The power of Wizards

As we all know, The istari, or wizards were an order of Powerful Maia. However Tolkien never explained anything about their powers and such. we get slight hints such as Gandalf with his fire works, Sarumans voice, and Radaghast's woodland love. But just what are the powers of the Istari?

[Pallando B.C]

The Istari were sent to Middle-earth to:

...contest the power of Sauron, and to unite all those who had the will to resist him.

and..

..were forbidden to reveal their true natures or to use their full strength in direct conflict with the Enemy

This means that the fires and voices you speak of were only 'minor' strengths of the Wizards. You could assume that since they were of Valinorean race, they had power, but did not use it whilst on Middle-earth.

[Jurion]

They were sent to Middle Earth by the Valar to rekindle something in the hearts of Men and Elves and to incite them to withstand Sauron and to do brave deeds.

[Eldar14]

Which is why the wizards never stood up directly against Sauron once he started to regain power. The Istari and Sauron were all Maia, and I'm pretty sure the wizards would have had a pretty good chance head to head against Sauron, but their purpose was not to do actual great deeds themselves, but to "nudge others out the door" so as that they could do the great deeds.

[The Saucepan Man]

But didn't Gandalf leave Bilbo and the company of Dwarves to battle directly with the Necromancer of Southern Mirkwood? Or was he perhaps just guiding those who were standing up to that power?

[Eldar14]

Hmmm, I don't know. But did Tolkien know at the time he was writing the Hobbit that the Necromancer would turn out to be Sauron? [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

[Keeper of Dol Guldur]

How about Gandalf shooting out beams of pure white light that can seriously scare and or harm dark creatures. He chased off the Nazgul single handedly on a few occasions, and contested physically with the raw power of the Balrog of Khazad-Dum. Not to mention he can speak a multitude of animal languages and smoke tobacco for thousands of years without even getting a trace of lung cancer. And he can percieve things from afar like when he contested with Sauron's eye from Caras Galadhon to draw attention from Frodo on Amon Hen. They were really, really powerful without using their full potential, so maybe they couldn't all shapeshift or manipulate people with no more than the sound of their voice, but to be able to contest mentally and physically with Sauron (although never openly), the Balrog, the Nazgul Lord, and more, at least Gandalf was a supreme being.

[Falathion]

Indeed he was! [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

[InklingElf]

I second that [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]

How about Gandalf shooting out beams of pure white light that can seriously scare and or harm dark creatures. He chased off the Nazgul single handedly on a few occasions, and contested physically with the raw power of the Balrog of Khazad-Dum. Not to mention he can speak a multitude of animal languages and smoke tobacco for thousands of years without even getting a trace of lung cancer. And he can percieve things from afar like when he contested with Sauron's eye from Caras Galadhon to draw attention from Frodo on Amon Hen. They were really, really powerful without using their full potential, so maybe they couldn't all shapeshift or manipulate people with no more than the sound of their voice, but to be able to contest mentally and physically with Sauron (although never openly), the Balrog, the Nazgul Lord, and more, at least Gandalf was a supreme being.