Gothmogs and dragons and noobs, oh my

[obloquy]

Originally Posted by Legolas

I've always thought that he was a man (similar to the Mouth of Sauron) or an orc.

The former is my real guess. As mentioned previously, it seems likely that an orc is not of such status or in charge of a human army.

The fact that Gothmog is not referred to as a Nazgul is enough for me to decide that he is not.

Lieutenant of Mordor, maybe, or Lieutenant of Gorgoroth. But not Lieutenant of Morgul! Morgul was Nazgul central: in my opinion, the title alone of this commander is explicit enough of his identity. Additionally, if the Nazgul were Sauron's greatest servants, what kind of man or orc might supersede another Nazgul when replacing the Witch-King as field commander? Unless someone knows that the rest of the Nazgul were taking it easy somewhere other than Pelennor, I can't see any support for the argument that Gothmog was someone other than Sauron's second most fearsome lieutenant, just under the Witch-King.

Legolas will say, "If Gothmog was a Nazgul, Tolkien would have said so!" I know, because I've had the discussion with him before. But I believe "Lieutenant of Morgul" is just another way of saying exactly that.