Chewing on Malice
As I understand it, if one has the gift of man one leaves the world upon death. If one hasn't such a gift, one is stuck in Middle Earth. Sauron is stuck. He isn't destroyable as such.
As I understand it, if one hasn't the gift of man, if one has a certain very large amount of power, one can manifest one's self in a body, and live physically again. Sauron managed this once, but hadn't enough power after the destruction of the ring to do so again.
As I understand it, if one hasn't the gift of man, nor enough power to remanifest one's self, the Lords of the West might choose to remanifest you. This might happen quickly, or might involve some time in the halls of Mandos.
Alternately, as with Saruman and Sauron, one might turn into a column of smoke that gets blown away by a west wind. One's soul is not destroyed. The gift of man isn't there, so one cannot leave. One is left chewing on one's malice.
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