Posted: March 30, 2000 at 08:49:06: by Martin Read
: : If it was a troll or human it had to be higher in rank than 5 of the nazgul. The witch king kept 5 (i think) of the nazgul in Minas Morgul. Khamul and another one was at Dol Guldur and one stayed with Sauron as his messager. So the second in command of Minas Morgul would probably be a ringwraith because it is unlikely that any man or troll was to give orders to a ringwraith.: : Maglor : Why? The Mouth of Sauron was a man, and he stood higher in the pecking order than most of the Nazgul. Probably higher than all but the Witch-King himself. :
: Padster :
: Padster Why would the govenor or castellan of a city or fortress need to outrank any other being who might dwell in or visit the city? Most of the Nazgul seem to have been fairly mobile, they were Sauron's top enforcers, whatever ranking system they had amongst themselves they undoubtedly were more powerful and fearsome than any other of Sauron's servants. Because of their peculiar condition, semi-embodied wraiths, they were probably not suited to oversee the day to day running of a city of corporeal beings. How can a being who presumably does not eat or drink deal with the provision of food and drink to beings who depend on these things for their lives? Much better to delegate this responsibility to a living creature. Given Sauron's choice of candidates from orcs, trolls and men, the psychological and intellectual difficulties of the first two races tends to narrow Gothmog's identity down to him being a man. As for his assuming command during the battle of Pelennor, I would guess that Morgul had given him direction of the forces before he took to the air on his special mission to try to stem the attack of the Rohirrim. A being on a flying beast at the front line of his army and engaging in personal combat is not in the best position to direct the army as a whole. Where was "Stormin Norman" in the Gulf War? You can bet he was not in an attack helicopter half-way to Baghdad!
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