Quote:
Originally Posted by littlemanpoet
As to:
1. It's a better trick that Gandalf gets Bilbo to agree.
2. Your first point is what Tolkien himself says, so I have no argument with it, since it does not argue successfully against Gandalf/Bladorthin as Trickster. Your second point is a quibble; he did leave, knowing that they would get in trouble without him, but he still left.
3. True, but he still surprises the Goblins by trickery.
4. "Later learn" speaks to the changes Tolkien made by the time he realized that he had drawn enough of Middle Earth into TH that he needed to rethink it all, and therefore he has the Necromancer thing going on. It's arguable that if the topic of the Necromancer comes in at the early stages, it may be a rewrite. No proof of that.
Gandalf's trickery with the Trolls is especially Tricksterish.
Of course Odin is a far more ominous Trickster than Gandalf/Bladorthin. That does not in the least remove from the category.
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1. Even in LOTR Gandalf is not beyond using trickery or bending the truth to get his way. For instance when he tells Hama, his staff is just a walking stick.
2. I disagree it's not like he left them in a particularly dangerous situation. This is precisely why some people call him the storm crow. It's because he only returns when there is something disastrous going on.
You could be right and I have not looked into the changes Tolkien made. My first taste of the Hobbit was actually a secondary school entrance exam and by then I already knew about Gandalf. So perhaps my view on him was coloured.