[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

In the same way, the Witch-king has no real name. Presumably he did once, when he was a Second Age lord among lesser men... but he doesn't anymore. Calling him "the Witch-king" is, as the thrust of Gordis's general argument will agree, not giving him a name at all, but a title..

I have no issue with that statement. I'm just not buying into his name being 'Morgul', that's all. Isn't that the gist of Gordis's hypothesis?

Originally Posted by Formendacil

It is perfectly consistent with this treatment to call him, variously, "the Witch-king," "Angmar," or "the Morgûl-king." Each one only individuates him to the extent he needs to be individuated--as the particular Nazgûl in charge. It's notable on that note that there is no name given to the King of the Nazgûl in the Fellowship. Granted, Frodo wouldn't likely have known it--but the Nazgûl never give one out, nor does Aragorn see the need for one beyond "the Nine" or "the Riders." The personalities of the Nazgûl are so far gone, butter stretched over so many vast years of bread...

There is Khamûl the Shadow of the East mentioned in UT. I'm inclined to think that if the Lord of Morgul had a personal name, it would have gotten a direct mention somewhere along the line, at least peripherally.

Originally Posted by Formendacil

In this respect, it also strikes me that, as far as this goes, the Orks are less evil than the Nazgûl--which would seem a fair statement in any case--insofar as they still have names: Grishnákh, Uglúk, Gorbag, Shagrat, etc.

I can see the logic of this also. They had not surrendered their identities and wills as the Nazgûl and the Mouth of Sauron had. That reminds me- the Mouth had given so much of himself to Sauron that he could no longer conceive of an identity for himself apart from his Master. The Mouth was a living Man, having only been in the service of Sauron for some decades at most. The Witch-king had been in thrall to Sauron much longer, since the Second Age, and it is made clear that as powerful as he was, his will was entirely in the keeping of Sauron. By the time of the sack of Minas Ithil in the Third Age, would he have still retained enough of his original identity to have a real name, or to remember it?