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bglenney_uvm
The Shire
Jul 14 2012, 2:01am
Views: 316
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Tolkien at UVM - 2012 summer - week 2 - A Wizard's Staff
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One of my students this past year (I teach high school Latin and English) asked me if Sauron's Ring was like a "horcrux" in the Harry Potter series. We discussed the similarities and differences, and the student decided that the Ring was indeed a form of horcrux: a powerful being partitions his power and stores part of that power in an object that no one — once the object had some time to work its addictive magic — would be willing to destroy; the body of the entity can be killed or destroyed but its spirit lives on because of this magical reliquary. Destroy the object, however, and the entity is permanently destroyed. The motives Tolkien gives for Sauron's creation of the Ring, as far as I can tell, is singular: to dominate the wearers of the other Rings of Power and, through them, to dominate their peoples. If he conceived of this Ring as a way of preserving his power, or spirit, I'm not aware that Tolkien addressed the issue.
What about a Wizard's staff? When Saruman refuses to accept Gandalf's offer of mercy after the Battle of Helm's Deep, Gandalf reveals himself as the White Wizard and casts his former superior out of the Order of the Istari, using his own power to destroy Saruman's staff. As Frodo and his companions will later learn, this fallen Wizard remains dangerous, but his power as a Wizard is gone.
Question: Where does the power of a Wizard reside and come from? Is the staff a mere symbol? ...or, like the Ring, it stores its master's power? Does a Wizard need his staff in order to work his wizardry, or does the power come from within his own spirit?
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Tolkien at UVM - 2012 summer - week 2 - A Wizard's Staff
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bglenney_uvm
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Jul 14 2012, 2:01am
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Wizards are maiar spirits in human bodies, that's why they have powers
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Tigero
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Jul 14 2012, 3:08pm
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a wizard's power (minus the staff)
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bglenney_uvm
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Jul 16 2012, 3:10am
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I think it has various uses
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Radagast-Aiwendil
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Jul 14 2012, 4:48pm
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a wizard's staff
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bglenney_uvm
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Jul 16 2012, 3:16am
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The breaking of Gandalf's staff...
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Otaku-sempai
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Jul 16 2012, 4:47pm
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The staff is an instrument
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Mim
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Jul 14 2012, 7:21pm
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The story of a magic-user who can't be killed is an old one.
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Curious
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Jul 16 2012, 2:31am
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a wizard's staff - horcruxes - the good guys v. the bad guys
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bglenney_uvm
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Jul 16 2012, 3:30am
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