How did Gandalf regain his staff?

[Kitanna]

In FOTR when Gandalf and Saruman are fighting Gandalf has his staff taken away and Saruman uses it against him. So after escaping from Isengard Gandalf has his staff back, but how did he get it? Surely Saruman didn't give it back as Gandalf flew away with Gwaihir.

[The Only Real Estel]

Ah, the million dollar-question. I'm not sure that anyone really knows the answer to your question, but we can make a couple of guesses:

#1- It was not given back to him by Saruman.

#2- He has another one by the time Frodo wakes up in Rivendell (actually that's a fact, not a guess).

My guess- Elrond gave/made him a new one.

I won't go into the specifics of the matter (because I could be totally wrong, & also because I don't know the specifics), but my guess is that Elrond gave Gandalf another staff.

[Araréiel]

That, m'dear, is the power of a filmmaker's ability to add one is as he pleases!

How did Sam suddenly have a pony on part of the trail when he didn't leave with one?

really, in the film, just errors that were later corrected when, in fact, to leave them out would have made more sense. Such as Bill the Pony-only a scene or two made no sense, though we all know where he got Bill.

As for the staff, it fleets me right now. Maybe he managed to somehow steal it back? It doesn't seem that Elrond could could just make one. Oh! I know!

Accio Magic Staff! (If you don't get it, I'll sit here and smile smuggly like an idiot!)

[Gil-Galad]

Just imagine Gandalf on the eagle and Saruman running out to the balcony yelling at him, then you see gandalf on the eagle circle around Orthanc and "yoink" Gandalf has his staff!

[Knight of Gondor]

This question was actually originally submitted to Movie-mistakes.com, and I think we DID bat this one around a few times after Fellowship released. The answer is, there really were two staffs. (Staves?) The first one had a slot for Gandalf's pipe to fit in, if you'll observe. I don't have time to dig up the exact pictures, but you're sure to find different staff pictures by searching the index of images here .

Gandalf couldn't go back for his other staff, so I assume Elrond did indeed give him the second one. However, I watched FotR once again some time ago, and noted one important fact. Gandalf ALSO had GLAMDRING with him! You can see it in the brief shot of Gandalf dismounting the horse, and patting its sides as he watched Saruman descened the stairs. So HOW did he get that back?

[Gil-Galad]

like i said..."yoink"...or a "swoops there it is" some hip-hopping gandalf stuff

darn i had a tripping pic of disco gandalf...

[Kitanna]

Curse that Gandalf and his staff of wonder. This was actually the question that bugged me the most because his staff appears to be the same the entire movie.
But here's a question to boggle the mind whenever Aragorn throws down a torch (like in the forest looking for kingsfoil) nothing ever burns around. Think about it, just one of the mysteries of the film making

[Araréiel]

He DID have Glandring there!

Okay, so no one got my Harry Potter reference. Now to go sit in a corner and cry.....

But actually, Saurumon told me he knew Gandalf needed it to kick his butt since that's how it's supposed to be, so he gave it back.

[Knight of Gondor]

Harry Pothead? Nah, this is the Lord of the RINGS forum! See enclosed attachment for what *I* think of Hary Potty!

[Kitanna]

Knight of Gondor, that picture was HI-larious!

[Thorongil]

Incredible. No one beats Gandalf!

[The Only Real Estel]

Nice attachment, Knight of Gondor!

Since no one really knows how Gandalf got his staff back, & most of the possibilities have been touched on, I predict that this thread simply lapses into posts of praise for KoG & his attachment.

[Fordim Hedgethistle]

In the book its revealed that Gandalf was taken to Lorien by the Eagles after he is 'reborn' and there he is clothed and taken care of by Galadriel -- so I've always assumed that he got a new staff from Galadriel.

(This makes sense, she's on the White Council and might very well have a few extra staffs in the umbrella stand from previous meetings of the WC when absent minded wizards left them behind. I have several brollies not my own that I have acquired in just this way.)

[Gil-Galad]

But that was after his fall in Moria, not after his escape from Orthanc

[Essex]

On another 'where's his staff gone' point, do we see Gandalf with a new staff after he seems to (off camera) lose his when fighting the Witch King? I can't remember if he was leaning on a staff at the Gray Havens? I don't think he had one when fighting at the black gate, but I'm not sure.......

