This article is great, but to offer a quick correction to the final Q: Gandalf is not an elf, he’s a Maiar. His dark counterpart before becoming Gandalf the Wh

This article is great, but to offer a quick correction to the final Q: Gandalf is not an elf, he’s a Maiar. His dark counterpart before becoming Gandalf the White would be a balrog, which is why Gandalf takes on the balrog in Moria and not Legolas. ;)