Who is the most powerful creature in middle earth in the third age?

What are you guys actually defining as 'power'? These comparisons seem to be all over the place. Are you talking sheer combat ability, or what? Face it, Gandalf couldn't even defeat the spiders in The Hobbit without a plan that would have invovled sacrifcing himself. The Istari are not direct combat wizards- but how do you define power?

*compares balrog with spiders in "the hobbit"*...hmm...dunno bout that.
But yes...power is a little too general.

It is written in unfinished tales in the chapter under the heading "the quest of erebor" that gandalf wanted to restore a king under the mountain and in dale to stop Sauron from sending an army around that way to attack rivendel. 😉 And at the end of TRoTK they tell of the battle s at dale. Gandalf did not have the time or the notion of fighting the dragon himself . and ush is correct gandalf was not a fighter his ring gave him the power to bring out the hero,s in others.(i think) 😮‍💨

Does not matter how much comparing you do, Dexx. Gandalf could NOT get them out of that situation. If he was the most 'powerful' creature on Middle Earth in the way that seems to be being meant, he could have done.

Now, take Elrond. He IS a capable fighter, but someone like Glorfindel is more lethal. But Elrond is the most powerful HEALER on Middle-Earth!

How do we compare people that are powerful in entirely different fields?

is gandalf more powerful when he has become Gandalf the White?

I do believe he is given greater power for his new task, yes.

he did save them from the wolfes. Though i don't belive his power is in phisical combat..i didn't say that.

Yes, but we are not sure weather Gandalf is gandalf when he is sent back after his fight with the balrog?

today in manchester it is dark and mild and not raining .....we have just had another quake(it,s getting quite funny) 😉 😮‍💨

it's him, and then some. But he did ok even before he fell.

In silmarillion page34 it states that a maia called Olorin was the wisest of them (the maia) doesn,t it say that gandalf was called Olorin in his youth some where in Lotrs???? this would make him equal with sauron ,,,,,poss 😕

yes it does:

Olorin A Maia, one of the istari: Mithrandir, Gandalf, and cf. The Two Towers IV 5: "Olorin i was in my youth in the west that is forgotten"

why would this make him more powerful than Sauron?

because sauron was a maia in the begining who was corrupted by melkor . 😮‍💨

..and?

and sauron's dead...

Like I have said, CLEARLY Sauron is more powerful than the Istari or he would have been beaten very quickly by them.

ACTUALY it CLEARLY states that the vala chose from the maia the peers of sauron and by this time sauron had spent a great deal of his original strenth anyway , so if they were to have met the outcome is in some dout 😉
but the vala would/could not direcly interfear because of the ban which was still in force against the noldor, so gandalf had to support those opposed to sauron but not directly fight himself. 😛
😮‍💨

the sun does not shine in manchester, it,s the perfect place for ORC,s
😱 😂 😂 😂 😂

Yet it is theorised that two of them were destroyed by Sauron, and a third one- the most skilled- came under his sway. Who is looking more powerful, HMM?

If you mean Alatar and Pallando (the two blue wizards page 394 unfinished tales) then yes possible sauron was stronger than them, saruman was I think decieved by his unlawful use of the stone, as was denethor, not by any force or power of sauron.
I seem to remeber a chapter in the breaking of the fellowship when frodo was wareing the ring on Amon Hen where two powers are mentaly fighting over control of frodo and one(gandalf?) holds the other (sauron) at bay while frodo removes the ring?? 😮‍💨

Err... the section on Palantirs again clearly states it was Sauron's influence on the stones that causes their corruptive power; he also states that Denethor DID have the right to use it. Go check again.