Der Berggeist

Der Berggeist ("The Mountain-spirit") is the title of the painting by Josef Madlener which was the inspiration for Gandalf. Humphrey Carpenter describes how J.R.R. Tolkien stumbled upon the postcard during a 1911 (see below), holiday in Switzerland.

While Carpenter stated Tolkien received the postcard in 1911, the artist's daughter was interviewed and stated the painting was most likely created in the mid to late 1920s. Carpenter notes that his statement was based on dated notes which accompanied the postcard, therefore it is generally assumed the postcard was acquired sometime around the mid 1920s.

The owner of the original had met the artist twice and remembers Madlener as being tall (around six foot), and enjoyed cooking. When the man returned to visit Madlener in 1946 or 1947, he mentioned how much he loved the painting and Madlener sold the painting to him as he wanted the painting to have a good home.

The painting was then sold at Sotheby's lot 423 on July 12, 2005. The estimated value was between £20,000 - 30,000.