: Gandalf was not killed by the Balrog. Injured, yes.
: Changed, yes. Lessened or diminished to any extent:
: not a shot. He actually came through the experience
: much more powerful than before-more powerful than
: Saruman, in fact. I believe that his horrifying battle
: with a creature of equal power helped him reach new
: levels of enlightenment. For thsoe who do not know,
: Gandalf is a wizard, and wizards are sort of like semi
: gods in physical forms.
Actually, wizards weren't anything of the sort. If you'll remember from the Silmarillion, I think (though it's been a long time, I forget if this is right) it explains what wizards are, exactly. Or something. I know that there's some sort of supplement to the Hobbit/LotR series that explains it, and that would certainly indicate the Silmarillion. Anyway, sumbody should check it out; I'll try to if I (a) get the chance and (b) remember to.
The Balrogs were essentially
: the same thing, merely dark and corrupted. Sauron was
: too...but his forging of the one ring gave him a
: considerable advantage over everything else.
Also in the Silmarillion, it explains about the Valar, which were essentially gods, only subject to Illuvatar, and the Maia, which I always thought of as demi-gods/mini-deities/really powerful angels, or something to that effect, who are essentially the next level down from the Valar. A balrog is one of the Maia whom Morgoth corrupted, and Sauron is the chief of these. I guess it's possible amongst these super-powerful spirits to sort of migrate between ranks (from Maia to Valar), or at least in terms of the amount of power they have, because it says that Sauron eventually became like a shadow of Morgoth (I forget which one that's in). Anyways...
So to
: beat such a powerful entity, i believe Gandalf
: immersed himself totally in his powers, thus allowing
: him to become the changed person you see when he
: reappears in the Return Of The King.
I'm not sure exactly what it was that made him more powerful... for all we know, he met with the council of wizards, or whatever, and since he was formerly Gandalf the Grey, while Saruman was Saruman the White, since, Saruman was now ...the Black, somebody needed to fill the position... from a purely political standpoint.
-Doom 0^)
