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<blockquote data-quote="JacktheRabbit" data-source="post: 370821" data-attributes="member: 525">BTW, several people have suggested that the Balrog was close to as powerful as Sauron himself.I thought about this and disagreed. Gandalf defeated the Balrog though it mortally wounded him. Saruman was able to defeat and imprison Gandalf. This suggests that Saruman would have been able to defeat the Balrog, possibly without the mortal wounding Gandalf received.One thing has always bothered me though. Gandalf wore the Ring of Fire. Some have suggested it greatly aided him in his battle against the Balrog. How was Gandalf defeated by Saruman while wearing it and why was the ring never taken from him by Saruman? The book mentions that Saruman is probably the greatest holder of ring lore in Middle Earth next to Sauron himself. I find it hard to believe that Saruman would have not taken the ring for himself for the power it would grant him. The only solution I can think of is that Gandalf did not use the ring to fight Saruman for whatever reason and instead focused all of the rings powers on hiding itself from Saruman. Maybe Gandalf felt that even with the ring of fire he could not defeat Saruman and using it would expose it to Saruman who would then take it and thus make him even more powerful.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="JacktheRabbit, post: 370821, member: 525"] BTW, several people have suggested that the Balrog was close to as powerful as Sauron himself. I thought about this and disagreed. Gandalf defeated the Balrog though it mortally wounded him. Saruman was able to defeat and imprison Gandalf. This suggests that Saruman would have been able to defeat the Balrog, possibly without the mortal wounding Gandalf received. One thing has always bothered me though. Gandalf wore the Ring of Fire. Some have suggested it greatly aided him in his battle against the Balrog. How was Gandalf defeated by Saruman while wearing it and why was the ring never taken from him by Saruman? The book mentions that Saruman is probably the greatest holder of ring lore in Middle Earth next to Sauron himself. I find it hard to believe that Saruman would have not taken the ring for himself for the power it would grant him. The only solution I can think of is that Gandalf did not use the ring to fight Saruman for whatever reason and instead focused all of the rings powers on hiding itself from Saruman. Maybe Gandalf felt that even with the ring of fire he could not defeat Saruman and using it would expose it to Saruman who would then take it and thus make him even more powerful. [/QUOTE]

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