Nazgûl

"Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey!"

- Witch-king of Angmar

The Nazgûl (Black Speech: Ringwraiths, sometimes written Ring-wraiths), also known by many other names, were evil servants of Sauron in Middle-earth. They were said to be "his most terrible servants." They served Sauron throughout the Second and Third Age.

Description
The Nazgûl were once Great Kings of Men, until Sauron gave them nine Rings of Power. These proved to be their undoing; they eventually became invisible to all save he who wore the One Ring. Only through black cloaks and hauberks of silver mail were they given form. Though their Manly form was completely gone and invisible to mortal eyes, except through their attire, their hypnotic red eyes, which in a rage appeared in a hellish fire, could still be seen. There are nine Nazgûl. The most famous is the Witch King of Angmar, Morgomir a more minor ringwraith that was the lieutenant of Angmar in the conquering of Arnor, and Khamûl is the second most powerful under the Witch King and Nazgul # 6 is a unnamed Nazgûl. The unnamed Nazgul have been given names such as The Undying, The Tainted, The Dark Marshal, The Shadow Lord, The Betrayer, and The Knight of Umbar.

Second Age
During the Second Age of Middle-earth the elven-smiths of Eregion forged the Rings of Power, nine of which were given to the race of mortal men. Nine great and powerful kings of men received these rings, three of which it is believed were lords of Númenor who were corrupted by Sauron. These Rings proved to be their undoing:



''Those who used the Nine Rings became mighty in their day, kings, sorcerers, and warriors of old. They obtained glory and great wealth, yet it turned to their undoing. They had, as it seemed, unending life, yet life became unendurable to them. They could walk, if they would, unseen by all eyes in this world beneath the sun, and they could see things in worlds invisible to mortal men; but too often they beheld only the phantoms and delusions of Sauron. And one by one, sooner or later, according to their native strength and to the good or evil of their wills in the beginning, they fell under the thralldom of the ring that they bore and of the domination of the One which was Sauron's. And they became forever invisible save to him that wore the Ruling Ring, and they entered into the realm of shadows. The Nazgûl were they, the Ringwraiths, the Enemy's most terrible servants; darkness went with them, and they cried with the voices of death.''—The Silmarillion: "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age," p. 289

For a great number of years the nine kings used these rings, which gained them great wealth, prestige and power. However the corrupting effect of the rings made their bodily forms fade over time until they had become wraiths entirely.

The Nazgûl were first seen around 2251 of the second age, and soon became established as Sauron's primary servants, though they were temporarily dispersed after Sauron's first overthrow in 3434 at the hands of Isildur of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. It is not known if they were present at Sauron's defeat in Mordor.

Return of the Nazgûl
Because the Ruling Ring was not destroyed, the Ringwraiths and their master survived, and the Nazgûl re-emerged around the year 1300 of the Third Age. It was around this time that The Witch-king from Angmar launched attacks against the nearby kingdom of Arnor. The first target in his war against Arnor was the realm of Rhudaur. After conquering Rhudaur and replacing the Dúnedain king with one of the native Hillmen, possibly descended from the kin of Ulfang, in the year 1356 he moved against Arthedain. The attack on Arthedain resulted in the death of King Argeleb I. Arthedain was not yet defeated for they still managed to maintain a line of defense along the Weather Hills. In 1409 came the attack on Cardolan. Also during this time, the forces of the Witch-king burned and destroyed the watchtower of Amon Sûl. After the fall of Cardolan the Witch-king launched his final attack on the survivors of the previous attack on Arthedain, and after taking the capital Fornost the last kingdom of the Dúnedain realm of Arnor was destroyed.



A year later, a prince of Gondor named Eärnur arrived with the intention of aiding Arthedain. However after he discovered that he was too late, he and his army marched against the forces of the Witch-king, utterly destroying them at the Battle of Fornost. The Witch-king escaped and retreated to Mordor, Angmar having served its purpose. At some point, the Witch-king sent Barrow-wights to the Barrow-downs to prevent Cardolan from being resurrected.

Upon his return to Mordor, the Witch-king gathered the other eight Nazgûl. In the year 2000 the Nazgûl attacked, and after two years, conquered Minas Ithil, renaming it Minas Morgul and acquiring a palantír for their dark master. It was from Minas Morgul that the nine directed the rebuilding of Sauron's armies and the preparation of Mordor for their master's return. In 2942 Sauron returned to Mordor openly declaring himself by 2951. He sent two or three of the Nazgûl to garrison his fortress Dol Guldur in Mirkwood.

Hunt for the Ring
"The Ringwraiths are deadly enemies, but they are only shadows yet of the power and terror they would possess if the Ruling Ring was on their master's hand again."

- Gandalf

Near the beginning of the War of the Ring in 3018, Sauron ordered his Ringwraiths to recover the One Ring of Power recently discovered to be in the Shire in the possession of a Hobbit named Baggins. The Nine, disguised as horse riders clad in black, attempted to track down Bilbo Baggins whom they believed had the ring. They soon discovered it was Frodo Baggins who had the ring and followed the hobbit and his friends through the Shire. After attacking Crickhollow, they discovered that their target had escaped the Shire, and eventually they located the hobbit in Bree. They sent assassins to take care of the hobbits, however after their assassins failed the Nazgûl again had to hunt for Frodo. The Nazgûl fought with the Istar Gandalf while scouting nearby Weathertop. They eventually located the ring-bearer at Weathertop where the Witch-king himself stabbed the hobbit. However before they could acquire the ring, the ranger Aragorn chased the Nazgûl away with fire. The Nazgûl still kept after the hobbit and tried one more time to get Frodo, at the Fords of Bruinen. However they were swept away by the waters of the river, and their horses were killed. The Nazgûl lacked the means to attack Rivendell, where Frodo took refuge, and returned to Mordor on foot.

