Frodo's Barrow Dilemma

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

You expect Frodo (and Tolkien) to give us a clear description of every evil creature, spirit, or thing out there that Frodo and our heroes encounter? Ha.

I don't expect all to be crystal clear; indeed that takes some of the magic away from the story. But I can't help thinking that a skeleton and a more solid form are different enough in appearance that Frodo would have used different wording if what he was seeing was empty bones. He was not viewing the wight in total darkness, but against the stars.
To be sure, there's still some ambiguity. That said, I don't see why the wight must possess no solid form of its own.
As to the 'embalming' question, the Númenóreans certainly took actions to preserve the bodies of at least their kings and rulers after death. However, the death of that unnamed prince occurred during a time of desperate fighting, and I have to wonder whether taking the time to embalm him would have been wise or feasible at that time.