Gandalf Vs. The Witch King

[Essex]

Originally Posted by Mansun

It is therefore upto the reader to decide for themselves

Exactly. That sums up the whole thread. It is up to us to decide how the battle would have gone. It doesn't make anyone a fool if they think one way or another. We all have an opinion.

I have listened to all the well thought out arguments during this long, long thread. A lot of the arguments make sense, and HAVE changed my thinking somewhat towards the relative powers of Gandalf and the Witch King.

But I still say there is some doubt in Gandalf's mind when he approaches the gate. The tension that Tolkien cranks up to this point is palpable every time I read the book. To think that Gandalf could easily wipe the floor with the WK takes this tension away from the story. In my opinion Tolkien's view that it would be a pretty close battle is brought out in the style of writing, the atmosphere and the set up to the Witch King's entrance into Minas Tirith. To have this grandious entrance by Sauron's right hand man but just to sit there yawning and thinking as you read the book - "hey, no problem, this is boring, Gandalf's gonna wipe his hide anyway" - takes EVERYTHING away from this scene.

PS - Gandalf couldn't beat him anyway as Glorfindel said

(sound of can of worms opening)