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Originally Posted by Gothmog
Gandalf did get "Promoted" between the Hobbit and LotR. In the Hobbit he was only a "wizard" while in the LotR he was an Istari one of the Maiar who were sent to ME in the form of Men.
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I don't believe that Gandalf was promoted. I seem to recall reading in the appendixes of The L.R. that wizard was just a translation of the manninsh name given to the Istari (which is Elvish). So Istari and wizards are the same thing. If Gandalf wasn't an Istari in the Hobbit, what was he doing in ME, not having been sent there by the Valar? And to become a Valar, by your definition, he would have to return to Aman to be sent out again, and there is no evidence of this happening. Also, remember in the Hobbit that Gandalf led the assualt on Dol Guldur, therefore fighting against Souron and therefore and Istari. (That's the reason he coul not accompany Bilbo and the Dwarves through Mirkwood.)
The names of the blue wizards were Alatar and Pallando.
And just to clarify, the rank (if any) given to the Istari by the Valar was a completely different thing from the white council. The white council was formed by the wise in ME. There were elves as members of the white council (Elrond, Galadriel, and Cirdan, I believe). But, Gandalf did indeed turn down the position as head of the white council, even though Galadriel opposed his not being head.
I don't think there was any real rank given to the Istari by the Valar, but I am sure that some were favored over others. Some were not even originally going to go (like Radagast). All the info about that is given in the Book of Lost Tales in the section on the Istari.