: That should have ended with "...have been Herumor".

: : 'Clearly' was obviously a bad choice of words. As far as 'the
: : new shadow' is concerned there is mention of a recognisable
: : 'old evil' in the text. It's not specified that this is Saurons
: : evil, but it is one possible explanation.

: I'm not disputing that. I'm merely pointing out that there is no obvious connection between your speculation that the Mouth may have been Herumor and the fact that Sauron's evil was the "old evil" in THE NEW SHADOW.

: : : The Mouth was more than likely long dead by the time of the
: : : NEW SHADOW. He would have to have outlived Aragorn, and that
: : : doesn't make sense.

: : I'm not sure what exactly you mean here. If you mean that the
: : mouth of Sauron could not live that long after the fall of
: : Sauron I agree that this is a point to consider. However the
: : man had obviously lived for centuries before the WR, indeed so
: : long as to forget his name. This he must have done either
: : through the arts of Sauron or/and through his own potent arts
: : (he is skilled we are told). By the WR he had already lived far
: : longer than Aragorn would ever do.

: No, he was probably less than 100 years old by the War of the Ring. It was impossible for the Mouth or any other Man to extend his lifespan. Aragorn lived longer than any other Man of his time.

: : : "Herumor" could just be a nickname, a sobriquet as some fancy
: : : people put it. :)

: : This seems possible (especially considering the information
: : below), but since it is the name of a significant black
: : numenorean from the past it's also possible that the name is no
: : coincidence or sobriquet :)

: Well, technically, the first Herumor was not a Black Numenorean, since he was a lord of the Second Age.

: : : I don't consider it to be very possible at all. There is no
: : : evidence to indicate the Mouth had an extremely long life,
: : : that he survived the Downfall of Sauron, or that he was in
: : : anyway connected with the mysterious Herumor.

: : All true though IMO the text in LotR indicates that he had
: : lived a very long time. I wouldn't say I consider it VERY
: : possible either, but I must say it's interesting to consider.

: No, the text in LOTR says he had forgotten his own name, and that he entered the service of the Dark Tower when it first rose again (TA 2951). Well, even if he was only 3 years old when he entered the Dark Tower's service he would have been about 71, but to infer centuries of life is unreasonable. He couldn't extend his life (Tolkien made it very clear that men failed to do this), and even if Sauron were to have given him a Ring of Power, that could not have happened until 2951 at the earliest.

If he did enter the service of the dark tower in 2951 he would still have been old at the time of he WR. Still he seems like a man in great vigour (to put it that way). If he was borne in the south in the third age his Numenorean blood would be very diminished. It just seems unlikely that his life span was that of a normal mans particularly since he had forgotten his original name.