Matt Grimaldi wrote:
> > Don't forget that some of the "magic" things were really
> > the application of advanced knowledge and skill, like Gandalf's
> > fireworks show for Bilbo's party.
David Hobby wrote:
> Begging to differ, but what about Gandalf's smoke rings in
> _The Hobbit_? They are described as being multicolored, and moving
> around on their own, I believe. It certainly seems that Gandalf was
> using MAGIC, and not skill. And this for mere entertainment.
> I'm sure it was a minor spell, and _The Hobbit_ is a bit
> different from the other books, but still.
(snip)
> Didn't Gandalf also use spells to produce light in dark places?
> Again, it's minor magic, but it is used casually.
Producing light and colored smoke (and fires that burn even in a
snowstorm) are all tricks we could do now with the appropriate
materials, skill, and knowledge. Who's to say he didn't have some
"glow in the dark" liquid handy, or put special compounds in his
pipe that make special colored smoke. The hobbits and dwarves
around him would have no other explanation than "magic".
I'd agree, though, that there was true magic in the Tolkien world,
but the spellcasting kind was rare.
-- Matt Grimaldi
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