The Old Way is absolutely
everywhere in popular culture. The Fairy Tales we grew up with, many of the songs we sing (I've recently come to the conclusion that "pop music" is nothing more than a modern-day manifestation of what would otherwise be called "folk music"), our little taboos and rituals, emphasis on personal freedom together with a closeness of "friends and family" (what might be regarded as a modern "tribe"), etc.
Now, of course, a lot of these are through a different lens and context than that of the ancient Tribes, particularly because of the Greco-Roman and Christian influences. However, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing; the Vikings would have had a very different culture than the Tribes the Romans fought. Still yet, Indo-European influence is likewise
everywhere, despite not being strictly native (probably). Half of the Aesir are "descendents" of PIE Gods. This sort of cultural exchange resulting in shifting traditions and values is a natural part of its evolution. It's what makes the Old Way alive, rather than a set-in-stone absolutist, singular dogma. Christianity tried to remove it, but ultimately all that happened was that the New Way (as it was called sometimes) simply acted as a new coat of paint on the still quite present Old Way. It's not unlike how the core of modern teenage pop culture hasn't changed a whole lot since the postwar years, even though new stars, idols, styles, slang, toys, etc. crop up every generation.
Gandalf is complex. The wanderer who gathers knowledge, imparts knowledge, keeps his true identity hidden, kind and grandfatherly at times, given to (justified) anger at other times. I am beginning to think that Tolkien was a medium polytheist. Consider how complex the ranks of the maiar and valar are. We've got not one, but two Lokis... Melkor and Anatar, both of whom were friends of the gods, but then turned wholly to evil doings and were cast out.. His staunch Catholicism gives me feeling of "the lady doth protest too much, methinks". No criticism of him, just an observation.
I wonder if the LOTR mythos is what Asatru Lore might have been like if it had survived until today, by implementing Christian-esque elements into a reformed organized religion. (A major theme of LOTR is "good and evil"; a conception I don't really see much in Northern Lore).
I've heard it said that one interpretation of Beowulf is that it's sort of a marriage between the Pagan and the Christian. I don't really read Beowulf like that, but LOTR absolutely fits that bill.
