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Old 08-08-2012, 02:57 PM   #10
Inziladun
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Inziladun is a guest of Galadriel in Lothlórien.Inziladun is a guest of Galadriel in Lothlórien.Inziladun is a guest of Galadriel in Lothlórien.Inziladun is a guest of Galadriel in Lothlórien.Inziladun is a guest of Galadriel in Lothlórien.
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Originally Posted by Alfirin View Post
It sort of depends on how "accurate" the clothing was. In other words, did Gandalf in his Middle earth guise merely look like an old man, or since it was an incarnate body, would he also feel like an old man. It is mentioned that the only thing that aged the Ishtari was the rigors of their labors, but Gandalf's labors were pretty rigorus (not to mention that, if the UT tales chapter is taken as canon, Gandalf came in a form much older than any of the other Istari right off the bat. They all have staffs, but Gandalf is the only one specifcally described as NEEDING one to get around.) If the latter, I can imagine Gandalf, once he was permitted to do so, might very well at least take on the form of a somewhat younger man; one free of whatever aches and pains the age of his "Greycloak" incarnation plauged him with. He could still look enough like his old self to be recognizable to his friends as Gandalf, just a healthier, fitter, more nimble Gandalf.
Well, in Middle-earth Gandalf was given that particular body for a reason, I think.
Even though his spirit, as divined by Círdan. was the "greatest", his physical embodiment was the weakest-appearing. Perhaps the purpose of that was to reinforce his humility, with a side-effect of reducing his chances of being able to intimidate weaker beings by his looks.
In the west though, he would no longer have been "trapped" in that body, and could therefore have had any body he chose without it affecting how he felt physically.
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