What is "gandalf"

Gandalf is a fictional character and one of the main protagonists in J. R. R. Tolkien's novels The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. He is a wizard, member of the Istari order, as well as leader of the Fellowship of the Ring and the army of the West. In The Lord of the Rings, he is initially known as Gandalf the Grey, but returns from death as Gandalf the White.

Gandalf is a first-order automated theorem prover applied to several domain-specific tasks such as Semantic web. It has also participated in The CADE ATP System Competition and had impressive results in that competition. It is programmed in the Scheme programming language which is then compiled to the C programming language using Hobbit from SCM.

Gandalf is a fictional wizard in J. R. R. Tolkien's book The Lord of the Rings.

Gandalf may also refer to:

In Norse mythology and legend:

• Gandalf (mythology), a dwarf in Norse mythology
• Gandalf Alfgeirsson, the legendary king of Vingulmark

In modern popular culture

• Gandalf the Mad, a Viking king in the Thorgal comic series
• Gandalf, used to describe lead character Saito, a character in the anime The Familiar of Zero

In business and technology:

• Gandalf Airlines, an airline company
• Gandalf Technologies, a modem and PACX manufacturer
• Gandalf (theorem prover), a first-order automated theorem prover
• Gandalf, a chess engine, named after the Tolkien character
• Gandalf the Wizard Inc., a leather/clothing company based in Detroit, Michigan, USA

In music:

• Gandalf (Finnish band), an early 1990s metal group
• Gandalf (musician), Austrian New Age musician
• Gandalf (American band), formerly Rahgoos, an influential late 1960s psychedelic rock group

Other:

• GANDALF trial, the 1997 UK trial of the editors of Green Anarchist magazine
• Gandalf- A character (deceased bishop of St. Praxed's Cathedral) in Robert Browning's poem "The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed's Church"

Gandalf was a Finnish melodic death metal band who incorporated elements of traditional hard rock into their sound. Formed in 1993 by drummer (then guitarist) Nalle Österman (later in Shaman, Korpiklaani and Lullacry), guitarist Timo Nyberg and vocalist Jari Hurskainen, with session drummer Mika "Gas Lipstick" Karppinen, who later achieved fame playing with the band HIM. The name Gandalf came from when the founding fans of the band used to refer to Gandalf's guitarist as the guitar wizard, Gandalf (from The Lord of the Rings). Since then, the band decided to call their band Gandalf. Gandalf released both of their full-length albums through Wicked World Records, a subsidiary of Earache Records.

Gandalf is a Dvergr ( Norse dwarf) in Norse mythology, appearing in the so-called 'Tally of the Dwarves' within the poem Völuspá from the Poetic Edda, as well as in the Prose Edda. The name derives from the Old Norse words gandr (magic staff) and álfr (elf), thus a protective spirit who wields a magical wand.

The name was also used for a Norse king in the Heimskringla.

In his fictional writings, J. R. R. Tolkien eventually named his wizard Gandalf after the Dvergr, but initially used the name for the head of the dwarf party (ultimately to be called Thorin Oakenshield).

Gandalf (born Heinz Strobl, born 1952) is the name used by a new-age composer from Austria. He plays a wide variety of instruments including guitars, keyboards, synthesizers and sitars. He includes electronic sounds in his music. His music includes influences from music around the world. He released his first album Journey to an Imaginary Land on March 17, 1981, and his second Visions almost one year later on March 16, 1982. He has become one of Austria's most accomplished international musicians.

Gandalf were an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1965 in New York. Originally called the Rahgoos, the group consisted of guitarist Peter Sando, bassist Bob Muller, keyboardist Frank Hubach and drummer Davy Bauer.

They signed a recording contract with Capitol Records in 1967. Producers Koppelman & Rubin were not happy with the band's name, and suggested that it should be changed to the Knockrockers. However Peter Sando commented that they "hated that and bantered about various names". Despite being against the band's will, and losing local fan recognition, Davy suggested the name "Gandalf and The Wizards", which ended up sticking as "Gandalf".

They recorded their first and only LP the same year. The record includes covers of Tim Hardin, Eden Ahbez and Bonner & Gordon (the writers of " Happy Together") and two songs composed by the band's guitarist Peter Sando. But Capitol spurned them and only released the LP in 1969 with the wrong record inside the sleeve. The copies were recalled and damaged the band's career. Capitol didn't promote the record which made the sales worse.. Over the years the album's reputation grew and it was re-released by Sundazed records in 2002.