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Originally Posted by Gothmog, LoB
The Valar (and at least Sauron via the Rings of Power) clearly had the power/ability to bend the rules in regard to the whole Gift of Men thing. Tolkien's speculations about a Man living in Aman suggests as much, as does Morgoth's ability to keep Húrin alive against his will. I guess one can imagine this as the powers of the Valar being able to block a door or build a dam. Eventually the water is going to break through but if you put a lot of effort into this whole thing it might take a while. A pretty long while, actually.
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I've always seen the 'immortality' of the Nazgûl as being the result of their ultimate, total subjugation to Sauron's will. He had utterly 'swallowed' their innate spirits into his own fea; thus they were tied to him as long as he himself retained the power to physically exist in Middle-earth.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gothmog, LoB
Whether the Ringwraiths actually still retain 'human flesh' as we would see it isn't clear. Whatever keeps them able to interact with physical reality after their many returns (they go into the shadow after the Ring is taken from Sauron's body) might actually be closer to the fake-flesh the Valar/Maiar used make themselves visible or simply the sort of spiritual power that enables the Valar/Maiar to interact with the physical reality while they don't have any bodies (in the old days they could do that pretty easily).
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I think they retained their original forms. I don't see why passing into the Hidden Realm, not actually dying, would have altered their bodies.