, the  emissaries were not allowed to carry their powers from Valinor to Middle-earth. They would have to  relinquish these powers and take on a mortal form, interacting with elves and men on equal terms to  gain their trust.

They would appear as old men, and this appearance was not just superficial;  though they wouldn't tire as quickly as real old men, they would still get tired, need rest, feel  pain if injured, experience hunger and thirst, and even face death. In contrast, Sauron faced no such  limitations. While he wasn't as powerful as he was when the world was young, he was still close to  that level.

So, Sauron had centuries of experience in Middle-earth, inherent power, and Olórin  was being sent deliberately with a significant reduction of his own powers. All these factors  seem sufficient to justify his fear of him. On the other hand, Olórin’s fear of Sauron  might be much simpler.

He might have feared the physical pain and suffering that could  result from falling into Sauron's hands. As a close friend of the elves, he must have known how  Melkor tortured them. He likely knew that Sauron, Melkor's pupil, also derived personal pleasure  from inflicting pain.

Olórin could probably imagine the horrors that Sauron would inflict  on someone sent by the Valar, especially if they were deliberately weakened. So, his fear  might also stem from the natural concern for injury and death that all living beings share. Now let's go back a bit and try to answer this question as well: Why did Manwë say that  Olórin's hesitation was the very reason he wanted to send him?

What advantage did he  see in Olórin's lack of self-confidence? The reason for requiring these emissaries to  forgo their powers was not only to enable them to communicate with elves and men as equals. It  was also to prevent them from becoming corrupt and turning into a new power that could oppress the  peoples of Middle-earth like Sauron.

After all, the Dark Lord himself was a living example of the  troubles that a wayward Maia could cause. Thus, their powers needed to be restrained, and ideally,  they needed to fear Sauron. The Valar did not desire these emissaries to confront Sauron  in direct combat.

If they did and won, it could result in a new Sauron-like figure who  wasn’t named Sauron. Instead, the Valar intended to ensure that these emissaries could only oppose  Sauron by uniting and mobilizing the existing peoples of Middle-earth against him. This way,  any victory would be a collective effort of those peoples, preventing the rise of a new tyrant.

When you think about it, you see that the Valar's plan was ingenious but also quite ruthless. They  sent individuals whom Sauron would undoubtedly see as enemies or, at best, rivals, stripped them of  their powers, and left them with only one path to survival: uniting the peoples against Sauron. And in the end, we see that the Valar's concern was justified.

Despite all precautions,  Saruman's fall could not be prevented. What might have happened if Gandalf had  not rallied the Rohirrim and defeated Saruman? That’s a topic for another video.

So, that's all for today. Please remember that these conclusions are my own thoughts, as Tolkien  never explicitly wrote about Gandalf's fear. If you have anything to add or if you disagree  with anything I've said, please don't hesitate to share.

I would love to hear your thoughts. And  as always, to keep YouTube happy, if you enjoyed this video, don't forget to like it and subscribe  to the channel. Take care until we meet again.