See their true colours shining through....

[Lindril Arvilya]

*keeps singing*
Anyhow. There are a few topics about the Istari here, but having not read HoME or UT, I shall ask in the hopes that my simple question may be answered by the multitude of scholars who abide here in the "Smart People's Forum".
What do you think are the symbolisms behind the colours of the Wizards? White, Grey, Brown, and I believe I heard Blue. (I don't know, as I haven't read the above books.) Plus Saruman's tie-dye. Freakin' hippie. Uh... right.
I've got my own theories, of course, but I want to hear yours instead.
I apologise if there is another topic in this genre... if it's not one I currently frequent, I don't know if it's there.

[Mithadan]

Never really thought about it before but here's my take on your topic:

White - self-explanatory. Pure and the opposite of black.

Grey - white soiled by his labours, but white nonetheless.

Brown - dedicated to the earth and the things which grow and run wild on it.

Blue - no real idea. Tolkien later wrote that the Blue Wizards may have set up cults of some sort in the East to oppose Sauron and thus were not wholely unsuccessful. So perhaps blue means royalty as in the leader of such a cult?

Many-coloured - easy. "He who breaks something...has departed the path of wisdom". Many-coloured is broken white.

[Gwaihir the Windlord]

That sounds about right.

I don't know if this is plausible, but you know the saying 'disappeared off into the blue'? Well... that's exactly what the Blue Wizards did.

[-Imrahil-]

Gwaihir [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

Interesting idea.

[Helkasir]

I didn't think it was much more than a ranking system. You know, White being powerful, erm, because, grey the step down, etc. It would explain Saruman's Many Color thing, because he wants to dominate all the ranks under his will instead of just being an elected or appointed leader.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

The meaning and symbolism of colors - one of my favorite topics! Using the connection to nature, blue would be the sky or water, both rather far off - hence Gwaihir's interesting thought about vanishing into the blue. I am still pondering Helkasir's theory of the colors as a ranking system. I will look up the psychological meaning of colors and post more later...

[Legolas]

I posted this in another thread...

White was the colour chosen by Saruman, and because he was held as the chief of the order, Gandalf took over that colour when he returned and Saruman's direction had gone ill. The other colours are not related to the stature of the corresponding wizard. They do seem to say a bit about that wizard's character, however. Brown is associated with the earth - Radagast was in love with nature, as 'his' Vala was (Yavanna). Grey is generally considered not so appealing to the eye, much like the rest of Gandalf's appearance. The grey only furthered the masking of his great power inside and was a reflection of his humble spirit. Not as much can be said about the light [sea] blue that Alatar and Pallando wore, except for that it suggests that they were definitely different...throughout the rest of the story, we just see characters wearing green, brown, grey, etc. - nothing particularly eye-catching.

[Kalimac]

The Blue Wizards are rather the odd ones out, aren't they? The really curious thing for me is that there are two of them when there was only one of every other color - a Yellow or a Red Wizard would have been interesting.

The only symbolic association that I've heard of for blue (except for water and air, as Estelyn mentioned) is honesty and fidelity. Though whether this came after the old rhyme about "Married in blue/You will always be true" or before it I don't know. And unfortunately it doesn't really seem to have much in common with the wizards who disappeared. One random bit of info though, I believe that in British English a good while ago (and maybe even now, I live in the US so have no idea) "bluing" money meant making it disappear. UK Downers, is this right? Maybe the Blue Wizards were just Tolkien's wry comment on his finances...

[Gwaihir the Windlord]

Hmm, I'm inclined to agree with Legolas's quote here. I don't think it did have anything to do with rank, but simply character.

The Blue Wizards, perhaps, had exactly the same colour because they had the same job -- emissiaries to the East.

[Keneldil the Polka-dot]

Kalimac...thats an interesting idea "bluing" money. The Blue Wizards disappeared.....maybe JRRT was making use of an old turn of phrase.

I thought generally the same things as Mithadan except grey seemed to me to represent how Gandalf's greatness was clouded for awhile, hidden. He was a grey area: the greatest of the Istari, and yet not the leader of their order. And white seemed to represent leadership, or highest position within the Istari. I disagree with purity or opposite of good...Saruman was anything but that. From the beginning he was less than pure.

[Nuranar]

The only symbolic association that I've heard of for blue (except for water and air, as Estelyn mentioned) is honesty and fidelity. Though whether this came after the old rhyme about "Married in blue/You will always be true" or before it I don't know. And unfortunately it doesn't really seem to have much in common with the wizards who disappeared.

Kalimac, I was taught in elementary school that blue stands for loyalty. (This was in connection with the symbolism of the red, white, and blue in the American flag.) And I agree that it has little to do with the disappearing wizards! [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[Helkasir]

Dar.


Actually, all this talk made think of something wierd. Maybe it's like power rangers, ya know? First, there were these wizards; five of em. A Red dude, a black dude, a pink dude, a yellow one, and a blue one. *Hint* Then, this GREEN wizard appears, and falls in love with the pink one. Then we figure out that he's EVIL! but he turns good and becomes a white wizard..... sorry.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

In the meantime, I have read up on the meaning of colours in a book by a German professor of colour theory and colour psychology, Harald Braem. The following thoughts are based upon his book.

White is the sum of light, the colour of enlightenment. In German, ‘white’ and ‘wise’ are related words. Interestingly, there is a connection between the words for elves and the colour white in Germanic-Celtic mythology. White indicates innocence, purity, perfection and cleanness.

Grey is neutral and shadowy. It is bipolar, mediating between light and darkness. It is connected to age and the past. It is also a camouflage colour.

Brown is a colour that should not exist, since there is no brown light. It represents the earth, roots, stability and solidity. It is a warm colour, the colour of wood, leather and fur. It reminds of comfort and relaxation; appears dependable, but boring; and represents the bodily side of life. It is often the favourite colour of those who seek refuge from conflict.

Blue is, as we surmised, the colour of sky and sea; spirit, heaven and the gods. It is indeed strongly connected to religion, as HerenIstarion said (the colour that Mary wears in Catholic tradition). It represents the longing for rest, wholeness and inner peace. It is also associated with royalty (blue-blooded).

Now some of my own thoughts about the significance of the colours as far as the Istari are concerned:

Saruman started out wise and sought enlightenment. However, he was not able to keep his purity and lost the white colour.

I would associate grey with Gandalf in that he was hidden, clouded. The underlying white, the true wisdom and the purity that he kept because of his humility, shone through after his transformation.

Was Radagast trying to hide from the conflict, as his colour would possibly indicate? Perhaps his preoccupation with the animal side of life was an escape from the unpleasant reality of the more spiritual war between good and evil in ME.

And the blue wizards – the colour association would support the theory that they went off ‘into the blue’ and founded some religious cult(s)…

I wouldn’t go so far as to say that Tolkien’s colour choices were a conscious decision because of their deeper meaning, but their archetypical significance would make an unconscious choice meaningful as well. Fascinating topic!

[Lalaith]

I had always thought Gandalf's colour refered to his shadowy, non-assertive aspect.
Unlike the other wizards, Gandalf mixes with all sorts,and is comfortable with the highest of the high and lowest of the low. Think of all those names he has been given by all the people he has lived among...he is knowledgable about the more obscure races on Middle-earth, such as Ents and of course hobbits!
And, as Olorin, he would often walk among the people of Middle Earth, unseen, and give them comfort although they knew not from whence it came.