First off, as we all know well by now,
Snaga is not an actual
orc. Snaga is a name that the
Uruk-hai use to refer to lesser breeds. Shagrat is a
Mordor Uruk-hai (although such
creatures are never described by
Tolkien), and hence when he says 'Snaga', he is referring to the Orc as a lesser breed, not actually naming it. When Tolkien refers to the same Orc as Snaga, he is exercising his role as translator, not giving the Orc's proper name. Just so we keep things clear here, we wouldn't want to stray from how Tolkien intended us to read his
books.
Referring to the post of
Harad, here is some stuff from 'The
War of the Ring', which I just purchased last night (it's already paying itself off):
p. 216 "(Gorbag) Yes, we, Shagrat. We, mark you . But why we're going to your miserable tower I don't know. We found the spy, my lot were there first. He should be ours He should be taken back to
Minas Morgul."
"(Shagrat) ...orders are orders, and I've mine."
"(Gorbag) And I've mine."
"(Shagrat) Yes, and I know them, for I was told 'em by
Lugburz, see?
Gorbag from Morgul will patrol until he meets your guard, or as far as Ungol top: he will report to you before returning to report to Morgul. ..."
"(Gorbag) ... The Lords of Morgul have some secret of quick messages and they will get the news to Lugburz quicker than anyone you can send direct."
"(Shagrat) I know all that, and I'm not stopping you taking news to them. I know all the messages. They trust me in Lugburz, He knows a good orc when he sees one. This is what happened: message from Morgul to Lugburz:
Watchers uneasy. Fear elvish agent passed up the Stair. Guard pass. Message from Lugburz to Ungol:
Morgul uneasy. Redouble vigilance. Make contact. Send report by Morgul and direct. And there you are."
"(Gorbag) No, I'm not there, not yet. I'm going to take a report back, my own report, Master Shagrat, and I want to know this first. When did you get this message? We set out as soon as possible after the forces left, and we see no sign of you till we're right through the Tunnel - a filthy place and inside
your area. Then we see you just starting. Now I guess you got that message early today, this morning probably, and you've been drinking since to give you the guts to look at the hole. That's what you think of orders that don't suit you."
"(Shagrat) I've no need to account for myself to you Morgul horseboys, Master Gorbag. But if you're so curious to know: the message from Morgul was sent out late: things seem a bit slack with the Lord away. Lugburz did not get it till
[last night, mark you, nor me till this agternoon. By which time messages were hardly needed..."
(note- I've changed Yagul, the original name, to Gorbag, and likewise Dushgoi to Morgul) Seems they meet in Shagrat's territorty, but Gorbag was required to go until he either met Shagrat or reached the tower himself.
I don't think there is a
palantir left in Morgul-
the one that was located in
Minas Ithil was relocated to
Barad-dur. Whatever message system is used seems to be much faster than Orc (Shagrat took 3 days to eventually deliver his report to Barad-dur), but still fallible, since the original report was delayed to Barad-dur with the departure of the
witch king. As far as Nazgul-Sauron communication, it appears that this can be instantaneous, as the remaining eight
Nazgul in at the
Morannon wheel off to Mt Doom the moment that
Sauron realizes
Frodo is there.
I think that the watchers refer to the multi-headed stone
statues at the gates to C. Ungol.
Sam refers to those as
the watcher, and it seems to be in response to the screech of the statues that the Nazgul eventually show up at the tower. I've always taken a 'tark' to be someone from
Gondor.
I have no idea where the rest of the Nazgul were. They seemed to put in an appearance by chasing
Faramir all the way to
Minas Tirith, but then were not around (except for the witch king) during the siege of that
city. If I were to guess, I would say that a couple were up at
Dol-Guldur, directing the attacks on
Lorien and
Thranduil, some were at Minas Morgul, and some were at Barad-dur, with the later two groups exchanging messages, and looking for Sam and Frodo whenever the mood seemed right.
ps It should be noted that the above passage is an early draft of the incident, so it is entirely possible that Tolkien's conception of message delays and relative duties for Gorbag and Shagrat changed by the time of final publication. It should also be noted that I don't agree with the view that says 'Snaga' is not the orc's name.
