Could Gandalf have defeated Sauron?

Using all the power available to him, could Gandalf defeat Sauron in a direct confrontation? Without the Ring, hardly. Gandalf himself certainly does not believe it possible:

The one making this statement is Gandalf the White, who had possibly experienced an “improvement” in his powers. It seems unlikely that Gandalf the Gray would have been more confident; in fact, he lacked confidence in his abilities when he was Olórin. In fact, when Manwë asked him to go to Middle-earth, Olórin declared that he was too weak for the task and that he also feared Sauron. This can be found in Unfinished Tales, Chapter II: The Istari.

Now, what if Gandalf had had the One Ring? Could he have defeated Sauron? Tolkien talks about this in the Letters from him, and although he wavers over whether Gandalf could actually turn the Ring against Sauron, he does state that the Wizard would be one of the few for whom it would be a plausible target:

In another letter, Tolkien speculates on the impossibility of the Ring being loyal to Gandalf in a possible confrontation with Sauron.

Assuming Gandalf was able to turn the Ring against Sauron, would he have defeated him as surely as if the Ring had been destroyed? Of course, this would introduce a series of completely new problems in the future of the story, but, at least, we can stay with the idea that Tolkien himself hesitated about the outcome of this hypothetical confrontation.

After all, the Ring and Sauron are connected, but they are separate entities. The Ring contains most of Sauron’s power, which is why destroying it would weaken him to the point of helplessness. But Tolkien suggests that the same result could be achieved simply by severing the link between the Ring and Sauron, which Gandalf could theoretically do if he managed to subdue the Ring.

Gandalf proves prone to underestimating his powers, and himself, several times in the story. However, he has faced a Maia in a rather disadvantageous form: in the physical body of a deliberately limited old man, and won. While his doubts about a possible victory over Sauron are justified in the long run, the fact is that Gandalf would have had at least a chance to defeat Sauron even without the Ring. In any case, he would not have been defeated easily

While Gandalf and Sauron are Maiar, that doesn’t mean one is as powerful as the other. Like other creatures in the Middle Earth universe, they have differences in power and attributes. Furthermore, Gandalf’s mission was not to openly confront anyone. His duty was to help those who fought against Sauron, even if they were not aware that they were doing so, like the Hobbits. That was originally the mission of the Istari, but it seems that only Gandalf was fulfilling it:

They came from the West as messengers sent to dispute Sauron’s power and unite all those who had the will to resist him; but they were forbidden to equate their power with power, or to seek to dominate Elves or Men by force or fear.]

In this regard, let us remember Saruman’s initial proposal to Gandalf:

This was a subterfuge, a mere rhetorical device that eventually ended up revealing Saruman’s real intentions:

Saruman never had the slightest intention of joining Sauron. As Gandalf noted:

Saruman’s unspoken intention for centuries was to possess the Ring that contained the power of Sauron; and he would have justified his actions as entirely consistent with his mission, if he ever appeared before the Council of the Valar. After all, his actions were intended to frustrate Sauron, although he was ultimately thinking of his own benefit.

Returning to the possible confrontation between Gandalf and Sauron, there is an interesting detail in the Unfinished Tales, more precisely in the passage where the Valar gather to send some emissaries to Middle-earth, and Olórin seems to be described as one of the weakest Maiar:

who was chosen by Aulë, and Alatar , which was sent by Oromë. Then Manwë asked, where is Olórin? And Olórin asked what Manwë would want with him. Manwë replied that he wished Olórin to be the third messenger to Middle-earth. But Olórin replied that he was too weak for such a task and that he feared Sauron. Then Manwë said that was one more reason why he should go.]

Even before incarnating into a physical body, Gandalf was already considered less powerful than Sauron, which is why it would be unlikely that he would have been able to defeat him in direct combat. However, it could be argued that he did defeat Sauron in another arena: by using his mind in orchestrating the events that would eventually culminate in the destruction of the One Ring. Furthermore, the previous passage seems to go in this direction. Manwé wants Olórin to be one of the messengers to Middle-earth precisely because his humility prevents him from considering himself a rival to Sauron, at least in terms of open combat.

Another problem is that the Valar had the power to crush Sauron at will, just as they had the power to crush Melkor at the end of the First Age; but that was never the plan. Valinor was not meant to interfere with the fate of the children of Iluvatar, and sending the Istari was the closest they dared to directly interfere in Middle-earth, although the result ended up being the same as if they had intervened: the defeat of Sauron.

