Indeed, our beloved enigma in yellow boots was the first thing that came to my mind in my first reading of the passage quoted. Cf Glorfindel in LotR Book II,
The Council of Elrond:
Quote:
|
'I think that in the end, if all else is conquered, Bombadil will fall, Last as he was First; and then Night will come.'
|
He also constantly lived close to the Shire, which can't be said of Gandalf.
Anyway, I take Gandalf's words
power of another kind to mean a power different from that of the Great Rings, whether Elrond's or his own.