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Originally Posted by Aiwendil
To put it another way, surely the spirit, the eala, of Gandalf the White is the same entity as that of Gandalf the Grey. If so, then it seems to me that the changes seen in his character after his death and return should be viewed in the same way that we view ordinary character development. He has had certain extraordinary experiences, and they have changed him in certain ways - just as Frodo, for example, undergoes a much slower process of change over the course of the novel.
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This is of course a very good point. While it's always tempting to go off on flights of thought about what strange reasons there might be for the change in Gandalf there is also the fact that he has gone through intense trauma which would by its nature change him ireevocably, just as it did Frodo. So why would we view Frodo's chages on a more 'worldly' level? I suppose the difference is that Gandalf is one of the Maiar and so we tend to view him on that level, while Frodo is a 'mere' mortal, so we view his changes thorugh our own perceptions and understanding. Gandalf is different, so we have to think differently to understand his changes. Or do we?
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Originally Posted by gorthaur_cruel
This is in reference to the Numenoreans, but if they could do it, so could Gandalf, I'm sure. There was certainly love enough between him and Shadowfax.
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That's a nice quote you picked up on. I think that the Numenoreans in some way represented the 'heights' of mortal kind, how far they could get to and what was achieveable - at least those of Numenor who were on the side of 'good'. I think that it is entirely possible that such Numenoreans were aware of and could use the skills of osanwe in much the same way as the Elves did. Perhaps they were able to tune into this and speak to their horses in this way.
On a more worldly level, when I read about Gandalf's ability to speak with Shadowfax and train him to his calling I often think of tales of 'horse-whisperers', who are able to take what to all intents and purposes is a wild horse (and they are very temperamental, sensitive creatures) and by way of words and gestures, effectively 'tame' it.