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Originally Posted by Mansun
I think Gandalf the Grey more or less conceeded defeat to the Balrog by quaking in doubt & fear even before the battle began, yet who came out the victor?
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You do realize that the fear build-up was different, right? With the Balrog, it was pretty much a surprise, while Gandalf had a good amount of time to think about the fight with the Witch-King.
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Originally Posted by Mansun
Gandalf isn't above fear - he would be a fool not to be anxious of doing battle with the dangerous WK. But my feeling is that the majority of his anxiety is based on lack of confidence in himself due to the storm of Mordor which was crippling Minas Tirith at the time. The WK obviously used this advantage to gain confidence.
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No, as mentioned, Gandalf spoke of the possibility of fighting the Witch-King, and he was very grim while speaking about it.
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Originally Posted by Mansun
Tolkein meanwhile had achieved greater suspense to the confrontation, & I cannot help thinking that he decided to tonic the power of the WK at the last minute because he was concerned that the WK would otherwise not pose a threat to Gandalf the White, having failed to do so when Grey.
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He didn't fail to pose a threat to Gandalf at Weathertop, the reason he attacked with all of the Nazgul was that, for stealth, he and the others were weaker, and even then Gandalf just barely escaped and was held off by four Nazgul.
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Originally Posted by Mansun
Unfortunatley, for me, the WK never lived up to his character in the book as a truly powerful force in the same way as the Balrog did. The damage to his character was already done after being held off by Aragron relatively easily at Weathertop, & of course by Gandalf the Grey before then without too much danger. The added demonic force suggests that he was a touch more dangerous than before - but that is all. For that reason, the scene in the movie just does not fit either.
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He wasn't driven away by Aragorn, he simply left because his work was already done. As I also mentioned, Gandalf just barely got away and was then held off by four Nazgul. If it helps, I've always seen the added demonic force as Sauron allowing him full power. Honestly, considering that Morgoth and Sauron made their kingdoms in places nobody was, and considering they never beat their enemies, the Witch-King actually has a more accomplished track record.