[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Lord Halsar

To the most of my knowledge, little was really said about these 'lesser wraiths' than what is said in the FotR. I simply wish Tolkien had said more of the matter, the topic in itself fascinates me to a great extent.

You are right. This topic is indeed very interesting (like most of the "unfinished tales" of Tolkien), but as with many things, we are indeed left to speculation.

Originally Posted by CSteefel

I had this same question some time ago. As stated in the text, the 5 Nazgul withdrew after stabbing Frodo, thinking he would have soon succumbed to the wound. This suggests of course that they had some experience in the matter of turning their victims in to wraiths. This suggests in turn that there are more than one of these victims wandering around, although lacking one of the Nine Rings, there power would be very limited.

I wouldn't be so sure. As I said before, if it were that easy to make Morgul-blades, the Nazgul could make about hundred of them, send some Orcs to make a raid and kill a hundred Gondorians, and thus make a nice little army of wights.
Concerning the withdrawal of the Ringwraith, I don't think they would need to have practical experience with turning people to wraiths - if they made them (especially the Witch-king, which I believe he did, being the master of sorcery and all; and even if he did not, as a sorcerer he would "know" how the blade works). That's not that I am saying they did not (or, to be precise, the Witch-King did not) stab anyone with a Morgul-blade before, making him a wraith, but I believe this could have happened once or twice, not twenty or thirty times (or maybe, the Nazgul being so ancient - and if the Morgul-blades are ancient as well, and do not exist just from the moment when Minas Morgul was built, for more about this see my post above - they could have done that more often, especially during the Second Age when Sauron was at his full power; but that would mean twenty or thirty times in five thousand years, which is not as much).

Originally Posted by CSteefel

In fact, I was wondering whether this was not the fate of Earnur, who was lost in Minas Morgul...

You are coming to very similar conclusions, or ideas I once had as well (well, I was eleven at that moment, but forget it ), and it's more than logical. Since we don't know anything of Eärnur's fate, and he rode to Morgul to face the Witch-king himself, it is not as improbable that he could end like that. However that's still left only to speculation and in my opinion, if we were to stay more true to the "spirit of the story", it would be more probable that Eärnur was ambushed by a force of orcs, outnumbered, and though he fought valiantly and slain many orcs, he could not win because the orcs were many, and his body was dishonourably... hmm... thrown to Shelob? Or something like that.