Guide to The Lord of the Rings/Characters/Gandalf

Gandalf (Norse; IPA: [gand:alf] - "Elf of the Wand" or "Wand-elf") the Grey, later known as Gandalf the White, was a wizard sent by the West in the Third Age to combat the threat of Sauron.

Appearance
Gandalf is described as an old man with a pointed grey hat, a long grey cloak, and a silver scarf. He had a long white beard and bushy eyebrows that stuck out beyond the brim of the hat. After his resurrection, the change of his signature colour from grey to white is significant, for he was sent back to replace the corrupted head of the Order of Wizards and leader of the White Council Saruman as the Chief of the Order of Wizards. In the book, he says that he has himself become what Saruman should have been.

Círdan the Shipwright seemed to have foreseen this, for he entrusted the care of Narya, the Ring of Fire (one of the Three Rings of the Elves) to Gandalf rather than Saruman.

In the films
Gandalf was portrayed by Ian McKellan.