The Stranger

"The Stranger" in The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
Maia
The Stranger
Biographical Information
Other names	Gandalf, Giant, big fella, the other, Grand-elf
Titles	The Istar
Location	Aman, above the Straight Road, Norfield Glen, Weedbrook, Undercliffs, Grey Marshes, Trout Bend, the Braids, the Grove, East Bight, and Rhûn
Affiliation	Istari, Harfoots
Language	Quenya and a Mannish tongue
Physical Description
Gender	Male
Hair colour	Grey; brown beard
Eye colour	Blue
Clothing	Grey-brown cloth
Weaponry	Staff
Gallery	Images of The Stranger

”

I am good.

The Stranger

The Stranger was a pseudonym given to Gandalf during the late Second Age. The Stranger was invented for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power by Amazon Studios, where he is portrayed by Daniel Weyman.

History

Beginnings

The Stranger poster for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

When the way into Aman opened to allow Galadriel and her fellow Elves access, a mysterious meteorite left Aman at the same time carrying with it an Istar as it flew towards Middle-earth above the Straight Road. Many of the inhabitants of Middle-earth bore witness to the fiery meteor as it tore across the sky including but not limited to: High King Gil-galad, Elrond, Lord Celebrimbor, Arondir, Bronwyn, some Ents, and the Harfoots.

The meteorite eventually crashed in a clearing close by to the Norfield Glen within the Rhovanion Hills. It was there where the Stranger was discovered by the two young Harfoots: Elanor Brandyfoot and Poppy Proudfellow. Elanor, commonly known as Nori, fell into the fiery crater and discovered that the flames in the crater were cold before moving the Stranger in a wheelbarrow to a makeshift tent.

The next day, the Stranger woke up and began making markings of an unknown meaning on a fallen log. When Nori came back, he shouted, surprised, letting loose a gust of wind, though his surprise subsided after being offered a bowl of Snails.

Later that night, the Stranger freed the Fireflies within the lanterns that the Harfoots used. He then forcibly manipulated them into forming the shape of an unknown Constellation.

On the day of festivities before migration, Nori broke into the cart of the elder trailfinder Sadoc Burrows to look in his almanac, the Star-book, for celestial arrays that match the constellation. Finding one, she brought the torn page to the Stranger before joining a ceremony of remembrance of Harfoots left behind. The Stranger, perusing the page in the light of a fire, accidentally set it alight and clumsily made his presence known to the other Harfoots. As a result of his presence and Nori's involvement, the Brandyfoot cart was to be last in the caravan.

The migration

To atone for his errors and to keep the Brandyfoots from being left behind, the Stranger served by pushing their cart. During the migration, Nori taught the Stranger basic language skills. He was able to fully pronounce the word "Mi-gra-tion" by the time the Harfoots passed the Weedbrook. The Stranger continued to aid the Brandyfoots while learning more and more throughout the migration. He aided them through the Undercliffs, the Grey Marshes, the Trout Bend, and the Braids of the Thistledell.

Upon reaching an eerie forest, the Stranger found himself needing to save Nori, Poppy, and Malva Meadowgrass from three ambushing Wolves. The Stranger drove them away, but at the cost of paralysing his right arm. However, he was able to attempt to freeze his arm into ice with a shallow pool of water, and speaking Quenya while doing so. When Nori attempted to stop him, he lost control and knocked her back a fair distance.

At the end of the migration, the Harfoots found the Grove had been destroyed by an eruption from Orodruin to the south. Sadoc Burrows asked the Stranger to attempt to restore it. While the Stranger was able to heal the Grove, a branch of a tree very nearly crushed Dilly Brandyfoot. While he lost favour with the Harfoots, Sadoc still provided him with which direction he might find information on the constellation he sought after.

The Grove

Little did he know that the Mystics, a group of three robed women, consisting of the Ascetic, the Nomad, and the Dweller, had been tracking him. When they reached the Grove that night, Nori unsuccessfully attempted to misdirect them. The Dweller snatched a hair from Nori's head, magically set all the Harfoots' carts catastrophically ablaze, and with the other Mystics, continued onward in their pursuit.

