Posted: November 25, 1998 at 18:42:52: by Mind's I
:: There is one aspect of Sauron's relationship with The One Ring which I think is very germane to your question. Sauron gained control over the men who became Ringwraiths through the power of The One Ring. However, when he rematerialised after having lost the Ring he still seemed to have a great deal of control over the Nazgul. Enough control over them to allow them to search for it. : I think that somewhere Tolkien suggests that the Nazgul would be forced to obey the holder of the Ring only if this person had a native strength approaching that of Sauron. Thus Sauron seems to have had a rapport with the Ring even when it was not in his physical possession. : This would tend to suggest that Sauron had access to some of the powers of the Ring at all times. Probably he could only articulate a fraction of the power in the Ring when he didn't have physical contact with it. Sauron had to recover the Nine Rings in order to control the Ringwraiths. Remember, when he re-materialized, he searched and recovered the Nine and 3 of Seven. Which leaves me to debate whether the RingWraiths were totally obedient without Sauron's posession the Nine. Mind's I
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