Quote:
Originally Posted by Kuruharan
This sort of throws my original thought into a bit of question because the Balrog was also a being with which Gandalf would have been familiar during the Music. It had changed to the point that Gandalf could no longer recognize it. How much more so with Sauron...?
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It seems to me that it's the other way around, that Gandalf was changed by the constraints of his mission in Middle-earth. He and the other Istari were sent in real bodies rather than a self-incarnate fana, partly for the purpose of diminishing their native abilities so there would be less temptation to try to rule the Eruhini by revealing their full power. Sauron and the Balrog don't have these constraints. I suspect Gandalf would probably recognize Sauron, since it would be rather foolish for the Valar to send their servants specifically for the purpose of contesting him, and then take away the ability to identify him; Sauron, on the other hand, might have difficulty identifying Gandalf, at first because he was still concentrating on gathering his own strength again. I tend to wonder if he ever did figure out who Gandalf was, since the Mouth of Sauron appears to consider him more of a nuisance than a threat (although Sauron might've gotten confirmation via Saruman, and simply doesn't consider Olorin a threat, anyway, and wouldn't've told an underling even if he did). The Balrog... well, I suppose it's been a long time since anyone has seen or felt the presence of a Balrog -- though I have long been puzzled over the fact that everyone seems to have forgotten what drove the Dwarves out of Moria. A matter for another discussion, I suppose.