maiar spirits

[Puddleglum]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

Welcome to the Downs, beorn!That begs the question, though, of how Sauron was able to gain a new body after being "killed" during the destruction of Númenor. The best answer I have is the Ring: having placed a large portion of his power in an inanimate object, as long as that object existed he would be able to rebody himself, though, as seems to be the case after the end of the Second Age, it took him longer if he did not have the Ring with him.

I agree. To put it another way, The Ring was Sauron's horcrux.
He could not be reduced to an utterly impotent spirit, unable ever to grow again, as long as the Ring remained.