Well, heck. Never mind.
From The Silmarillion- Of Tuor and the Fall of Gondolin
Arrrrrgh. Although I note that they gave the orc general in the movie (the dude with the puffy face who spit on the boulder hurled at him from Minas Tirith) the name “Gothmog”.
Yikes.
There actually IS a “Gothmog” in the War of the Ring who acts as the lieutenant of Minas Morgul and leads a portion of the armies of Mordor in the Battle of Pellenor Fields (the siege of Minas Tirith). But Tolkien doesn’t really linger on him and doesn’t even specify his species. Jackson interpreted him as an orc, but that’s not canon.
Oh, well double dammit. Time to re-read, I suppose.
You are so going to Hell for that.
Second most powerful - Pun Pun doesn’t have to wave his finger.
“Word of Command” = Song of an Ainur made manifest. Pretty fundamental stuff, not seen much since the creation of the world itself. Luthien used it against Sauron when they battled over Beren. Basically they are changing fundamental reality via the same act of creation which turned Ainulindale into Arda.
That makes sense. Where did you find that nugget?
So, a Wish spell, then? 
Miracle, by 3.X rules. Gets his power from a deity he does.
Truly I sit at the feet of greatness. :eek:
I hope this shows the OP that Gandalf is to D and D wizards as God is to Jim Anderson.* There can be no comparison, because there are no true similarities. But I have a question: if Gandalf knows the words of Command, why doesn’t the Balrog know them as well and use them as a counter measure?
*of Father Knows Best.
Maiar aren’t cookie-cutter clones. They’re all pretty much individuals and have differing levels of power and knowledge. The balrogs were all more or less shoehorned into the same basic fiery mortal shell, but they were as much individuals as Gandalf and Saruman.
In that vein, knowing the Words of Command isn’t so much a “standard” maia power, but rather something that Gandalf, as Olórin, learned in the West (possibly from Manwë or Varda, whom he served especially) before coming to Middle-Earth.
Perhaps as simple as one was on a “Mission from God” (in service to Erü) and the other rebeled against Erü and the Valar long ago.
Well, when Betty broke up with her boyfriend, who did she turn to? It certainly wasn’t God.
Well, I have a couple of theories:
A) It’s not really as simple as “knowing a word”; There’s a certain intrinsic power required. Balrogs might have had that power once, but they’ve been corrupted and essentially “fallen” for a good long time and the fundamental nature of their power is changed. Gandalf gets words of command, Balrogs get to be really tall and on fire.
B) There’s not much time to react when the fundamental fabric of reality alters around you.
Hmm, perhaps not the best analogy. Let’s see…
Gandalf : DnD Wizard::The New York Philharmonic : Some garage band
Gandalf : DnD Wizard::Johnny Chan : My niece, who can’t remember if 3 of a kind beats 2 pair
Gandalf : DnD Wizard::Tiger Woods : Me
Better:
Gandalf : DnD Wizard::The New York Philharmonic : a 7-year-old playing the wood block in 1st grade music appreciation time
Best :
Gandalf : DnD Wizard:: Chuck Norris : Anyone