[QUOTE=Inziladun;655658]

Though his clothing apparently did perish in the fight, I think the inner meaning of "naked" was that Gandalf's fleshly form in which he had arrived at Middle-earth was destroyed, and his spirit was "unclothed".
QUOTE]

This seems to contradict your theory that Gandalf ressurected into his orginal body? Either his old body was not destroyed, or her got a new body, it has to be one or the other.

I should have been more specific. His spirit was returned to the location where his old body had been "killed".

Enjoy reading all the experts insights on this site, hopefully some can help my simpleton understanding as it relates to this topic.

In the Second Age the Elves remove their rings when they learn of Sauron's treachory. Problem solved right - they thus avoid being bound to Sauron, and instead go to war with him, and defeat him.
By the Third Age we have multiple accounts of the "ring bearers" wearing their rings and using them to defend Lothlorien, Rivendell, and inspire those around them. Basically combating the one.
1) At what point do the ring bearers start to wear the rings again? After Sauron is defeated? After Isildur loses the one?
2) Isn't it awfully dangerous to go on wearing the rings once they know that the One is discovered. Especially when they know it is about to be precariously marched into Mordor? At that point shouldn't they remove the rings to avoid the potential of the loss of the One, and themselves being bound to him?

Welcome to the Downs! I am not an expert, but I'll give your questions a shot. ;)

I would say after Sauron's apparent defeat, the keepers of the Three would have thought it safe to wield their rings.

They didn't know the One had been found for certain, until Gandalf confirmed it by the Ring's inscription. At that point they knew it was not in the hands of the Enemy or his servants. Therefore, it was still safe to use the Three. If Sauron regained the One, it would all be over for them, whether they removed the rings and tried to hide them, or not.

The thing is, the Rings were hidden. They were hidden from all eyes, and only the Ringbearers knew about them. With the Ring Sauron would have known for sure where they are, regardless of where and how you hide them - even Frodo saw a glimmer of Nenya on Galadriel's finger due to the Ring's influence. But the Rings could not have been hidden better; with the Ringbearers, it was still possible to use their power to withstand evil, but if they were "burried" like some untouchable treasure, they would have still been found but brought no good all that time.

My oppinion is that the bearers of the Three did not realy take any great risc. Celebrimbor and his companions had have time enough to remove the rings when Sauron made the One. I think that dominating a strong charachter like Elrond, Galadriel and Gandalf through the rings was not a matter of one moment. For the Nazgûl it had taken long years and they had been of the realtively week mankind. For the dwarves Sauron failed completly due to their very special nature. In the case of Celebrimbor and the Gwaith-i-Mírdain Sauron failled beacuse they used the time they had to remove their rings and were strong enough to resist the urge to use them again.
That means in the moment that Sauron would gain the one Ring, the bearers could take their Rings of and be save for the moment personaly. But As was explained Sauron would see all that they had done with the Rings in the long time in which they used it. It would also made clear to him who the bearers were and where the rings were. I do not think that Sauron could undue all the works done with the lesser rings but he could turn the use of the rings on a moral plain against the bearers to weaken their position and he would make the bearer the formost target of his miltary strategy with much more success since the protection from the Rings would be removed.

Respectfully
Findegil

Regarding the danger of continuing to use the Three after the One was rediscovered, would it not have been more dangerous to stop wielding the Three and left Rivendell and Lórien undefended by them? Those were safe havens necessary to enable the Ringbearer's progress to Mordor. I believe their use was risky but that they had little choice in the matter. Regardless, as has been observed, all would have been lost had Sauron recovered the One whether the Three were still being used or not.

A situation had been engineered in the North to ensure that Sauron was incapable of deploying his full strength against his enemies in any kind of concentrated attack - he had to assault Dáin and Brand, Thranduil and Galadriel simultaneously. Without Lórien being such a difficult target, Sauron might have been able to overcome Thranduil and, as he intended, combine his forces at Dol Guldur with those of his allies in Rhûn, who ended up having to besiege Erebor largely unsupported. Sauron launched three attacks against Lórien which he must have known could not succeed simply to stop Galadriel being able to come to the assistance of Thranduil or attack Dol Guldur.

My point is that I think the Three were actually more of a frustration for Sauron rather than a weakness for the Elves, and I think this is why he invested so much effort in trying to recover the One, which would instantly have made all of his enemies' designs moot. Otherwise he would have had to have expended great time and effort in concentrating his power in the North and hoping to deal with the Elves piecemeal, which may have required more patience than that of which he was capable.

Gandalf mentions somewhere that there are "many" magical rings

+ when he at first learns of Bilbo's ring he just thinks "o well a ring of invisibility" and doesnt think of the seven or the nine or the great rings at all.

I always took together as meaning that the elves made lots of different magical rings, hundreds or thousand, and that these "minor" rings had all sorts of different magical powers, so one shouldnt be surprises if one came upon an invisibility ring.

Saruman's ring might have been one if these - and what power it gave, we have no idea. It wouldnt be a lot though, not enough to create an army of uruk-hai.

Even for Gandalf, I have no idea where to draw the limits between his own power and the power conferred to him by his ring.