Secret fire

[Gandalv the white]

When Gandalv meets the balrog and he says:i am the holder of the secret fire of Anor. (i have the norwegian version so im not sure that is what he says but i hope you understand)
what do you think he realy means?
his ring?
or....?

Thoughts?

[Finduilas]

The actual quote is "I am a servant of the Secret Fire, Wielder of the Flame of Anor"

I am almost inclined to believe that the Secret Fire is the Flame Imperishable.

No real proof, I know.

[Maglor]

Hei hei Gandalv.

Fint å se andre nordmenn på nettet .

Send meg en mail hvis du vil

Sorry about that those of you who are not Norwegian, I don't meet fellow Norwegians very often.
My explanation to the question would be that Gandalf was serving the Valar, and so also the Sun (Anor) witch they created. It's possible that he had some closer connection to the sun or Arien too, but I have not heard about any references to that.

Maglor

[Darth Tater]

I too think it means the ring that is in his possesion.

[Michael Martinez]

Gandalf would not have mentioned Narya, which wasn't going to help him much against the Balrog anyway. "Valaquenta" identifies the Secret Fire as the Flame Imperishable. In "Ainulindale" Tolkien wrote that Iluvatar sent the Flame Imperishable into the Void to be the heart of the World, and in "Valaquenta" he wrote "Iluvatar gave to their vision Being, and set it amid the Void, and the Secret Fire was sent to burn at the heart of the World". So it's virtually certain the Secret Fire is the Flame Imperishable, and that Gandalf was identifying himself as an Ainu, more specifically as one of the Valar or Maiar.

The Flame of Anor probably just refers to the fire that Gandalf himself wields, that being he was setting his power against the dark flame of the Balrog. He was essentially saying, "Your fire will not daunt me, for I have my own to wield against you." Whether that means Gandalf was in origin a spirit of fire is anyone's guess. Olorin's nature isn't revealed even in "Valaquenta".

[andustar]

hello
well do you mind if i post a link to what i think is a good answer instead of writing it all out? i hope not... here it is:
greenbooks.theonering.net/questions/files/030100.html#secretfire (http://greenbooks.theonering.net/questions/files/030100.html#secretfire)
hope it helps :)