Gandalf and the council of White Wizards

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Haramu

Who were these white wizards? Was Tolkien just referring to the White council?

I would say so. The story was supposed to be the work of Bilbo, and at that point he likely had only a vague notion of what a "wizard" actually was. Oddly enough, it appears Elrond was not present, as Bilbo overhead that information about the "council" as Gandalf relayed it to Elrond.

Originally Posted by Haramu

Did Gandalf know Sauron would soon return?

He obviously had a foreboding that would occur, yes.