How Much Do the Istari Remember about Their Previous Lives as Maiar?
ANSWER: I received this question in September 2023, exactly as written above. My first instinct was to type out another Willow/High Aldwyn joke about consulting the bones, but it’s an interesting question. And I don’t have a definitive answer to it, but I’m guessing you knew that already when you submitted the question. So I’ll ponder, muse, and meander for a bit.
There is a letter J.R.R. Tolkien wrote in 1967 – call it the Honeybourne Letter – in which he said: “To ride with Gandalf must have been like being borne by a Guardian Angel, with stern gentleness a most comforting combination to children (as we all are).” I can recall such a feeling from when I was very young. Something had happened to me and my mother picked me up and carried me someplace to comfort me. That’s a very acute memory of feeling if not detail.
Your question reminds me of a long-standing question for which there may never be a reliable answer: how much can a human brain remember? If you search the Internet you’ll find various estimates. For example, there was an article in Scientific American in which Paul Reber, professor of psychology at Northwestern University said:
