Magic is a term used a bit too much in my opinion. Tolkien used it sparingly and a bit of insight into his view is given by Galadriel. She asks Sam if he wants to see some of what "he" considered to be Elvish "magic". The point being that evidently the Elves did not consider their powers to be magical any more than Jews or Christians view Moses or Christ as magicians. Tolkien sometimes does refer to these powers as magic, but reluctantly. If Michael posts on this topic, I believe he can cite a few quotes from Tolkien detailing his feelings on "magic", or point you to his essay on magic in The Lord of the Rings. If Gandalf is the fleshly embodiment of an angelic being, then I think we have all misunderstood the use of the term magic. Part of this misunderstanding can be laid on our popular culture and on D&D type games which sprang up from LOTR and the increased popularity of fantasy literature. At the same time I don't want to make it appear that Gandalf's power was the power of God in what we think of as the religious sense. And yet Gandalf's power (self-limited as it was) seems more than magic. A deeper more profound power inherent in his being, not because of the ring. If the ring was the power behind Gandalf, he would have been as powerful before his death as afterward. He clearly demonstrates that as Gandalf the White no mortal weapon could harm him, inferring that before his could be injured and slain. The only power of the ring was to rekindle the hearts of men and bring hope that things would get better but only if all did their part. Gandalf's exploits in getting all the allies moving is completely separate from any personal supernatural powers he had.