Gandalf a "steward?"

[The Saucepan Man]

Originally Posted by narfforc

Gandalf had been around since about TA1000, what other type of being could live over two thousand years, he was quite clearly not an elf, and Denethor was not stupid, Saruman had been given the keys to Orthanc by Beren in 2759, there must have been suspicion as to the nature of these beings and their mission.

I'm not so sure that this follows. Not in a fantasy world where Orcs, Ents, Dwarves and the like exist. The Istari deliberately disguised themselves as old men and claimed to be Wizards. That would be sufficient explanation for most. Dragons and Ents lived for thousands of years, but no one surely suspected them of being emissaries of the Valar.

Then again, Denethor was a canny sort and may well have put two and two together. It's possible, but its speculative. I was after some textual or authorial indication.