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Originally Posted by Galadriel55
It's possible that the lightnings that Gandalf keeps using come from Narya, not his original power or the staff.
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Possibly, but not conclusively.
In any case, it does not explain Gandalf’s description of what happened to him during the battle. He was burned. He was drowned. He was frozen. He was strangled. Perhaps one of the great among the Eldar could have survived such an ordeal; I don’t believe a Man could. He fought despite all, dealing out as well as he received and more, because the Balrog fled from him. He doesn’t seem to have been greatly diminished because he lost his staff: he was strong enough to defeat the last surviving Balrog in Middle-earth.
Tolkien doesn’t say that Saruman was diminished in
power when Gandalf the White broke his staff. He was stripped of
authority, cast from the White Council and from the Order of the Istari, as well as from his positions of leadership. And later on, Saruman did get himself another staff: he was leaning on it when Gandalf, Elrond, Galadriel, Celeborn, and the hobbits came upon him in Dunland. I don’t recall that he had it at Bag End, where he does indeed seem to have been much diminished in power, though he retained his ability to daunt and frighten the folk of Hobbiton.
At this point, I think a wizard’s staff is undoubtedly a symbol of authority: the name “Gandalf” is appropriate, “Elf of the Wand” where “wand” might be interpreted as “rod” of authority. In that sense, when Gandalf broke Saruman’s staff and cast him from the Order of Istari, he might not only have stripped him of authority, but stripped him of some of his abilities to exercise his power in Middle-earth. I think that he could do that as “Gandalf the White, who has returned from death,” plenipotentiary of the Valar and perhaps in this regard of Eru Himself.
But it seems to me there must be something else going on with a wizard’s staff. When Gandalf offered terms to Saruman, he demanded the Key of Orthanc – Saruman was no longer a trustworthy keeper of a strategic asset of Gondor, not even in time of peace but particularly so in time of war – and Saruman’s staff. He explained that, “They shall be pledges of your conduct, to be returned later, if you merit them.” Without them, Saruman was free to go even to Mordor. I can understand Saruman’s reluctance to give up Orthanc as a power-mad would-be dictator: he libraries, archives, machinery, prepared materials – all the
things he needed to wage war and project power – were there. He would be impoverished and left dependent upon others. (Gandalf seems in contrast to have assumed a vow of poverty, like a travelling friar: he seems to have had few possessions.) But Gandalf’s insistence upon having his staff was what fired Saruman’s pride and hate.
But look for a moment at Saruman’s angry refusal. The “Keys of Barad-dûr” match the Keys of Orthanc – control over things and wealth. The “crowns of seven kings” match the “rods of the Five Wizards” – and crowns are not instruments but symbols of royal power.
So I don’t know. I am undecided. I think there must be more to a wizard’s staff than mere symbolism, unless Gandalf’s breaking Saruman’s staff was a physical symbol of his stripping him not only of authority but also of either his power or – better yet – his ability to exercise that power.