Gandalf Captured!?

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Sir Kohran

The problem comes when Sauron becomes the Necromancer - because we knopw his objectives, suddenly he seems stupid for letting such an opportunity slip through his fingers. Perhaps it just would have been better if Tolkien had Sauron in Mordor all along and the Necromancer as a separate villain.

I don't agree. I think Sauron and the Necromancer have the same behavior and the same problems of overlooking things: for example, Sauron, again blinded by his lust for the Ring and not caring of all things in detail, did not even bother to ask Gollum whether "Shire... Baggins..." come from the same area as in which Gollum lived (Anduin Vales). He, in his lust for the Ring and anger and arrogance and ignorance (thinking that of course there is nothing else to be obtained from this little stupid creature - much the same he probably thought about Thrain), assumed that the Shire is located somewhere around Gollum's motherland. This results in the Black Riders' sweeping the ancient Stoor villages in Anduin until realizing that there is no Shire and no Baggins, and riding to knock on Saruman's door (Unfinished Tales, Third Age, pt. IV). Tolkien himself says that

"This was a very small and natural error – but possibly the most important mistake that Sauron made in the whole affair. But for it, the Black Riders would have reached the Shire weeks sooner."