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The Unseen was a term referring to every being or object that were part of the wraith-world. All things in either counted as a part of the Seen world or the Unseen world. Part of the Seen were material objects and all living creatures. Some beings could exist in both, such as the Ainur and the Calaquendi, the Elves who dwelt in Valinor.[1]

Wraith-world[]

Paul Lasaine - Wraith World

Conception by Paul Lasaine of the "wraith world", for The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

The wraith-world was the unseen realm in which cursed spirits such as the Ringwraiths had form.

The One Ring could draw Ring-bearers to the wraith-world, allowing its denizens to be fully seen. It allowed the bearer to utilize strange powers and heightened olfactory and auditory senses. Any wraith within the realm would see the Ring-bearer, and vice versa, and the bearer could be subjected to that world's weapons, such as the Morgul-blade. Additionally, upon wearing the Ring, the bearer would turn invisible to all except for the wraiths themselves and the Dark Lord Sauron.[2]

Those who were in the wraith-world could also see the brilliant, shining form of the High Elves known to exist in the other side of the threshold of the Unseen[citation needed]: Frodo Baggins saw Glorfindel in this form while wounded by the Morgul-blade.[3]

Portrayal in adaptations[]

The Lord of the Rings film trilogy[]

In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, the wraith-world appears as the ordinary physical world, but dark, gloomy, and distorted, because of the aura of the Ringwraiths. Ring-bearers wearing the Ring would be easily identified there by the wraiths.

The Hobbit film trilogy[]

In The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, the Elves of Mirkwood are shown in a shining form when Bilbo Baggins, the Ring-bearer, puts on the Ring and enters the Wraith-world.

Translations[]

Foreign Language Translated name
Danish Ringåndernes Skyggeverden

References[]

  1. The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Ch. I: "Many Meetings"
  2. The History of Middle-earth, Vol. VI: The Return of the Shadow, The First Phase, IX: "Trotter and the Journey to Weathertop"
  3. The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book One, Chapter XII: "Flight to the Ford"
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