Posted: January 20, 1999 at 11:04:41: by Martin Read
: : Here's a possibly interesting question - If the rings had no pre-adaptation why did Sauron not use some or all the Seven, when they came into his possession, to enslave more human Nazgul? Tolkien says that the rings did not have the same effect on Dwarves as on men, but if the rings were all of a similar nature surely Sauron would have used them to create sixteen such useful human servants as the Ringwraiths.: I don't think he recovered all seven. Only three I believe, the others having been consumed by dragon fire or some such thing. : I believe that the change from man (whatever branch) to ringwraith, probably took quite a long time. Gandalf said something like that those who use the rings eventually fade until they exist only on the wraith world undre the dominion of the dark lord who made the rings. Something like that anyway. Now we have an example of a creature who used the One Ring a lot and still had not yet surcome to the fate described by Gandalf (not quite anyway). And Gollum had the One Ring for hundreds of years. Now taking into account that the One Ring was more powerful than any of the others and that Gollum was originally a hobbit, who seemed (as a race) to be far more resilient to the effects of the rings of power, it may be that the other rings, like those given to dwarves and men would take an equal amount to time transforming their wearers into ringwraiths. : Did Sauron have the time to do this? Thrain's ring was the last of the dwarven rings, which Sauron recovered during the 2900's (I think - don't have book to confirm). How long had he had the other two? : Sauron may not have had the time to warp three more mortals into ring-wraiths. Maybe..... :
: Padster
Good point about the Seven. Though I don't think Sauron was beyond some very long range planning. When he gave out the original Nine he must have been thinking in the long term - as mortals would consider it. Perhaps, his herald "The Mouth of Sauron" was in possession of one of the Seven? He certainly seems to have been under the influence of something, as he had forgotten his own name.
Presumably as Sauron wanted to "Entrap" the Elven smiths, the ring-wearer came under some level of control immediately. So it could be argued that the issue of gradual "Wraithisation" was separate from the ring wearer's immediate compliance to Sauron's control. A still-human Witch-King under Sauron's control would be almost as useful as a wraith. Though the ability to inspire terror and despair would obviously be less.
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