Sauron and Istari

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Sarumian

Gandalf's battle with the Balrog and Saruman's domination over Isengard and his army are something an "unrestricted" Maya can achieve.

Actually, I think that but for the real incarnations of those two Istari, their efforts in those events could have led to greater success.

The Balrog was not in any way limited in the display of its power, but it's a recurring idea that expenditure of the spirit for evil purposes was a drain on the Valar and Maia. A "chained" Gandalf was still able to beat it, though of course at the cost of his own physical body.

Saruman was inferior to Sauron in power and will, even after the latter's eons-long wasting of his power for evil. Saruman had the limitations, and maybe he would not have fallen under Sauron's sway so easily otherwise, and perhaps could have made his own Ring of Power. Then though, he would have been much more of a threat to the West, as well as to Sauron.
Just speculation, sure, but the "imprisonment" of their spirits in actual mortal bodies was obviously a carefully considered condition when the Valar conceived of the Istari and their mission.

[denethorthefirst]

Sauron and the Maiar that later became the Istari spent eons together before the creation of time and space and they sang together during the music of the Ainur. After the Music they labored side by side for ages during the shaping of Arda and then lived together in Almaren and even in Valinor (although Sauron sympathized and spied for him he openly joined Melkor relatively late (some time after the overthrow of the two lamps)). So it's safe to say that they "knew" each other, but that doesn't necessarily has to mean that Sauron would recognize them in Middle-Earth.
I don't know if he ever discovered their true identities but I am fairly certain that he came to the only logical conclusion: that they must be Maiar sent from Valinor. He also had direct contact with Saruman through the Palantir and it's possible that he recognized him (they served together under Aule).
But even if Sauron didn't immediately recognize Saruman, he dominated him relatively quickly and so either read his mind or forced him to tell him everything about the Istari and their quest. Would he be worried? I guess he would be, not so much because of the Istari themselves (for all intents and purposes they are just supercharged humans, Sauron was far more powerful than any of them and also not limited by his form, whereas the naturally weaker Istari where further weakened by their human Incarnation) but the simple fact that the Valar cared enough to have sent them must have worried him because it demonstrated that the Valar hadn't forgotten or given up on Middle-earth!
See also this thread: http://forum.barrowdowns.com/showthr...?t=2412&page=2