Quote:
Originally Posted by Gordis
It was never a real "trial of strength".
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I would agree with this--it seems Gandalf was defending himself and the Witch King was hanging back. For all of the pumping up of the Witch King (too many viewings of the movies), he hangs back or retreats most of the time (Glorfindel drove him off the bridge a few days later).
So I took Gandalf's statement that the trial of strength was yet to come as an accurate description of his and the WK's history. As you mentioned, Gandalf was expressly forbidden from taking a more aggressive role when he was Gandalf the Grey--the situation does seem to change when he comes back as Gandalf the White (which Denethor evidently does not appreciate).