"The Necromancer"

[Inziladun]

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.

Yet, any association of the Nazgûl serving the Necromancer should have led the Wise to the conclusion that the power in Dol Guldur was Sauron. That doesn't appear to be the case though, as Gandalf risked directly entering Dol Guldur to learn just who the Necromancer was.
The situation actually was that the Wise thought one of the Nazgûl to be the Necromancer, and maybe that was indeed the intention of Sauron, who wanted time to rebuild, and such anonymity would have suited him well.

Originally Posted by TheLostPilgrim

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.

Which is one of the reasons this excellent forum thrives after over ten years of existence.