[The Only Real Estel]

On another 'where's his staff gone' point, do we see Gandalf with a new staff after he seems to (off camera) lose his when fighting the Witch King? I can't remember if he was leaning on a staff at the Gray Havens? I don't think he had one when fighting at the black gate, but I'm not sure.......

I also thought of this point about Gandalf's staff at the Grey Havens. I am sure that Gandalf had no staff during the battle at the Black Gate, which is why he was using his sword two-handed. I seem to remember Gandalf with yet another staff at the Grey Havens, but I haven't checked it yet.

[Gil-Galad]

If you notice, at the Grey Havens you can see Gandalf wearing Narya!

[Thorongil]

Wasn't he supposed to do that? Like, when Sauron was defeated the three was to pass into the west, and they didn't have to hide the rings anymore.

im not totally sure... but if you pay attention closely his first and second staff have differences. But before i get into all that lets be reasonable. HES A WIZARD. I mean he can do all sorts of little tricks. Maybe he pulled his staff out of his hat . Remember when Bilbo pulled his little trick and went back to bag end but Gandalf was already there when a second ago he was at the party. He can do all sorts of magic just open your mind a little... Anyway but the differences between his two staffs are hard to make out. But note in the scene where him and Saruman are fighting you can see the head of his pipe. Now lets fast forward all the way to moria and there is no pipe head but rather a crystal. Now as far as in between those scenes with Gandalfs staff im not completely sure because i havent seen the movie in a while but it is very obvious...

[Knight of Gondor]

Gandalf did lose his original white staff when the Witchking broke it, but since he obtained it in Lothlorien, it makes sense that he was given another like it after Sauron's fall. (Not that he really needed it anymore.) You do see him leaning on it at the Grey Havens.

I just thought of something, remember in the movie how Saruman telekeneticly grabed Gandalfs staff from him, well maybe Gandalf did the same thing and telekeneticly grabed it back before he left. It seems to put in a lot of puzzle pieces

[Nazgûl-king]

It could be possible that he has a supply of back-up staffs somewhere, perhaps with Radagast. He does seem to lose his staff a lot in the films, once when Saruman takes it, once at the bridge, and once when the Witch-king breaks it. Perhaps he should change his name to Gandalf of many staffs.

[zxcvbn]

How exactly are Wizard staves made in Middle Earth anyway? I'd imagine whatever magic the Wizards do would be largely unique to them, so how could Elves craft their magical staves?

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Oh, I don't imagine Wizards actually make their own staves anyway. I reckon they just 'magick 'em up' after the contractor delivers them.

Anyway, one kudo to the people at Weta Workshop (for whom I have a lot of respect, unlike their boss (even if they do call Theoden's people 'the Rohans')): Gandalf 2.0's staff clearly shows a Lothlorien design aesthetic.

[alatar]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hickli

Oh, I don't imagine Wizards actually make their own staves anyway. I reckon they just 'magick 'em up' after the contractor delivers them.

Does that magicking take any time or energy? Could Saruman have used an Ent arm as a replacement staff for the one Gandalf destroyed? Likewise, what import then when the Witch-King destroys Gandalf's? In the very next scene, Gandalf swipes a spear. Could he not have made this into one?

I prefer some other mechanism that requires that the staves be more special, like being delivered from on high by the Eagles, after, that is, the Wizard places his order online.

[Valier]

I watched the Fellowship extended version yesterday, with this thread in mind. I stopped the movie just to check. Gandalf's first staff is a knarled wooden staff with a knobby top. After he looses it to Saruman, Gandalf is in Rivendell with a new staff. It is a different one. The one he has in Rivendell is a wooden gnarled staff, but the top is different. There are roots that come out one side of the top making it more elongated than knobby. (hope that makes sense) Then after he falls in Moria and is reborn, he has a white staff.

I think these staffs were probably given to him. Elrond would certainly have walking sticks like that or someone in Rivendell could make him one. Then surely in Valinor he was given a new staff to complete his mission.

