Quote:
Originally Posted by Alfirin
Well, you could argue that while the Nazgul were not technically "undead" (since they never actually died) they were functionally very similar to something along the lines of litches, and anyone who was not familiar (as the wise were) with the history of them who encountered them would probably assume them to be undead. If you believed that, and you were aware of the fact the Nazgul served Sauron (or more accurately, served whoever it was who lived in Dol Guldur, it would not be a strech to assume that He was the one who had rasied them, and assuming him to be a Necromancer seems logical.
This would be doubly so if anyone was familiar with the Wtich King, who really probably actually is a necromancer (he called up the barrow wights and bad them inhabit the barrow, so he has the ability to summon spirits of some sort. And it would not suprise me if he turned out to have had a hand in the construction of the Watchers, he may have been the one to put the spirits in the stone). If a Necromancer serves an evil wizard, many might assume said wizard also knows necromancy himself.
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Hmm...good points.
Not to go off on a tangent, but one thing I love about Tolkien's world is that while he does explain a lot (especially in The Silmarillion and other writings), not everything is spelled out to the letter for us, or, to put it more bluntly, spoon fed to us. In contrast, in the world of Harry Potter, the rules are very well defined, "Magic" is pretty well defined and we generally know what the nature of magic is generally and what it's limits are. Not such with Tolkien. While he gives a lot of history, and he created a world full of magical characters, beings, legends, heroes and sagas, he also left enough open to one's own imagination that the mysteries of Middle Earth are still discussed some seventy years later. For example, Gandalf is an immensely powerful being--But we are never told the limits of his power (except that he is limited from using force to control others and is not allowed to uncloak himself fully). But even while "cloaked" we never see the full extent or nature of his power or magic.