Gandalf's First Sacrifice

[CSteefel]

When I read this recently, I actually had a hard time believing the Gandalf could not handle a bunch of goblins. But then perhaps I am thinking of the Gandalf of LOTR, the guy who held off nine Nazgul all night on Weathertop, then later fried a whole bunch of wolves on the border of Eregion (Hollin). My guess is that Tolkien had not quite decided how powerful Gandalf was to be when he wrote this in the Hobbit...