Will of the Nazgul/Creating More Nazgul

[JeffF.]

I'm away from my books at the moment but I recall reading that only the ring given to Durin's Folk was directly between Celebrimbor and the King of Durin's Folk and that Sauron's hand never touched it. That implies that the other six were given directly by Sauron to the other Dwarf houses sometime after he'd taken them.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by JeffF.

I'm away from my books at the moment but I recall reading that only the ring given to Durin's Folk was directly between Celebrimbor and the King of Durin's Folk and that Sauron's hand never touched it. That implies that the other six were given directly by Sauron to the other Dwarf houses sometime after he'd taken them.

I believe the idea that Celebrimbor, not Sauron, had physically given that ring to Durin's house was the tradition handed down, but I don't think it was certain.

[Mithadan]

Appendix A states that Thrain's ring "was believed" by Durin's Folk to be the first forged of the Seven and "they say" that it was given to Durin III directly by the Elvensmiths. This section of the Appendix also states that Dwarven nature provided a resistance to some of the effects of the Seven and, as a result, they could not be reduced to wraiths or enslaved to Sauron's will and their lives were not extended. Nonetheless, the Seven did have evil effects upon the Dwarves because Sauron assisted in their forging.

To return to the topic, this suggests that it is possible the three remaining Dwarven Rings could have been used to create more wraiths. But the fact is that they were not so used, so either they were not appropriate for this use or Sauron chose not to use them this way.

[JeffF.]

Yet the reference to that ring as the First of the "Seven" gives weight to the theory that the Seven were intended all along for the Dwarves. Celembimbor apparently had very good relations with the Dwarves of Khazud-dum and makes this more likely, if not why distinguish at all between the Seven and the Nine?

[Hakon]

Well Celebrimbor was close with Narvi.

The thing is when Sauron gave out the original nine rings he did not give them to random men. He gave them to Kings. So lets assume that he gave one of the three Dwarven rings to the Mouth of Sauron. He has two left, who do you think he is going to give them to? I think one of his goals might have been at some point to capture Denethor and give him one of the rings, or maybe Boromir. It seems like in Sauron's eyes only some are fit to be his most faithful servants.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Hakon

Well Celebrimbor was close with Narvi.

The thing is when Sauron gave out the original nine rings he did not give them to random men. He gave them to Kings. So lets assume that he gave one of the three Dwarven rings to the Mouth of Sauron. He has two left, who do you think he is going to give them to? I think one of his goals might have been at some point to capture Denethor and give him one of the rings, or maybe Boromir. It seems like in Sauron's eyes only some are fit to be his most faithful servants.

I see no evidence that Sauron had such ambitions.
In the first place, capturing Denethor would have been no easy task, as it almost certainly would have required a full on assault against Minas Tirith, along the lines of the events of the War of the Ring. And we saw Denethor's reaction when he became convinced the City would fall. I don't think he would have allowed himself to be taken prisoner.
As for Boromir, if Sauron had designs of that sort would there have been a better time to attempt to capture him than when he was fighting to destroy the bridge at Osgiliath? The implication was that Boromir and Faramir were able to retreat only because the attack had served its purpose as a diversion to allow the Nazgûl to cross the Anduin. And the Witch-king was present! Surely if Sauron had wanted Boromir he could have had him then.

[Hakon]

That is true. I was just throwing the idea out there that Sauron may have wanted Denethor or Boromir.

[Ghazi]

Originally Posted by Hakon

He has two left, who do you think he is going to give them to?

One might have been possessed by Gothmog, who commanded Sauron's forces at Pelennor after the fall of the Witch King, even though other Nazgul were present. The other could have been forced upon the next-to-last King of Gondor. Earnur? Earnil? The one who rode to Minas Morgul alone at the challenge of the Witch King.