Gandalf is the wizard who guides Bilbo and Frodo in J.R.R. Tolkien’s stories. He helps launch Bilbo’s journey in The Hobbit and later urges Frodo to carry the One Ring away from the Shire.
In Middle-earth, Gandalf is one of the Istari, supernatural beings sent to oppose Sauron. His original name is Olórin, and he arrives in Middle-earth in the form of an elderly wizard. He is known as Gandalf the Grey until his confrontation with the Balrog in Moria and his return as Gandalf the White.
Gandalf is not the same character as Saruman, who begins as the leader of the Istari but becomes corrupted by his desire for power. Radagast is another wizard, associated especially with animals and the natural world. These distinctions matter because Tolkien’s wizards are a group, not interchangeable versions of one person.