Yes, HerenIstarion, you are right. Of course, Gandalf's physical body would have stayed in ME with all his effects. I didn't think about him leaving ME in the spiritual sense. I think I got mixed up thinking about his physical body being changed from grayish to white, and began to conjecture a somatic trip for him instead of a spiritual journey. You have answered my question. Thanks.
Gandalf's words, "naked I was sent back..." can be understood as a returning of his spirit when you compare text with Luthien's words to Sauron in The Sil.
Quote:
|
Luthien came to (Sauron), and said that he should be stripped of his raiment of flesh, and his ghost be sent quaking back to Morgoth; and she said: 'There everlastingly thy naked self shall endure the torment of his scorn...'
|
Obviously, the naked self spoken of here is the spirit, not the naked physical body.