TL; DR: Como as pautas podem fazer tudo o que as varinhas podem fazer, mais algumas outras coisas.
Varinha vs. Cajado: Lingusíticos
Primeiro, vale a pena notar que Tolkien era um filólogo (um estudioso da linguagem) e adorava termos arcaicos. Ele saberia que a palavra "varinha" era historicamente associado a paus muito maior que as varinhas de Harry Potter - em outras palavras, uma varinha era um bastão, e um bastão era uma varinha. O fato de Tolkien às vezes descrever a equipe de Gandalf como uma "varinha" apóia a idéia de que ele não viu muita diferença entre os dois termos.
wand (wɒnd)
n.
1. a slender stick or rod, esp. one used by a magician or conjurer.
2. a rod or staff carried as an emblem of one's office or authority.
- Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary
O Mágico Dr. Faustus e sua "varinha" em xilogravuras de 1620
Pautas e Magia:
Não sabemos o que os bastões das obras de Tolkien realmente do, em termos de uso de mágica.
It is unknown whether Gandalf required his staff to exercise certain powers. At times it appeared to focus or extend his powers, such as when it emanated light. Exactly how much it aided him in the use of magic is unknown, but Gríma Wormtongue tried to forbid Gandalf from bringing it into Edoras, clearly under the impression that without it Gandalf's power would be limited.
- Tolkien Gateway
Mas quando Saruman aprisiona Gandalf no topo de Orthanc, ele não tira o cajado de Gandalf. Isso seria muito difícil de explicar, se Saruman tivesse motivos para acreditar que Gandalf era mais poderoso com sua equipe do que sem ela. O fato de Saruman deixar Gandalf manter sua equipe quando ele estava preso sugere que Saruman sabia que Gandalf não poderia fazer nada útil com a equipe que ele não seria capaz de fazer sem o pessoal.
Esse problema é muito debatido, mas O estudioso de Tolkien, Michael Martinez, acredita que as pautas são puramente simbólicas:
It is clear from a few scenes in the story that Gandalf used his staff (such as to light fires, create a light by which to see in Moria, etc.) for “magical” purposes. However, Gandalf also destroyed his staff when he broke the bridge of Khazad-dum and he was still able to engage in a multi-day battle with the Balrog, in which one or both of them unleashed great power against the other.
Gandalf ultimately defeated the Balrog without his staff, so it should be clear to everyone that he did not need his staff in order to use his Maiaric power. Tolkien did not explain the significance of the Istari’s staves in any writings that have been published to date, but they clearly held symbolic value since Gandalf broke Saruman’s staff and Saruman accused Gandalf of seeking to collect the staves of the “Five Wizards”.
In my opinion a wizard’s staff was a symbol of his office — that is, of his role as an emissary from the Valar. Wormtongue’s insistence that Gandalf be forced to leave his staff at Theoden’s door may thus have been a naive attempt to deprive Gandalf of his power because Wormtongue did not understand the true nature of the Istari.
Instâncias em que a equipe de Gandalf aparece para ser usado para mágica:
Gandalf faz aparecer usar sua equipe para fins mágicos específicos - embora não saibamos o que a equipe acrescentou a seus poderes inatos em qualquer uma destas situações:
- Quebrando a ponte em Moria
At that moment Gandalf lifted his staff, and crying aloud he smote the bridge before him. The staff broke asunder and fell from his hand. A blinding sheet of white flame sprang up. The bridge cracked.
- The Fellowship of the Ring
- Acendendo um fogo em Caradhras:
At last reluctantly Gandalf himself took a hand. Picking up a faggot he held it aloft for a moment, and then with a word of command, naur an edraith ammen!, he thrust the end of his staff into the midst of it. At once a great spout of green and blue flame sprang out, and the wood flared and sputtered.
- The Fellowship of the Ring
Gandalf stood up and strode forward, holding his staff aloft. 'Listen, Hound of Sauron!' he cried. 'Gandalf is here. Fly, if you value your foul skin! I will shrivel you from tail to snout, if you come within this ring.'...
In the wavering firelight Gandalf seemed suddenly to grow: he rose up, a great menacing shape like the monument of some ancient king of stone set upon a hill. Stooping like a cloud, he lifted a burning branch and strode to meet the wolves. They gave back before him. High in the air he tossed the blazing brand. It flared with a sudden white radiance like lightning; and his voice rolled like thunder.
