I get the astrix for gandalf, he wasn't born as much as sent to embody an avatar in middle earth. But why astrix for legolas?
this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2026
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IIRC Tolkien never states his age.
asterisk*
That is the official movie cannon age, but not canon from JRRT.
It is a reasonable estimate as he was probably born in the early Third Age. He is well over 500, based on his statement that 500 years since the building of Meduseld felt like "a little while". So, anywhere 2-3k yo is reasonable.
gandalf being younger than legolas is certainly a take. a braindead take, since gandalf is older than the world. but whatever.
I guess this is dated to his becoming a wizard and moving to Middle Earth. If they date it to anything other than that, then years stop being a useful measurement because he's older than both the Sun and the Two Trees.
so put N/A then. this is just the length of the project he's working on.
Maybe they meant the ages of the actors
How can Gandalf be younger than Legolas?
Giving his birthday as when he arrived in Middle Earth I guess
Magic wizards dropping from the sky fully formed are hard to pin an age on. He is either older than the creation of ME or we mark time from when he arrives on middle earth. (He entered existence before the beginning of time, participating in the "Music of the Ainur" which shaped the world.)
Legolas was born sometime in the Third Age (possibly early ~87TA per movie lore).
Gandolf arrived in 1000TA, after the other Wizards, around the time the shadow fell over greenwood/murkwood.
i remember reading the book when i was 13 after i saw the first movie and was shocked at the ages tbh. Frodo was just chilling for seventeen years while Gandalf was traipsing around, and after he returned Frodo still took like two months to finally get going.
he just like me with this procrastinating frfr 
Geez Legolas, rob the cradle much? Gimli is 5% of your age!
by the end Gandalf is barely a newborn
I thought Sam was the youngest and pippin was the oldest.
Actually I think Gandalf is the oldest; he was born at least a handful of years before Pippin I think
Sam isn't young, it's just how Tolkien writes poor people. Pippin isn't even an adult by Hobbit standards