[Maédhros]

Suffice to say there is a limited amount of (shall we say) capital, when it comes to rehousing - esp for a Maia. Thanks Maedros for the text! I love to pose questions which compels one to insert HOME quotes. hard to do for me at work

I'm at work too.

You are speaking about post Numenor, right? Or are you asserting that the post Melian encounter took so much out of S, that it tapped his reserves for any future reimbodiements?

I think that you mean Lúthien. I think that you get the point. We really have no way of knowing really. It is my opinion that Sauron could have reincarnated himself after the Númenor debacle (not for Sauron ofc) without the Ring but it is only a guess.

Melian is another matter altogether. Melian had been incarnated from a long time and she even had a child (Lúthien). I wonder if Melian travelled to Valinórë via a ship or if she returned to her true ëalar form.
My guess is that she transformed into her ëalar form and returned to Valinórë even thought it is stated that it would have been more difficult for her to do that but you might argue that because Thingol was slained the link that she had with him now that it was gone allowed her to do that.
I wonder if perhaps when Thingol was allowed release from the Halls of Mandos if Melian would have reincarnated herself in order to interact with Thingol.

Excellent question. Perhaps a definition of what "it" is. Is the power to dominate other entities the same stuff as the ablity of a Maia to rehouse?

I think that it has been already posted a while back.
From Morgoth's Ring: Myths Transformed

Sauron, however, inherited the 'corruption' of Arda, and only spent his (much more limited) power on the Rings; for it was the creatures of earth, in their minds and wills, that he desired to dominate.

To me this means that he spent a part of his "ëalar" power not only in his ring but perhaps in the other ones except the 3.
I wonder if perhaps this is the reason as to why Celebrimbor was aware of Sauron's intentions?