Gandalf actually has two names and both originated before I even knew from which breeder I would be getting my baby. I chose Gandalf for my grey from the wizard in The Lord of the Rings books. The movies had not come out yet, but the first one was released a month before I brought Gandalf home. I thought I was being all cleaver with the name but when the breeder I chose asked me what name I was going to give him she just chuckled and told me it was pretty common.
Gandalf’s other name is Micken. We use Micken as a nickname and is more of a description of the type of animal to which he belongs (we call crows Mickens as well). So the story goes – One day my boyfriend and I were trying to decide what to eat for dinner and the choices were narrowed down to two things, Meatloaf or a chicken dish he makes with cream of mushroom soup and shoe string potatoes. We couldn’t agree on which to make, so he jokingly came up the idea of making the chicken and stuffing the meatloaf with it. He called this ingenious idea – Micken loaf. Months after bringing Gandalf home we had the same “what’s for dinner” dilemma and in the course of deciding what to eat my boyfriend pointed out the Gandalf was a “fat little Micken”. The nickname stuck and we use it on all waddling birds that are not chickens. Gandalf thinks it’s funny because he has the same twisted sense of humor that we do and he’ll say his nickname several times quickly – Micken Micken Micken!