The Lord Of The Rings: 10 Things You Didn't Know About The Nazgûl

There's much speculation about the power of the Witch-king, and whether or not he could have defeated Gandalf. In the Extended Edition of The Return of the King, Gandalf's staff bursts into splinters by the Witch-king's dark magic, and he's apparently only spared when the Lord of the Ringwraiths is forced to deal with the coming Rohirrim.

But in the books things are slightly different. After the gates of Gondor are broken, the Witch-king rides into the city causing everyone to flee but Gandalf. Although they do not fight, Tolkien indicated that the Witch-king was not scared of the Wizard at this point.

Immediately this doesn't make sense. In the books, we're already told Gandalf had managed to defeat all nine of the Nazgûl previously at Weathertop. So it would seem odd that the Witch-king would be willing to face Gandalf alone, especially when this was now Gandalf the White.

Tolkien wrote a letter stating that as Sauron's power grew during the war, so did the Nazgûl's. The Witch-king was given "added demonic force" to help him in his assault on Gondor, explaining his lack of fear of the Wizard. Although Peter Jackson lent into this, it's still unlikely that Gandalf would have been defeated had they come to blows.