'Naur an edraith ammen! Naur dan i ngaurhoth!' he cried.
There was a roar and a crackle, and the tree above him burst into a leaf and bloom of blinding flame. The fire leapt from tree-top to tree-top. The whole hill was crowned with dazzling light. The swords and knives of the defenders shone and flickered. The last arrow of Legolas kindled in the air as it flew, and plunged burning into the heart of a great wolf-chieftain. All the others fled.
- ibid (Note that he doesn't use his staff to light this fire, he merely speaks a spell)
- Ele tenta (e falha) abrir as portas de Moria com a ajuda de sua equipe.
He stepped up to the rock again, and lightly touched with his staff the silver star in the middle beneath the sign of the anvil. Annon edhellen, edro hi ammen! Fennas nogothrim, lasto beth lammen! he said in a commanding voice. The silver lines faded, but the blank grey stone did not stir...
Again Gandalf approached the wall, and lifting up his arms he spoke in tones of command and rising wrath. Edro, edro! he cried, and struck the rock with his staff. Open, open! he shouted, and followed it with the same command in every language that had ever been spoken in the West of Middle-earth. Then he threw his staff on the ground, and sat down in silence.
- ibid
- Iluminando as minas de Moria
Boromir muttered... 'Who will lead us now in this deadly dark?'
'I will,' said Gandalf... 'Follow my staff!"
As the wizard passed on ahead up the great steps, he held his staff aloft, and from its tip there came a faint radiance.
- ibid
He lifted up his staff, and Gimli's axe leaped from his grasp and fell ringing on the ground. The sword of Aragorn, stiff in his motionless hand, blazed with a sudden fire. Legolas gave a great shout and shot an arrow high into the air: it vanished in a flash of flame.
- The Two Towers
- Assustando todos em Edoras
[Suddenly Gandalf] changed. Casting his tattered cloak aside, he stood up and leaned no longer on his staff; and he spoke in a clear cold voice. 'The wise speak only of what they know, Gríma son of Gálmód. A witless worm have you become. Therefore be silent, and keep your forked tongue behind your teeth. I have not passed through fire and death to bandy crooked words with a serving-man till the lightning falls.' He raised his staff. There was a roll of thunder. The sunlight was blotted out from the eastern windows; the whole hall became suddenly dark as night... Only Gandalf could be seen, standing white and tall before the blackened hearth.
In the gloom they heard the hiss of Wormtongue's voice: 'Did I not counsel you, lord, to forbid his staff? That fool, Háma, has betrayed us!' There was a flash as if lightning had cloven the roof. Then all was silent. Wormtongue sprawled on his face.
'Now Théoden son of Thengel, will you hearken to me?' said Gandalf. 'Do you ask for help?' He lifted his staff and pointed to a high window. There the darkness seemed to clear, and through the opening could be seen, high and far, a patch of shining sky. 'Not all is dark. Take courage, Lord of the Mark; for better help you will not find. No counsel have I to give to those that despair. Yet counsel I could give, and words I could speak to you. Will you hear them?... I bid you come out before your doors and look abroad. Too long have you sat in shadows and trusted to twisted tales and crooked promptings.'
- The Two Towers
Funções não mágicas de pautas:
1. Uma bengala.
Of this Order the number is unknown; but of those that came to the North of Middle-earth, where there was most hope (because of the remnant of the Dunedain and of the Eldar that abode there), the chiefs was five. The first to come was one of noble mien and bearing, with raven hair, and a fair voice, and he was clad in white; great skill he had in works of hand, and he was regarded by well-nigh all, even by the Eldar, as the head of the Order. Others there were also: two clad in sea-blue, and one in earthen brown; and the last came one who seemed the least, less tall than the others, and in looks more aged, grey-haired and grey-clad, and leaning on a staff.
- Unfinished Tales: "The Istari" (describing Saruman, then Radagast, then the blue wizards, then Gandalf)
E:
On the sixth day since their parting from the King they journeyed through a wood climbing down from the hills at the feet of the Misty Mountains that now marched on their right hand. As they came out again into the open country at sundown they overtook an old man leaning on a staff, and he was clothed in rags of grey or dirty white, and at his heels went another beggar, slouching and whining.
'Well Saruman!' said Gandalf. 'Where are you going?'
- The Return of the King
Isso é crucial - Gandalf já quebrou o "cajado do mago" de Saruman; Saruman claramente encontrou uma vara longa e a carregou enquanto caminhava para o Condado - não para fins mágicos, mas para ajudá-lo a andar.
