Fact vs fiction: Aging in sci-fi and fantasy

Image: The Lord of the Rings/New Line Cinema

Gandalf — (The Lord of the Rings) — As old as time itself

The Lord of the Rings remains incredibly popular, with new generations turning new pages in an effort to become lost in Middle-earth. The world in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit is incredibly expansive and has existed for several thousand years. For these reasons, it becomes difficult to pin-point certain character’s ages, one such character being Gandalf the Wizard.

There is a lot of debate among fans as to his real age, given he has been resurrected at least once, but this is what we know: Before anything existed in J.R.R. Tolkein’s universe, there was a God-like, transcendent being called Eru. Eru created much of the universe and also created a group of spirits called Aiunur, or the Holy Ones. Gandalf first existed spiritually as an Aiunur.

This all happened prior to the “Years of the Lamps,”, approximately 9,000 years before Gandalf was sent to Middle-earth roughly around the year 1,000, during the Third Age, when he takes a physical form. This is roughly 2,000 years before the events in The Lord of the Rings.

So as a minimum, Gandalf is approximately 11,000+ years old and has existed pretty much since the dawn of the LOTR universe. So essentially, he is as old as time itself.

It becomes extremely difficult to draw any parallels with Gandalf’s age and our own world. In terms of living animals, Gandalf far surpasses every species.

So to find a match in the real world, we must turn to plants. Some of the oldest trees in existence are said to be well over 8,000 years old. Some plants and bacteria, which are technically “living,” however, can grow to be extremely old, far older than the bearded wizard. In Ibiza, there is a large colony of sea grass (known as posidonia oceania), which is estimated to be between a staggering 12,000 and 200,000 years old.

What other impossibly ancient characters from sci-fi and fantasy can you think of?

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