Magewar Online Game

What does the word archmage mean?

I have heard the word mage and archmage lots of times before, but what exactly do they mean? Is mage good and archmage evil? Is Gandalf an archmage?

Public Comments

1. No, it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with good and evil. Usually, an archmage just means a really good/experienced/high-ranking mage. Think of a mage as a common soldier and an archmage as a general. Does that make sense? Gandalf wasn't a mage or an arch-mage, he was a Wizard. Tolkien didn't use the term mage or archmage. This is kind of a hard question to answers, because almost every fantasy setting has a different definition of Wizard, Mage, and Archmage, but I this is the most general.
2. ar⋅chi⋅mage-a great magician.
3. arch mages are mages who are usually at the top, or as close as they are able to get of their particular skill. An arch mage can be good or evil( according to legend) on the other end of the scale, are apprentices, or if they have"wild magic" they are known as"hedge wizards"
4. "Is mage good and archmage evil?" No. "Mage" = magician, and "arch-" is just a prefix meaning high-ranking (compare archangel, archvillain, archbishop, archdeacon, archduke, arch-enemy - and there are many, many other archaic ones I won't bore you with). See Wikipedia for examples ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archmage ). Gandalf may well be technically, Saruman likewise, but as KeepitSubtle says, it's not a term Tolkien uses, and it sounds like an attempt to shoehorn him into a category used in other works and fantasy gaming.