Fingolfin, you've explained it quite well.
Rudeboy, I think that Gandalf probably could be killed physically by a weapon on Middle-earth, but as Fingolfin says it wouldn't kill his spirit, only his "physical form." Just like how when Isildur cut the Ring from Sauron's finger, it only killed his physical form, not his spirit. He was still alive and capable of taking another physical form. Gandalf, if he was to be killed by say Aragorn, he would still be able to come back.
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This question raises some other fascinating possibilities for me. We saw Wormtongue kill Saruman with a dagger, yet he only injured his body, whereas his spirit was dissipated by a cold wind from the West. That seems to contradict my theory that the Valar themselves probably can't harm the spirit of an incarnate being, though that gust may have been sent on the bidding, or by, Eru himself.~Fingolfin
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Perhaps they may not be able to "harm" a spirit. But, they are able to decide who enters Valinor or not. And I think this was the case when Saruman was killed. His "spirit" look to the west, and he was denied entrance back to Valinor, and so his spirit just went away.
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To the dismay of those that stood by, about the body of Saruman a grey mist gathered, and rising slowly to a great height like smoke from a fire, a s a pale shrouded figure it loomed over the Hill. For a moment it wavered, looking into the West; but out of the West came a cold wind, and it bent away, and with a sigh dissolved into nothing.~The Scouring of the Shire.
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So, I think as Saruman's spirit was leaving his body, it attempted to go to Valinor, and the Valar, who do have the authority of who to allow in or not, denied him, and his spirit dissappeared. It may not have been destroyed, Saruman's spirit just may be like Sauron's when the Ring was destroyed.
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"Sauron's own being would be diminished to vanishing point, and he would be reduced to a shadow, a mere memory of malicious will."~Letter 131
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