What Your Favorite Literary Characters Were Almost Named

Did you know Sherlock Holmes was almost named “Sherringford” Holmes? Or that Gandalf was almost "Bladorthin?"

Bladorthin the Grey? Yeah, not so much. But that seems to have been J.R.R. Tolkien’s original thinking. In pencilled notes on early drafts of The Hobbit, Tolkien noted that “Gandalf” was the name of the chief dwarf and “Bladorthin” was, of course, the great wizard. After the author decided to switch the names around, Bladorthin became the name of a dead king who is mentioned just once in all of Tolkien’s prolific writings.

There's just something wrong about Bladorthin the Grey.

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