[Formendacil]

Obloquy is correct that the Istari were a special form of Maiar Incarnate. Although all Ainur who descended into Arda had the power to take forms, which most did, it was natural for the Valar and Maiar to not be bound to a certain form. Indeed, the permanence of the forms of Morgoth, the Balrogs, and Sauron after the Fall of Númenor, appears to be tied directly to the fact that they are evil.

However, when the Valar sent the Istari to Middle-Earth, the Istari did not just take a form LIKE the Children of Eru, as they were accustomed to doing. Instead, they took a form that was the SAME as that of the Children of Eru. In so doing, they became, in a pure physical sense, old men. The only extraordinary thing about them was their incredible longevity. Apart from this, such special traits as they had, such as wisdom or a certain magical talent, while not exactly common, were still found in the Children of Eru- particularly those of Elven race.

The power of the Istari is a veiled power- it is not the raw might of the Maiar. This was a part of the intention of the Valar, for they had learned well the great lesson of the Second Age: Men do not like to be forced to do things. Instead of being sent to Middle-Earth to lead the fight against Sauron, they were sent to HELP the fight against Sauron.

For this reason, although Gandalf and Saruman may well, singly or together, have been able to take Sauron on in a battle as Maiar, once in Middle-Earth they were forced to work in more circuitous ways. Not all power was gone from them, to be sure, but they were rather tightly constricted in what they were able to do.

That said, this entire plan of the Valar failed. Saruman turned to evil, the Blue Wizards vanished, Radagast was distracted, and Gandalf died.

At this point Eru stepped in, and decided to make use of Gandalf. He restored him to full life, granted him authority previously given to Saruman, and returned him to Middle-Earth. It also seems apparent that he removed some of the restrictions that had formerly bound the Istari.

As Gandalf tells Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli in Fangorn, none of their weapons could harm him. Although this statement can be interpreted a number of ways, it seems clear that Gandalf was no longer a mere old man in terms of his physical presence. It seems clear that he had to keep himself, as before, rather in the background, aiding the fight rather than leading it, but it is also clear that many of the actions he undertakes as Gandalf the White he COULD not have undertaken as Gandalf the Grey. More importantly, neither could Saruman.

This is important, because it demonstrates the changed parameters within Gandalf could move. Even as Gandalf the White, he was inherently, in his native Maia strength, probably no greater than Saruman- who had been appointed the White for good reason. However, he clearly seems to be able to operate under much less constraint than even Saruman had done under the original orders of the Istari.

So, the question is, and I leave it to the debating teams to get the mental juices started, whether or not Gandalf the White returned to Middle-Earth able to use ANY and ALL of his native Maiarin powers, and chose not to (for whatever reasons), or whether he returned to Middle-Earth with authority to act more broadly than before, but still not in the freedom he would have enjoyed in Valinor.

If the former is the case, then Gandalf the White and Olórin are one and the same in terms of power. If the latter, then Gandalf the White is a step above Gandalf the Grey and Saruman, but a step below Olórin.