In other words, Gandalf did defeat Sauron. He did this through his own actions, which inspired others to act in a particular direction. His two main weapons are hope and the audacity to take big risks. If wisdom was his greatest gift, when analyzing his actions we must conclude that Gandalf was too wise to engage in a one-on-one duel against Sauron. That was the kind of fight Sauron would have wanted, and probably the same one Saruman was trying to establish with the Dark Lord, if he managed to find the Ring. But Gandalf used his strengths against the enemy’s greatest weakness: pride. I’m not sure if Tolkien intended this or not, but Gandalf’s actions are consistent with a strategy of asymmetric warfare against an overly powerful adversary.

Taking all this into account, Gandalf seems to be more of a strategist than an Istari of weapons; although he had a secret weapon that helped him defeat Sauron: Narya, one of the Three, the Ring of Fire.

Its previous bearer was Cirdan, who in the Third Age gave it to Gandalf. Narya’s power is consistent with the Gray’s innate strategic abilities, as the power of this Ring was to inspire others to resist tyranny, as well as conceal its wearer from remote observation and give resistance to the weariness of time. This is what Cirdan says when he hands Narya to Gandalf:

—, because your work will be heavy; but it will support you in the fatigue that you have assumed. For this is the Ring of Fire, and with it you can rekindle hearts in a world that grows cold.]

That is to say that, although Gandalf in White, in possession of the One, would have been a difficult, and perhaps invincible, adversary for Sauron, the Gray would not only have had an opportunity, but in fact defeated him, among other things, taking advantage of the Narya’s virtues to awaken and activate the resistance of the Dark Lord’s enemies.

Gandalf is an equal of Sauron, they are both Maiar, but that does not mean that they are equal in power, in the same way that Elves are not equal in their attributes. Presumably, the differences can be quite significant. For comparison, consider Melkor, a Vala who was able to challenge his brothers, despite being outnumbered 14 to 1. On the other hand, although Gandalf does not seem to be a match for Sauron in an open confrontation, Tolkien makes it clear that Gandalf was superior in one aspect, not only superior to Sauron, but to all the Maiar:

Being the wisest of the Maiar is not a negligible power. But, for the purposes of direct confrontation, wisdom, compassion and patience would have no influence; However, the possession of such attributes would be impossible in someone who sought such confrontation. I mean, Gandalf proves to be wiser than Sauron precisely because he never sought to fight him on his turf, but on his.

On the other hand, Tolkien does not say that Sauron is completely brainless. In fact, he is extremely intelligent. The following passage even seems to suggest that Sauron grew stronger during his service to Morgoth, so Olórin’s qualification as the wisest Maiar would be in dispute after Sauron learned a thing or two from the first Dark Lord:

Tolkien seems to imply the following here: while Morgoth was one of the most powerful of the Valar, Sauron had a hand in all of his actions, therefore his presence was a prerequisite for all the evil that the first Dark Lord dispersed, and that It is an evident example of Sauron’s power

Furthermore, not only was Gandalf cunning and wise in inflaming the hearts of Elves and Men according to his long-term plans, Sauron also did the same in a way, although with reverse intentions. Just as Gandalf acts subtly, persuading, filling others with courage and courage, Sauron manipulates, and very efficiently. Think, for example, of Theoden, Denethor and Saruman, among others; which is an additional reason to fear him.

If this were a direct confrontation, the Istari should expect their allies to abandon them, or even turn against them, and find Sauron well prepared to defend. Furthermore, Sauron is not always portrayed as the strongest. Indeed, the Istari confronted him at Dol Guldur, and Sauron fled.

Now, in the same way that Sauron is also wise and cunning, Gandalf is not only humble, he also has his share of confidence in the field of danger. While he never directly comments on him being more or less powerful than Sauron, the closest he comes to these claims is when discussing the potential dangers of Fangorn Forest:

This seems to imply that Gandalf feels less powerful than Sauron, but almost on equal terms. However, this doesn’t seem to be a big problem for him; We have already seen him feeling inferior to the Balrog:

It should not surprise us that there were beings more powerful than Gandalf in Middle-earth, nor that Gandalf was more powerful than all others in the field of wisdom. The wizard’s purpose was to contest Sauron’s power, should he rise again, and to move Elves, Men, and all living beings of good will to brave actions. In this sense, there is no one as capable as Gandalf.

In summary, then, Sauron is portrayed as stronger than Gandalf, and the wizard seems to have recognized this fact. However, this supposed inferiority, at least in the field of open combat, does not represent any advantage for the Dark Lord, precisely because Gandalf, superior in intelligence, proposes and concretizes the fight…