a new power in Dol Guldur? again?

[Lantarion]

Grond, I am aware of the conflicting accounts, but my opinion is that he did have it with him. (Although the spirit-borne physical object thing is a little hard to grasp..)
About the Flame of Anor, yes I think you're right. What Gandalf basically says there is that he is the "wielder of the fire of the Sun", which is basically metaphorical imagery, referring to Narya. Gandalf wouldn't call the Flame Imperishable the 'Flame of Anor', because the Imperishable is far, far beyond anything of Arda. The 'Secret Fire', however, can be seen to mean the Flame Imperishable, as Gandalf with his fire-expertise combined with his good will and unwavering loyalty represent the goodwill of Eru. IMO anyway.

 

[jallan]

And we arrive smack dab back at the beginning of the problem most scholars have with Letter 211...

Can you demonstrate “most scholars”?

How does a disembodied spirit manage to carry a "physical" Ruling Ring back to Mordor? Answer is that it doesn't.

But Tolkien’s answer was that it does. Whose answer takes precidence?

I would imagine that Tolkien just didn't think out this response to Ms. Beare.

Tolkien obviously did think it out. That Tolkien saw the difficulty is clear when he states that one need not boggle at accepting that the disemboded spirit could carry back that physical Ring on which much of its power depended.

From Morgoth’s Ring (HoME 10), “Myths Transformed” Text VIII, Orcs, on Orc-formed Maiar:

... (or would not a very dwindled dead Orc-state be a poltergeist?)

Poltergeists are bodiless spirits that move physical objects. Sauron was more than an Orc-formed Maia, especially since much of power was transferred to the Ring but still remained accessible to him.

Also there is this...No mention of a Ring here. Just cunning and knowledge. And there is no mention of the matter at all in CT's version of The Silmarillion. My quote from it is pretty clear. He went back to Barad-dur and again took up the Ring. If he's wearing a Ring in Numenor... why would it be necessary for him to "again take it up"???

A disembodied spirit would probably be unable to wear the Ring. Also, wearing the Ring would alert the Elves that Sauron was still alive (or again alive).

But your citation is from “The Rings of Power and the Third Age”, a work for which Christopher Tolkien has provided no history.

A version of “The Rings of Power and the Third Age” existed by about 1948, the year in which Tolkien finished The Lord of the Rings as it is mentioned in Letter 115 to Katherine Farrer as being mislaid. This work was likely written very soon after completion of The Lord of the Rings and perhaps never subsequently revised. The Milton Waldman letter dates to 1950. The letter to Rhona Beare was written in 1958 and states Tolkien’s thoughts when the matter was called to his attention. Possibly he had not considered the matter before. Originally there was no Ring in the story of Sauron and Númenor.

But his explanation there does not conflict with anything previously written.

The suggestion that Ar-Pharazôn probably knew nothing about the Ring covers the problem that Ar-Pharazôn did not seek the Ring for himself and lack of mention of the Ring in Númenor in later tradition. That was Tolkien’s answer.

 

[Inderjit S]

Possibly he had not considered the matter before. Originally there was no Ring in the story of Sauron and Númenor.

Indeed, as far as I know the ring only acted as a catalyst in the increase of the trust of the Númenóreans and Pharazôn to Sauron. The original story of Thu and Tar-kalion and the Númenorean corruption needed no ring; it needed only the basic idea of Sauron lying and corrupting the Númenóreans, as was his original purpose.

I am also equally convinced that Gandalf had no inherent fire abilities and that his "expertise" with fire, fireworks and the like, were direct "powers" from the Ring he wore.

Possibly. Elrond was able, by the power of the Ring, to released the flood of Bruinen, Galadriel to 'halt time' to speak in Lothlórien. (Though none of the other Elves know she has the ring, judging by Haldir's words, we can assume they had some inkling that she had some kind of power or 'secret' that Sauron may have been seeking for but could not find.

Gandalf needs of course materials with which to work with. He cannot burn snow and needs the faggot's to make fire on Caradhras. He also says some spells or incantations on Caradhras and when they party are attacked by Wargs on the hill.

He disintegrates Legolas's arrow, and 'heats up' Andruil as well as possessing some physic abilities, such as when he makes Legolas drop his bow, Gimli his axe and Denethor his sword. Are these abilities intrinsically part of Gandalf's nature or are they abilities that the ring gives him? Also note the magic he uses when rescuing Faramir.

And also, do we have to seek scientific explantions for everything Middle-Earth? Could not some pseudo-mythological argument be given in place of a scientifice one