: : Okay, but how did Sauron exert control over the Nazgul without the one? Did he wear the nine? Or was it just a mental influence type thing? And did the Nazgul retain the power the rings gave them after Sauron took them back, or what? How did they do this? Sauron didn't retain the power he put into the one, so how did they remain active?

Once the Nine men had become wraiths they were subject to Sauron, whether that was because of the his personal power within the One or just because he was a powerful necromancer is up for debate. However, he held the Nine Rings, but the Nazgul were subservient to his will.

The Nine were wraiths, and had been made such by the taint within their Rings. So long as the One remained extant, and thus Saruon, the Nine would remain viable. I don't know if that would be the case if their personal Ring was destroyed, though I would wager not.

As to the powers the Nine had once they had become Nazgul it seems that they're greatest power was that of fear. I don't know if they could still cast magic if they had been able to do so as men. Obviously they could weild weapons, as the Witch King proves.

: And I would like to know why Gandalf or Elrond( I forget which if not both) thought that Sauron might not know that the ring was whole. You say that when the ring was destroyed Sauron was powerless (of course that was the whole point in destroying the ring) but why would Sauron not know this? Wouldn't the the one that made the ring know what the effects of it would be on himself? And wouldn't the fact that he still had power let him know that the ring was fine long before he found Gollum? For that matter why did all of Sauron's power disappear when the ring was destroyed? (I should also like to know if the destruction of the ring killed Sauron or simply made him helpless.) I know that there are passages that say he would be defeated if it was destroyed, but I don't know how and why.

We actually had a rather lively debate concerning whether Sauron knew that the Ring had or hadn't been destroyed following the Last Alliance, and whether he knew that its destruction would esentially eliminate him. It seems unlikely that Sauron thought the Ring was destroyed (though that is possible). However, at the Council it is stated that Sauron did not know that the Ring had been found until after he had Gollum. His fear at that point was not that it would be destroyed, which he didn't believe woudl happen, but rather that it would be used against him.

-RR