There is a complication here. Fire isn't part of Gandalf's natural jurisdiction as a vassal of Varda (or possibly Manwe). He is essential an Angel of wisdom and hope, learning and words, light and truth, and has some jurisdiction over those things. He also appears to have personal knowledge of magical lore and words of power, related to study of the things within his authority, and so to be able to cast 'spells' using those words and his natural authority. Essentially, he knows stuff about the universe and being who he is, has a right to command it.
I think you may have misunderstood me. I didn't meant that Gandalf had jurisdiction over fire, or that his use of fire came from his authority over it. Those two sentences (his power came from his jurisdiction and he had affinity to fire) were separated by a dot/period. What i meant by his power to do some things came from his "task" or "assignment" or jurisdiction is i.e. when he "decommissioned" Saruman. Or as you mentioned his domain overs some element of reality.
On the other hand:
So he might have learned things about fire, but we know from the text that the primary source of his authority over fire is his possession of Narya - the Ring of Power concerned with the element of fire. Narya vastly increases Gandalf's ability with fire, giving him much greater command over fire itself than he'd have without it. In D&D terms, assuming Narya is something like a Ring of Elemental Command, we can't be certain whether anything Gandalf does with fire can't be explained as a power of Narya and not something in one of Gandalf's spell slots as a wizard. We can be reasonably sure that nothing he does with fire is equivalent to Gandalf's racial abilities, since fire wouldn't be part of his 'portfolio'.
Cirdan himself said: "Take this ring, Master… for your labours will be heavy; but it will support you in the weariness that you have taken upon yourself. For this is the Ring of Fire, and with it you may rekindle hearts in a world that grows chill. But as for me, my heart is with the Sea, and I will dwell by the grey shores until the last ship sails. I will await you."
The way i always interpret it, Narya never gave Gandalf any (literal) fire abilities, just like Nenya never gave Galadriel water summoning or Wilya Elrond any air related activities. The way i see it, Narya gave Gandalf exactly what was advertised, it helped him shrug the weariness of time and the burdens of his task on what hand, and inspire those who would stand up to the Shadow.
And thus the complication. It's possible that any powerful manifestation of fire that Gandalf does is simply Gandalf invoking Narya's ability to cast Fire Blast or Flamestrike or whatever.
Thus, no. I think any affinity of Gandalf towards casting fire was either because he personally favored it for some reason, or IMO much more likely, because it was most appropriate at the time. Like fire and divine light being the obvious best choice against the Nazgul, but apparently not against the Balrog, and not against the Nazgul the second time on the banks of Bruinen, when water was more appropriate. So, what level of spell was flame blast?
Not really. While there are parts of the text that are very hard to fit into D&D, I don't think this is one. Gandalf attempting to shut the door in Moria is the origin of the spell 'Hold Portal'. The Balrog simply cast 'dispel magic' or something of the sort, and beat Gandalf's caster level check. The rest is in D&D terms merely color, and an example of good RP.
Perhaps. If one could flavor dispel magic as the door self destructed because both of them were warding and or piercing it, then yes, i agree.
Again, not really. Gandalf occasionally uses Searing Light. That's probably a racial ability owing to his stature as a Ainur, rather than one of his Wizard abilities. It's easily explained in most editions of D&D with a race or template, only slightly customized or even depending on how you do it, not at all. I'm not clear on what the first appearance of the Searing Light spell is, but in my 1e suggested stat block, it would be an easy to fit into the powers of an Agathion just by putting it on his clerical spell list.
This i agree with. It would be either racial ability or the cleric aspect of Gandalf and clearly more in line with his "jurisdiction" powers and not manipulation of matter. Like his cleansing powers in example.
On the issue of scarcity of magical weapons...... i agree with you and others here, they were probably not all that common, even in the first age and even less so in the third. Dwarfs were master smiths yes, and some of their work would certainly make even Noldo craft pale in comparison. But were they magical? As in possessing supernatural abilities above the basic property the item was made for? I tend to interpret this mastery (even the Noldorin mastery) as a form of technology too. So yes, Noldo and Naugrim blades would have +1 or +2 to hit, maybe even to damage, but most of those superb/masterwork items would not be magical per se. Not in the way that Tolkien usually attributes magic to items, i.e. they either have some form of spirit of their own, or have inherited some of their crafter's spirit and creative urge. And such weapons would indeed be rare. For like the Valar, the Maiar, Eldar and Naugrim could do some things only once or few times in their whole lives at best. And these items would be of extraordinary properties. The Noldorin princes in the first age would probably have such weapons. And being crafted in Valinor (some even under guidance of Melkor and some explicitly to fight him and his servants, they might have had more "spirit" or "magic" then your typical magical weapon even in Tolkien terms. Then there were weapons that acquired "souls" or were "upgraded" during their times, like Narsil/Anduril and Anglachel, both of which may have rudimentary "spirits" or "spirit bonds" from the start. Heck, Anglachel was even self aware. But again such weapons were so rare, and so precious that they were considered gifts for or of kings! The very greatest of smiths, be he a dwarf or an elf would make no more then few such items in his entire lives. And many of those weapons were lost with their owners in the first age alone. So, yeah..... i don't see many people possessing such items, even in the rich kingdom of Moria.
But let us digress a bit. Let's assume that Gandalf did not slay the Balrog because he had a magical +2 elven balde that dealt divine damage. I mean, it helped yes, but what if it wasn't the blade that did the killing. What if a very hardy warrior wielded it.... say, Eorl the Young, could he slay the Balrog with it? Gandalf said, "this is a foe beyond any of you" , not "this is a foe beyond any of your weapons" of which at least Aragorn had one, i'd guess. What if Gandalf was able to slay the Balrog because like himself, it was a being of spirit. A spirit of fire no less, not trapped in a mortal shape like Saruman. A shape it had, but a much more premordial and in line whit its purpose. So, what i'm saying is, maybe it takes a spirit of similar or greater nature to slay such a spirit. True, there were Noldorim heroes in the first age that did the deed, but these were high elves, half of their spirits still in Valinor, and themselves being at least as much "fire" and "magic" and "spirit" as they were corporeal. After all, "mighty were the princes of the Noldor", especially when enraged and the fire of Valinor was still burning strong in them.
As for the shapes, again i agree. While the Maiar could take shapes just like the Valar, and wear them (and cast them off) as cloths, the Wizards were a special case. Their shapes were truly and for all intents and purposes mortal and human. They were not just some aspect of them, they could change and discard at will. Would killing their bodies kill the spirit confined to them? No, it would send them back to Valinor. But it would certainly "kill" their mandate in Middle Earth. Hence the special intervention needed to send Gandalf back. Or Glorfindel for that matter. And it is my belief that they were sent (and bound) in such bodies for a reason. They were to oppose Sauron, but never in a direct contest of might, but rather of will and counsel. This is why the choice of who is to be sent did not fall on the mightiest among them, but rather the most "skilled" or "wise" ones. Remember that Gandalf was actually afraid of being sent back, because he did not consider him self strong enough to oppose Sauron? Manwe's response was that, that is exactly why he sends him, because he will not fall into temptation to fight Sauron openly, or engage in an "arms race" with him, but rather stay true to his task and provide help to the free peoples through labors of guidance and inspiration. And he did.
) the best sword smiths Earth has ever had, the dwarves of Khazad Dum would have had plenty of weapons to mash the Balrog with. There's no way an 8+8 hit die monster did them in.
