tolkiens legendarium - How did Sauron continue to hold the Nine after he was defeated in the Second Age?

The Nazgûl appeared during the Second Age. Long after that, Númenor was destroyed along with Sauron's physical form, and relatively shortly after that, Sauron was again vanquished by Isildur and his physical form destroyed again. It took 1000 years for Sauron to reemerge and another 300 years after that for the Nazgûl to return, after which they all remained active, with Sauron still in control of the Nazgûl until they were all finally destroyed in the War of the Ring.

According to Tolkien in the answer to this question, Sauron held the Nine rings that controlled the Nazgûl. The answer also strongly suggests that their enslavement to Sauron was due to his possession of the Nine. But it doesn't go in to any more detail than that. We know of course that Sauron managed to retain control of the Nazgûl, though it took him 300 years after he reemerged in the Third Age to effectively command them.

How did Sauron hold the Nine after his body was destroyed in the Fall of Númenor, and after Isildur defeated him? If he lost the Nine, what happened to them, and how did he get them back?

Comments

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star wars - Why don't rebels take Stormtroopers' armor?

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aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF

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