Magic vs. Power

[burrahobbit]

I definitely see a lack of “occult” type magic, as in incantations and witch’s brews. The stock staple of most fantasy is that magic is a learned skill. A wizard is someone who has learned how to cast spells

Gandalf did that all the time. Gandalf once new all of the spells for opening doors, but he seemed to have forgoten some. Gandalf first fights the Balrog with spoken spells, Gandalf trying to hold a door closed and the Balrog trying to open it. Bombadil and the wight also have spells, I would assume that they needed to learn them. There are a number of learned spells and "witch's brews" all over tLotR. It's magic any way you slice it. Galadriel may make her things by skill and craft and art, but where does anything say that magic isn't a skill or an art or a craft? Even one of the names of magic disagrees with you: witchcraft.

[ March 13, 2003: Message edited by: burrahobbit ]