'The Gray Champion' illustration (1981)

Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1835 short story is a fascinating polemical vignette essentially about a superhero representing the Spirit of America. He appears in 1689, inspiring American colonists to stand up to British authoritarianism on the eve of James II's fall and the ascension of William and Mary to the throne. The story tells us that he will reappear at pivotal moments throughout history to render aid against tyranny, just like The Old Soldier from Kurt Busiek's Astro City comic book series. But his description fits Gandalf as well:

'Suddenly there was the figure of an ancient man, who seemed to have emerged from among the people, and was walking by himself along the centre of the street, to confront the armed band. He wore the old Puritan dress, a dark cloak and a steeple-crowned hat, in the fashion of at least fifty years before, with a heavy sword girt upon his thigh, but a staff in his hand to assist with the tremulous gait of age.'

This particular illustration accompanied the story in a 1981 anthology 'Twenty Two Tales' released by the Franklin Library press.