Is the Witch King afraid of Gandalf?

Is the Witch King afraid of Gandalf?
People get a little too bogged down in the details of the nature of different types of characters, and miss their purpose.
Gandalf the White is one of the Istari, which is to say he's a Maia, basically an Angel who took on a human-like form, that burdens him with the needs of life like sleeping, eating, drinking, weariness, etc. He is the most powerful servant of the Valar, and through them of Eru Illuvatar, in Middle Earth at the time of the War of the Ring. It was Eru who sent him back, enhanced with greater power, and resurrected him after his death fighting the Balrog, as Tolkien says in letter 156 of the Letters of JRR Tolkien.
In History of the Lord of the Rings, Christopher Tolkien provides some notes from his father composed at the time he was writing the chapter "The White Rider," in which Gandalf reappears. The notes include a mention that Gandalf returns as "the White Wizard," and that he possesses "some measure of the power and dread of the Ringwraiths, but for good instead of evil."
The Witch-King, Lord of the Nazgul, is the greatest of Sauron's servants in Middle Earth. He is a Ringwraith, the twisted spirit of a human enslaved to one of the Nine Rings. He is essentially an undead creature, filled with the wrath and hatred that Sauron holds for all those that oppose him.
Where the Ringwraiths go, especially when they are gathered under their captain, they spread fear and terror and a sense of hopelessness. And the Ringwraiths are often referred to as Black Riders.
Where Gandalf the White goes, he spreads hope, joy and courage among those fighting for good, but he is a terror to the servants of Sauron. As Aragorn says, "The Dark Lord has Nine. But we have one, mightier than they: the White Rider."
So is Gandalf "stronger" than the Witch-King? Sure, though the Witch-King remains a powerful and dangerous enemy that Gandalf would not under-estimate, and it's not always the case that the strongest opponent wins a fight. But you can focus too much on the nature of these beings... Maia vs. Shadow of a Man... and lose track of what Tolkien was trying to accomplish in setting them against each other.
Gandalf serves as the counterpoint to the Nazgul... their opposite within the story. What they are to the forces of evil, he is to the forces of good, and his power can counteract the fear and terror that strikes those who try to fight them.
Gandalf's purpose is not to destroy the Witch-King, or the rest of the Nazgul, or even Sauron himself, through the power that is in him.
Gandalf's purpose is to enable others to resist and ultimately defeat them. He is the light set against the shadow. He is the bringer of hope.
Think about it: what role does Gandalf play in the downfall of the Witch-King? Does he slay him with the power that is in him? No. But his death is still very much Gandalf's handiwork.
At the Council of Elrond, Gandalf convinced Elrond to include Merry and Pippin in the Fellowship, rather than sending them home to the Shire. So Merry was there on the battlefield, ready to assist Eowyn with a Numenorean blade woven with spells for the defeat of Angmar, the Witch-King's former realm.
In Rohan, Gandalf healed Theoden, and instilled in him and his people the courage to fight back first against Saruman, and then against Sauron. If not for Gandalf's actions, Rohan would never have ridden to the aid of Gondor.
It was the blowing of the horns of Rohan that caused the Witch-King to leave the Gates of Minas Tirith. This by itself shows how much more "powerful" Gandalf was than any of the Nazgul... his actions had set in motion a chain of events they did not anticipate, which forced the Lord of the Nazgul to withdraw from the city almost in the moment of his triumph.
And where did the Witch-King go? To confront Theoden, who was there because Gandalf had healed and inspired courage and hope in him. Yes, he defeated Theoden, but in so doing, he motivated Eowyn to stand and oppose him, to defend her fallen lord and the man she thought of as a father... and just as he was about to crush her, Merry stabbed him in the back of the leg with that blade. Merry, who also would not be there if not for Gandalf.

[@EchoInThisWhisper]

Great video! Love the images. Love Gandalf.

[@MiddelEarthQA-zv3tc]

Thanks! I must say he is probably my favourite.

[@stephenjones1380]

I would rather see Gandalf as a counterpoint to Sauron himself, than the Witch King. Any confusion on the matter can be laid squarely at the feet of the movies, where Gandalf is portrayed as being fearful of the Witch King, whereas the books have him holding his own against many of the Nazgul on Weathertop. Gandalf was Maiar, as was Sauron, and though we read that Olorin (Gandalf in the Undying Lands) feared Sauron's might, the Valar saw in him a greater power. The chief contrast between the two (Gandalf and Sauron) lies in how they manifest their power. Sauron would seek to dominate through coercion and force, whereas Gandalf seeks only to persuade and inspire. His is indeed the more difficult road, as such a path is less assured of success, but the great lesson of the tale is that this approach ultimately wins, since it doesn't fight against the will of others. In this light, the Witch King, being wholly subject to the Ring and hence the mind of Sauron, is an empty shell, bereft of will, an unworthy opponent to the White Rider.

[@MiddelEarthQA-zv3tc]

Wow what a great comment thanks! In a sense the Nazgul are Saurons "hands and feet" and basically totally under his controll. So not even all 9 is equal to Gandalf as he is a much more powerfull being as we see in the books. In short I just meant that the Nazgul was fear and dread, Gandalf was hope and courage. I have quite a few videos on this actually and I have the scene in the movie where Gandalf's staff is broken. I made a video specifically on that. Have an awesome day!

[@MiddelEarthQA-zv3tc]

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[@MiddelEarthQA-zv3tc]

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[@AfricanHut]

Gandalf was not the most powerful servant of the valar. Saruman was before gandalf became gandalf the white. Within the ranks of the maia they are not all equal in their abilities. As seen by the blue and brown wizzards comapred to the white. Saruman was head of the Order during the time of the war of the ring. Even the Balrogs of morgoth are corrupted maia. Gandalf did not plan the chain of events that led to the witch kings defeat , that prophecy was told in the second age already. All of the istari were made to do the will/plans of the valar on middle earth. They are essentially pawns with a duty to complete. Just like the eagles sent by manwe saved gandalf multiple times.

[@MiddelEarthQA-zv3tc]

Thanks for the comment. I agree with this mostly, I think what I meant in the video is that Gandalf's wisdom, foresight, humility and empathy eventually led to the undoing of the witch king. So the idea is that although he was actually quite powerfull, his "goodness" was his biggest strength. I have a few more videos on Gandalfs actual powers please check them out and have an awesome day.

[@MiddelEarthQA-zv3tc]

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[@scaryfish91]

Shove off with this AI rubbish, check out in deep geek if you actually wanna hear proper Tolkien commentary etc

[@MiddelEarthQA-zv3tc]

I am a big fan of InDeepGeek. This is my hobby, and I enjoy trying to create cool AI images. If the voice bothers yousorry about that I night do some where I narate myself in future. On the other hand my content is pretty solid and well researched. If you disagree with anything you are welcome to debate that is part of the fun. Have a great day.

[@sharkyPCH]

Narrate yourself bro..fk this Ai shit