Gandalf & The Witch-king | An Enhancement of Power

Let’s not forget Gandalf told Gimili that he (Gandalf) was the most dangerous person he will meet unless he is brought before the seat of the dark lord. So in my mind Sauron is the most “powerful” followed by “Gandalf”.

I agree entirely, I believe the Witch King’s speech to Gandalf is just an attempt to intimidate him, which is the Nazgûl’s main power. If they had fought, I suspect that Gandalf would not have slain the Witch King, rather he would have defeated him and he would have returned to Sauron. Merry and Éowyn we’re always meant to kill him. Merry had the only weapon on the battlefield that was made with the specific intention of killing wraiths, and therefore was the Witch Kings deadliest enemy, yet the Witch King paid him no attention as he thought him too weak.

This is not just my favorite LOTR commentary of any kind, it's also one of my favorite YouTube videos. The movies are good. But the books are beautiful.

Gandalf’s laugh at Saruman’s attempts of persuasion. Reminds of Tulkas who laughs in combat. Also Gandalf is my favorite character. His wisdom, kindness, and courage are things I strive to be. In many ways Gandalf was my role model.

Never considered the Witch King's actions at the Great Gate of Minas Tirith described as a "vulgar display of power" especially when compared to Gandalf until this video. . . a spot on and thought-provoking description. And great imagery too - especially enjoyed Gandalf facing the Balrog, had not seen that one before. Another master piece added to TRB quiver. Well done and thank you, sir.

Your channel is criminally underviewed. Absolutely stellar analysis, production, and editing. Subscribed for life. I gotta thank SmoughTown for bringing me here.

Wonderful video! As a huge Gandalf fan who also finds the Witch King a very interesting character, I love your analysis of this; many of the points you make are things I have thought about and it was great to see all these points brought together. It's fascinating how the two were changed from the time of their 1st encounter on Weathertop to their 2nd encounter at Minas Tirith. The Witch King was arrogant and boastful while Gandalf was just the opposite. The Witch King no more understood who he was facing than Saruman had back at Isengard.

I always thought power in Middle Earth to be based on the theme and identity behind the figure. The Witch king is a figure of fear. Early in the books he is one of the 9. Indistinguishable from the other 8 and they are pursuing characters who don't appreciate what they are. The fear them but this fear is understated. When WK is given a name and becomes distinguishable the reader has to ask themselves why. Why does this figure have a name, the 9 are scary but this one is even scarier. In gondor everyone knows of WK so the baseline fear in the later books is even greater than when its based in Hobbiton. Everything builds up and up. Add the prophecy that no man can kill him then this he is not only scary but death at his hands is inevitable. Same with gandalf. He is one of 5, only 3 are given names and he is merely an old man early on but more and more is revealed about the Istari his presence increases. Great video

As usual that was far more interesting than I've heard from any other Tolkien YouTuber. And it just serves to highlight further how bad the movies were at adapting Gandalf the White.

Thanks for the gift membership. This is such a terrific channel! Indispensable to lore apprentices who want to get to the root of the many questions and mysteries that Tolkien gifted to all of us. I hope it continues to expand and get all the attention and respect it's creators deserve!

After years of devouring what I consider high-quality Tolkien Legendarium content, this video is easily one of my all-time favorites. It's so excellent and well done.

Thanks for this video. That scene in the third movie really POed me, even the first time I saw it. No way in Hell can the WC break Gandalf's staff.

This one peeks my interest. I've always wondered why it was that the Witch King Actively Fled From Glorfindel but was more that happy to seek out Gandalf.

In a sea of immature Tolkien commentary where misunderstandings and oversimplifications feed on each other and grow stronger through the retelling, it’s good to have one channel with the maturity and intelligence to understand where Tolkien was coming from.

Thanks for this. First time I've watched one of these. Enjoyed it! I loved the Jackson films but have never been able to understand why the confrontation between the two on the ramparts of Minas Tirith was so badly and purposefully botched by Jackson, when pretty much everything else in the first three films was spot on. Your take on the relative strength of these two seems right to me. Need to watch more of your stuff!

Great video, the whole notion of arguing over power and of over demonstrations of power in the way that one might imagine in DnD or something is not at all what one finds in the writings of Tolkien, so that it adds an extra layer to his works. Recently it seems that more and more people though wish to have the discussion of power dynamics so to speak, so that it is rather difficult to disabuse them of the notions that the fantasy genre has convinced them of. It seems strange, but in recent days I've come to think of Tolkien's works as not belonging to the fantasy genre but rather to that of mythologie. This video highlights much of the differences, and how different not only Olorin is, but also the Witch-King from other depictions of wizards and magic-wielding characters across the panoply of novels we've observed over the years since the publication of the Lord of the Rings.

I always enjoyed the chapters that included the Witch King. He is the ethereal embodiment of evil. His very presence in the lore lends a truly sinister quality to the tale. Wonderful character is an essential piece to the telling of the tale. Great commentary, enjoy your content, keep posting!

Great video analysis, as always! It also made me think on another more or less unrelated question that I had in my mind about Gandalf and his kindling of hope in Theoden. In fact, in the King of the Golden Hall chapter, when Gandalf heals Theoden, he also briefly talks to him secretly. When I read this I first assumed that he had shared the quest of the Ringbearer with Theoden, but later on Gandald also says that he cannot reveal to the king their secret hope in Frodo yet. So, I can't make up my mind on what did Gandalf actually say to Theoden in order to raise his spirit? Did he reveal to the king only part of the quest or did he speak of something totally different? Sometimes I like to think that Gandalf somehow revelead to Theoden that a glorious death awaits him, considering how that seems important to Theoden. Sorry for the super long question, but it was bugging my mind and I wish I could get your opinion on it.

Great stuff. I'd say that the Nazgúl definitely knew of Gandalf. If the Mouth of Sauron had knowledge of him "Have we not heard of thee at whiles, and of thy wanderings, ever hatching plots and mischief at a safe distance?", I'd say that the Nazgúl would have too. Also when the Witch King addresses Gandalf as "Old fool", I always took that to be a criticism of Gandalf and his previous deeds in general, not just because he dared stand before the Witch king.

This is my opinion. I always loved the books. I patently waited along with many others I'm sure, when someone made these books into movies. When I heard Peter Jackson was going to bring this to the screen I was very excited. One could only hope it would be as close to the books as possible. Turned out I was very pleased with with Jackson's work. There were some changes but one could at least understand the reason why. However one thing I could not buy was his interpretation of the meeting of the which king And Gandalf. I believe Tolkien would not have appreciated what took place in the movie, to me it was way overboard. He should have been loyal to the books here. There was no reason to leave the impression that the which king could have defeated Gandalf. Jmo. Thanks for the videos.