Sorcery

[littlemanpoet]

Originally Posted by Boromir88

I don't think I suggested that he did.

Sorry for my faulty perception.

[qutoe]I'm not familiar with the definition of sorcery that radagastly gives...to me that sounds more like necromancy, hence the Necromancer who is someone who had control over the dead/spirits.[/quote]I found Tolkien's words in that letter to be inconclusive by virtue of not defining his terms (which we don't expect from him seeing as it's only a letter), so I looked them up in the dictionary myself, which is my reason for equating goetia with sorcery and magia with spells.

I don't think there's any reason to believe that the Mouth of Sauron was particularly that old, or prolonging his life at all...

I had thought that Black Numenoreans had situated themselves in Umbar upon the sinking of Numenor, but were no longer the rulers of Umbar after it was conquered by Gondor sometime into the Third Age. Therefore they would have been forced to reside elsewhere. This of course does not prove that the Mouth of Sauron had lived that long, but I seem to have gathered from somewhere in my reading that he did. I shall have to go researdh the point.

In terms of power, I don't know if a definitive answer can be reached.

Probably not. However, your comments seem geared more towards rank than power. The Mouth of Sauron obviously had ambitions in regard to Orthanc, which the Witch King did not share. But that is because the Witch King was a creature of a different nature. I still think the Witch King was more powerful; and if Sauron had regained the possession of the Ring, the Witch King would have become much more powerful though he might not have outranked the Mouth of Sauron.