Quote:
Originally Posted by tanksoldier
The Istari cast spells because they are supernatural beings, not because they are mortals who memorized something in a spell book.
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Okay, that "spell book" idea does not appear in Tolkien. Spells are literally stories you utter to shape the world. Anyone can cast spells, although those with more power, like the Istari, or more skill, like the Elves, can do more. But make no mistake: even hobbits cast spells, though they don't recognize it as such. Frodo sings a song-battle against the spell of the Old Forest. He loses, but that was a spell nonetheless. Tom Bombadil teaches the hobbits a rhyme to chant to call him. That's a spell.
If you make magic an inborn ability, an advantage, you block the ability of anyone without the ability to cast spells in Middle-earth.