War of the Ring
After receiving new flying mounts (called simply fell beasts), the nine were used to attack the city of Osgiliath to prepare the way for the assault on Minas Tirith. The Witch-king lead Sauron's forces at what would be his last battle, the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. During the battle, the lord of the Nazgûl was slain by Éowyn, the niece of (King of Rohan) Théoden, and the hobbit Meriodoc Brandybuck. Merry's stab through the Nazgûl's unseen knee might have proven decisive, his knife having being forged specifically by the Dunedain with the purpose of slaying the Witch-King of Angmar. The remaining eight Nazgûl fought the Army of the West at the Battle of the Morannon. When Frodo Baggins claimed the ring near the fires of Mount Doom, Sauron ordered the eight remaining Nazgûl to fly with all possible speed to seize the Ring. They arrived too late; the Ring falling into the fire along with Gollum. The Nazgûl immediately disintigrated once the One Ring was destroyed.

Names, titles and terms
Sauron's Ringwraiths were unusual in that they were normally referred to by their name in Sauron's Black Speech - Nazgûl - rather than being given an Elvish name.

The rarely used Quenya name for Nazgûl is Úlairi; from this it can be conjectured that the Sindarin term is Ulaer.

They are also called the Fell Riders and the Black Wings (when they ride the Fell beasts), and the Nine Riders and the Black Riders (when they ride the black horses). By the Orcs of the Tower of Cirith Ungol they are called the Shriekers.

Only a few of the Nazgûl are named or identified individually in Tolkien's works. Their leader was The Witch-king of Angmar, and his second in command was named Khamûl, the "Black Easterling" or the "Shadow of the East". Tolkien stated that three of them were great Númenórean lords. Khamûl was a lord of the Easterlings, and is the only Nazgûl whose name is revealed to the reader.

Wraith is a 16th century Scottish word for a shade or a ghost. Though because of its spelling, some people believe it related to words, like "wrath", and "wreath." Though this is an incorrect assumption, it stills plays a role in creating a mood when reading the books.

Mounts


At the start of the War of the ring the nine Nazgûl rode black horses stolen from Rohan, when riding these horses they were often called Black riders. However after the encounter with Glorfindel at Ford of Bruinen they were lost. At some point after this, the Nazgûl received Fell beasts from Sauron to replace the horses.

Weapons and Abilities
"No man may hinder me."

- Witch-king of Angmar The Nazgûl were untouchable to mortal men, unless attacked with enchanted weapons. Their own weapons included long swords of steel, daggers, and poisonous darts. Their leader possessed a powerful black mace as well. Their arsenal of deadly armaments was not confined to physical means; they also had loud screeches which brought terror into the hearts of mortals.

They do not see during the day as mortals do, instead they see shadowy forms. During the night they see many signs and forms invisible to mortal eyes, it is at night that they are to be feared most. At all times they can smell the blood of living things, and they desire and hate it. Their presence can be felt as a troubling of the heart, while they can more keenly feel the presence of others and at all times they sense the presence of the Ring and are drawn to it.

They were surrounded by an aura of terror, which affected all living creatures; their aura (called the Black Breath) was often poisonous, and their cries caused terror and despair in all who heard them. Some of the Nazgûl appear to have been accomplished sorcerers and used magic to devastating effect. According to Tolkien, though, it was the fear they inspired that was the chief danger: "They have no great physical power against the fearless," he wrote, "but what they have, and the fear that they inspire, is enormously increased in darkness" (Letters, 210)

Behind the Scenes
This usage appears to have originated in a comment on Slashdot:
 * The term Nazgûl has been used to refer to IBM's cadre of lawyers, with whom it has been said that IBM can blacken the sky - particularly with reference to the SCO v. IBM lawsuit because they supposedly never sleep, are utterly ruthless, and are completely loyal servants to their master. In addition it has been said that they are "probably really nice people. They would be nicer too if they had (say) blood or souls like normal people."

"Not long ago, the Black Gate of Armonk swung open. The lights went out, my skin crawled, and dogs began to howl. I asked my neighbor what it was and he said, 'Those are the Nazgûl. Once they were human, now they are IBM's lawyers.'" (IBM is headquartered in Armonk, New York).

It also has been suggested that this usage can be traced back to the 1969–1982 IBM antitrust suit with the United States Department of Justice, but this has not been substantiated. Tolkien himself was known to use the term figuratively. In a 1945 letter to his son, he compared his reaction to the aircraft of World War II to how Frodo might have felt if he had discovered Hobbits "learning to ride Nazgûl-birds" (Letters, 100).

Non-Canonical Mention
The following names for the other eight Nazgul were created for a role-playing game by Iron Crown Enterprises: Morgomir (the Lord of the Nazgul), Dwar, Ji Indur, Akhorahil, Hoarmurath, Adunaphel, Ren, and Uvatha. However, these names do not appear anywhere in Tolkien's works.

Also, in the The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game, each of the seven untitled Nazgûl are featured under non-canonical titles(The Undying, The Tainted, The Dark Marshal, The Shadow Lord, The Dwimmerlaik, The Betrayer and The Knight of Umbar). Due to licencing laws each of these titles would have been cleared by Tolkien Enterprises.

Trivia
The Nazgûl are the subject for the song "Shadows" by the Swedish Power metal band Sabaton