“The Lord of the Rings” by J. R. R. Tolkien (post 9): Is Gandalf yet another character with unacknowledged multiple personality, or is he only joking?

Gandalf, the old wizard, who had been their leader, but thought to have died, suddenly returns and surprises his comrades, including Aragorn:

     “At last Aragorn stirred. ‘Gandalf!’ he said. ‘Beyond all hope you return to us in our need!…

     ‘Gandalf,’ the old man repeated, as if recalling from old memory a long disused word. ‘Yes, that was the name. I was Gandalf…Yes, you may still call me Gandalf…

     ‘But you are all in white!’

     ‘Yes, I am white now,’ said Gandalf. ‘Indeed I am Saruman, one might almost say, Saruman as he should have been…

     ‘Was it you, Gandalf, or Saruman that we saw last night?’

     ‘You certainly did not see me,’ answered Gandalf, ‘therefore I must guess that you saw Saruman. Evidently we look so much alike…’ ” (1, pp. 495-498).

1. J. R. R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings [1954-55]. 50th Anniversary One-Volume Edition. New York, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2004.