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

I always had a thought that the wizard... say Gandalf would get a stick of wood and had it carved or carve it themselves, but they already had their powers, the staff was just to direct their powers in a more deadly manner!

[BARAHIR]

Hello my friends, to put all your minds at rest about the missing staff, the story goes as this is the story.
When the Isatar arrived to middle earth they had no staffs, they had what was known as a rod, it is held within them, this was their source of power. When the five arrived in Greenwood the Great (Now known as Mirkwood) each went their separate ways and created their staffs. Gandalfs staff from his arrival till it was snatched up by Saurman was only the first (It was created from the trees in Mirkwood). When Gandalf was rescued by the Eagle he returned to Mirkwood where he had created his original staff. To the other questions about using his powers go as this, a truly good wizard only uses his powers to vanquish true evil because it will diminish . Gandalf was entrusted with Narya one of the Elven rings (after cirdan's death) because of his values to life. And as we know when using a ring of power the evil Lord knows all.
As for Gandalfs white staff that was broken by the Witch King of Agmar, Gandalf replaced this staff from the refreshed tree of gondor, with the Kings permisson.
Hopefully this will answer alls questions, if not please contact me.

May the peace of our middle earth be with you always.

Namaire.

[Estelyn Telcontar]

I'm afraid the breaking of Gandalf's white staff by the Witch King is one of Peter Jackson's movie inventions! It's fun to speculate about the origin of the staffs of which we know from the books, but Tolkien did not give more information, so anything we postulate has more to do with our imaginations than with actual fact.

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

My, my. Mirkwood branches? Cirdan's death? Where did you learn all this, Barahir?

[Mithalwen]

I think he means Gil-galad's death...

[BARAHIR]

Ah yes it is true that no actual writing was done of this in book but if you read into the story you will remember that when Gandalf entered to save faramir and the gaurds fell it was the stroke of his hand (Glamring) that made the guards fall and unbridled the sword from Denethors hand, not his staff. Read deeply into the passages and see them for what they are they do tell use more than what is there.

Barahir

[BARAHIR]

Unfortuently Gil-Galad perished in the First war with Sauron.

Barahir

[BARAHIR]

We must remember and go back, way back, Mirkwood was at one time the Greenwood forest before it was poisoned by Sauron and the evil which he created.
legolas's was origanilly from the greenwood forest hence his surname Greenleaf, Read deeper into the writings....

Barahir

[Mithalwen]

I have always thought the wizard's staff analogous to the musician's instrument. Not the source of the power but the means to it's execution... which is not to say that the staff is merely a stick.... I remember my violin teacher could make my grot-box sound good while her beautiful italian violin could make me sound a whold lot better ...

[BARAHIR]

Very good , The staff is not merely a stick just as the grot box, it is an instrument into which to exhibit one's force, power, expression, feelings.
AHHH a worthy mind to exhibit true meanings.

Barahir

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

The Istari arrived in Middle-earth after the first shadow had fallen on Greenwood. Why do you insist, Barahir, that Gandalf's staff was made from the wood of this forest? I just can't think of any source which suggests this.

I think it likely that the Istari brought staffs with them over the Sea; after all, they were in the bodies of old men and needed walking sticks. There's a thread near the top of the N & N forum about wizards and staffs. It's interesting.

Edit: It is called The True Istari. I'd link but I'm not sure there's such a thing as 82nd time lucky. ;-)

[BARAHIR]

My friend if you read, it's in the 1st shadows when the Isatri arrived (Greenwood the Great) and this is the place where Gandalf first befriended the grey elfs, legolas's people. The mirkwood trees were full of good still at that time before the final shadows. My suggestion is to start yours readings with the Silmarrillion and work through the tales and so forth.

Remember we are what keeps this Earth alive.

Barahir

[Eomer of the Rohirrim]

Yes, Gandalf went to Mirkwood; but he went to other places too. We can make up anything we want but if you could provide a textual source for what you're claiming it would be great!

Besides, it's the Earth that keeps us alive.

[BARAHIR]

Of course my Lad, The silmarillon page 299. However thats in my book which is a 1st edition. Look in the chapter the power of the ring the third age. You are so most Welcome.

Barahir