[obloquy]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

blah blah blah

Actually, Formendacil, I agree with you (mostly--your excuses for Sauron are weak, in my opinion*) and I never suggested putting Huan above Sauron. All I said was that he was more powerful (by far) than the Witch-King. Sauron obviously belongs near the top of the Maiar bracket, and Huan somewhere amidst it or near its bottom--it's tough to say exactly. My points about Huan were just that 1) he was likely a Maia and 2) he was considered especially mighty on a First Age level which means he was mightier than nigh all that lived in the Third Age, excepting those other Maiar and maybe one or two Eldar. The same goes for Hurin and Turin. They were studs of First Age proportions.

Additionally, some Eldar ought to be inserted into a special bracket that places them parallel to the Maiar. Luthien was obviously exceptionally powerful, perhaps ranking among Olorin, Sauron, Melian, and Curumo. Glorfindel I would say was less powerful, though he could stand his ground against a Balrog and thus deserves to be ranked near them. Feanor, Galadriel, Finrod, Thingol, Finwe, Fingolfin and Finarfin (in approximately this order perhaps) should be placed only slightly below Luthien (who was the greatest of all the Children). You might add Olwe and Ingwe as well, except that we can only guess that their kingship was a result of a certain high degree of power on their part.

Here's an interesting thread (involving myself and Formendacil, incidentally) about power levels among the Umaiar.

*

Had Sauron attacked in his own form, or some other form, the outcome might have been very different.

What form of defense might Sauron have employed that did not include wizardry or spells, fangs or venom, devil's art or beast-strength?

Next, notice that Huan does not- or, I theorize, cannot- kill Sauron. Sauron cannot escape him without grave humiliation, but Huan does not kill him.

At this point in Sauron's existence, forcing him to abandon his shape is as close as anyone can get to 'killing' him. His spirit can only be truly destroyed by Eru, and he's not yet incarnate to the point of any sort of death being permanent.

but he could not elude the grip of Huan without forsaking his body utterly.

This makes it clear that the power Sauron could not elude was Huan's, not Luthien's. The next line is

ere his foul spirit left its dark house, Luthien came to him...

So his only option was to abandon his body (death) until Luthien provided him the opportunity to be released on the condition that he give his tower to her.