Upon the Stranger reaching the Greenwood, presumably the East Bight, the Mystics appeared to him, initially with the Dweller magically guised as Nori. Once they had him menacingly surrounded, the Dweller dropped the guise, and they knelt to him, proclaiming him to be Lord Sauron their master, and told him finally that the constellation which he sought after was called the Hermit's Hat and was visible only in one place far to the east, in Rhûn.

While the Mystics quickly incapacitated him when he refused to calm down upon being told his identity, four Harfoots led by Sadoc attempted to rescue the Stranger by stealth. However, the Mystics turned the tables on them by the Dweller's use of dark magic to act as a decoy. Then the Ascetic murdered Sadoc, throwing a knife into his stomach. When the Stranger woke, he fell to despair, believing all that the Mystics told him. However, upon being encouraged by Nori, and upon her bringing him the Dweller's staff that she had stealthily taken, he banished the three Mystics back from whence they came. As he did so, the Mystics realized who he truly was: the Istar.

After returning to the Grove, the Stranger departed alongside Nori, to venture into Rhûn in order to find out his true name and his origin.

Journey to Rhûn

The Stranger and Nori became lost on their way to Rhûn. While en route, they noticed that they were being followed by a mysterious figure. They set a trap for the figure and, upon capturing them, it was revealed that it was their friend Poppy Proudfellow. Poppy had brought Harfoot maps to aid in their journey.

The Dark Wizard addressing his acolytes.

Later, at Caras Gaer, a mysterious Dark Wizard admonished his Mystic acolyte, the Dweller, who had failed to capture the Stranger. He changed his approach to capturing the Stranger and instead sent Brânk and his Gaudrim scouts to pursue him. Having realized they were being followed, the Stranger and his two friends changed their course to avoid detection. The journey proved arduous and, after running out of water, the Stranger collapsed from dehydration.

Poppy and Nori soon stumbled upon a well and were able to soothe the Stranger's thirst. However, in doing so, they accidentally revealed their location to Brânk and the other Gaudrim. After finding a staff that he recognized from his dreams, the Stranger summoned a sandstorm and caused the scouts to flee. Not having full command of his powers, the staff disintegrated and the sandstorm swept Poppy and Nori away.

Destiny revealed

The Stranger speaking with Tom Bombadil.

Searching for the lost Harfoots, the Stranger happened upon a strange bearded man who revealed himself to be Tom Bombadil. After freeing a Stranger from the grips of a tree, Tom inferred that he is "Eldest" and that he was present before the creation of the stars. He then revealed that Rhûn was once a verdant land that had recently become a barren waste, and that he had come to see why that was. Tom then explained that it was the Stranger's destiny to combat both the Dark Wizard and Sauron.

Tom Bombadil later took the Stranger to a barren grove of dead trees where the Stranger is meant to find his Wizard's staff. The Stranger had a vision of Nori and Poppy in the captivity of the Dark Wizard and wanted to help them, but Tom says that he must decide between helping them and fulfilling his destiny as the enemy of the Dark Wizard and Sauron.

Confronting the Dark Wizard

The Stranger abandoned his search for the staff and travelled to the dwelling of the Stoors to save Nori and Poppy. He was met by the Dark Wizard, who implied that he had known the Stranger and was aware of his past, and that he wished for them to become allies who would supplant Sauron. However, after witnessing the Dark Wizard's violence against Brânk as the Gaudrim held Nori and Poppy captive, the Stranger rejected the Dark Wizard's offer.

The Stranger using his power to lift the rocks the Dark Wizard cast down from the rim of the Stoors' canyon.

The Dark Wizard grew angry and cast a spell which lifted and subsequently dropped many large rocks from the cliffs surrounding the canyon abode of the Stoors. Many of these rocks fell and caused a great deal of damage to the Stoor village, but the Stranger was able to suspend the remaining falling rocks with a counter-spell, saving the lives of the villagers and his Harfoot friends.

The village was in ruin from the damage caused by the Dark Wizard's magic, forcing the Stoors to migrate to find a new home. As they were leaving, the Stoors thanked the Stranger and called him "Grand Elf". After speaking with Nori, the Stranger found a branch from a tree in the canyon and adopted it as his new staff.

Later the Stranger conversed with Tom Bombadil and reflected on the moniker the Stoors had deemed him with: "Grand Elf". Upon reflection, he had a moment of foresight and stated that he would come to be known as Gandalf.