system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[LOTR] Gandalf and the Balrog are both Maiar, which I understand to be the 3rd class of angel-type beings created by Eru. If they are on the same "power level", is their fight analogous to the archangel Gabriel battling Lucifer?
gpt
"Archangels" would be more analogous to the Valar, especially of you're  going to name Lucifer who would be Morgoth. But yes it is effectively a fight of an angel vs a fallen angel.   Gandalf describes the fight saying from a distance an onlooker would only see a storm raging about the peak of the mountain.

Maiar would also be "the second" if you were to generally rank power. Eru created all the Ainur. The 14 most powerful (and Melkor if you count him) are the Valar, and the others are called Maiar.  Just being Maiar does not me equal though, as they all are different.