'A Balrog,' muttered Gandalf. 'Now I understand.' He faltered and leaned heavily on his staff. 'What an evil fortune! And I am already weary.'
- The Fellowship of the Ring
Novamente, um mago usa sua equipe para se sustentar.
Gandalf stood in the middle of the span, leaning on the staff in his left hand, but in his other hand Glamdring gleamed...
- The Fellowship of the Ring
E:
Gandalf stood, leaning on his staff, gazing into the darkness, east and west.
- The Two Towers
2. Uma arma:
Ocasionalmente, vemos Gandalf bater em alguém ou em algo com sua equipe; seria absurdo fazer isso com uma varinha.
Gandalf stood before the door of Orthanc and beat on it with his staff.... 'Saruman come forth!'
- The Two Towers
E a guarda de Theoden, que não sabe que Gandalf é um mago, classifica os pautas como armas:
'Follow me!' [the guard] said. 'Théoden gives you leave to enter; but any weapon that you bear; be it only a staff, you must leave on the threshold. The doorwardens will keep them.'
- The Two Towers
Coisas Gandalf Não fez Use sua equipe para:
At that moment Gandalf lifted his staff, and crying aloud he smote the bridge before him. The staff broke asunder and fell from his hand. A blinding sheet of white flame sprang up. The bridge cracked. Right at the Balrog's feet it broke, and the stone upon which it stood crashed into the gulf, while the rest remained, poised, quivering like a tongue of rock thrust out into emptiness.
With a terrible cry the Balrog fell forward, and its shadow plunged down and vanished. But even as it fell it swung its whip, and the thongs lashed and curled about the wizard's knees, dragging him to the brink. He staggered and fell, grasped vainly at the stone, and slid into the abyss. 'Fly, you fools!' he cried, and was gone.
- The Fellowship of the Ring (Note that when Gandalf actually engages the Balrog, his staff is gone - he killed a balrog without it)
- Quebrando o cajado de Saruman
He raised his hand, and spoke slowly in a clear cold voice. 'Saruman, your staff is broken.' There was a crack, and the staff split asunder in Saruman's hand, and the head of it fell down at Gandalf's feet.
- The Two Towers
- Começando um incêndio e fazendo coisas de fogo com as armas da Irmandade em Hollin
In the wavering firelight Gandalf seemed suddenly to grow: he rose up, a great menacing shape like the monument of some ancient king of stone set upon a hill. Stooping like a cloud, he lifted a burning branch and strode to meet the wolves. They gave back before him. High in the air he tossed the blazing brand. It flared with a sudden white radiance like lightning; and his voice rolled like thunder.
'Naur an edraith ammen! Naur dan i ngaurhoth!' he cried.
There was a roar and a crackle, and the tree above him burst into a leaf and bloom of blinding flame. The fire leapt from tree-top to tree-top. The whole hill was crowned with dazzling light. The swords and knives of the defenders shone and flickered. The last arrow of Legolas kindled in the air as it flew, and plunged burning into the heart of a great wolf-chieftain. All the others fled.
- The Fellowship of the Ring
Conclusão:
A equipe não é necessária para realizar mágica, mas parece ajudar de alguma forma. Uma varinha provavelmente poderia fazer isso com a mesma facilidade.
A equipe é um símbolo de poder e autoridade. Uma varinha também pode servir a esse propósito, mas a equipe é visualmente muito mais impressionante.
A equipe é útil como uma arma - ou seja, para bater em alguém - e uma varinha não é.
A equipe também é útil para suportar o peso e, acredite ou não, é isso que Gandalf usa sua equipe para mais do que qualquer outra coisa; uma varinha seria pior que inútil a esse respeito.
A resposta mais provável: as pautas são apenas mais versáteis que as varinhas. Eles atendem a uma variedade maior de necessidades dos assistentes.
Nota: Parte da inspiração de Tolkien para seu primeiro mago - Gandalf - veio de representações artísticas de "Odin the Wanderer", como estes:
Georg von Rosen - Oden som vandringsman (Odin, o Andarilho)
Odin, o Andarilho que Procura Sabedoria por Arthur Rackham
Parece familiar? Eles deviam. As idéias são muito semelhantes: um poderoso ser sobrenatural (Olórin, o Maia; Odin, o deus) assume a forma de um homem velho (Gandalf; "o andarilho") com uma bengala.