What's in a Staff?

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Bêthberry

Of course it comes down to a matter of preference, but it seems to me that wizards just seem to merit staves rather than staffs.

If it's archaic, it has to be good.

Originally Posted by Mnemosyne

Of course, "staff" could merely be a mistransliteration of "staph," short for "staphlococcus," which sheds a whole new light on the text. Could it be that the Valar's true reason for sending the Istari was to experiment on the possibilities of biological warfare?

Indeed. 'Staph' in the hands of a wizard could be more than a microorganism of old age...

As for skip's musing of what was meant by 'naked', I think that indicated Gandalf's power and spritual status were not so tightly veiled, not so much a physical appearance. 'Naked' in the sense that he was not as attached to the physical body as before, hence his statement to the Three Hunters that none of them had weapons that would harm him anymore. And also, Gwaihir's comment that Gandalf was so light after his return that he felt Gandalf would simply float to the earth like a feather if dropped, seems to point to a less physically 'there' Gandalf.