Nazgûl
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In J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy universe of Middle-earth, the Nazgûl (from Black Speech Nazg (ring) and Gûl (wraith, spirit); Ringwraiths, sometimes written Ring-wraiths), also known as the Nine Riders or Black Riders (or simply the Nine), are evil servants of Sauron. The rarely used Quenya name for them is Úlairi, from this it can be conjectured that the Sindarin term is Ulaer. The book refers to the Nazgûl as Sauron's "most terrible servants."
Biography
Second Age
The nine Nazgûl arose as Sauron's most powerful servants in the Second Age of Middle-earth. It is said that three of the Nine were originally "Great Lords" of Númenor. They were all powerful mortal Men to whom Sauron each gave one of the nine Rings of Power. These 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", 289).
The corrupting effect of the rings caused their bodily forms to fade over time until they had become wraiths entirely. Given visible form only through their attire, their original form was completely invisible to mortal eyes. The red reflection in their eyes could be plainly distinguished even in daylight, and in a rage they appeared in a hellish fire. They had many weapons, which included long swords of steel and flame, daggers with magical venomous properties and black maces of great strength.
Their arsenal of deadly armaments was not confined to physical weapons: they were perpetually surrounded by an aura of terror, which affected all but the most powerful living creatures; their breath (called the Black Breath) was poisonous, and their cries caused terror and despair. 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" (LettersTolkien, J. R. R.; Christopher Tolkien (editor). The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, 323. ISBN 0618056998., 210).
The Nazgûl first appeared around 2251 of the Second Age and were soon established as Sauron's principal servants, less than three centuries after the rings were forged. The Nazgûl were dispersed after the first overthrow of Sauron in 3434 at the hands of the Last Alliance of Elves and Men, but their survival was nonetheless assured while the One Ring persisted.
Third Age
They re-emerged around 1300, when the Lord of the Nazgûl, the Witch-King of Angmar, led Sauron's forces against the successor states of Arnor; Rhudaur, Cardolan and Arthedain. He was eventually defeated in battle in 1975 and returned to Mordor, gathering the other Nazgûl in preparation for the return of Sauron to that realm, having achieved his goal of destroying all of Arnor's successor states.In 2000, the Nazgûl besieged Minas Ithil and captured it after two years. The city thereafter became Minas Morgul, the stronghold of the Nazgûl, from where they directed the rebuilding of Sauron's armies, also acquiring a palantír for the Dark Lord. In 2942, Sauron returned to Mordor and declared himself openly in 2951. Two or three of the Nazgûl (The Second of the Nine was put in charge) were sent to his fortress in Mirkwood, named Dol Guldur, to garrison it.
In 3017, near the beginning of the story told in The Lord of the Rings, after hearing news of the one ring, Sauron commanded the Ringwraiths to recover the One Ring of Power from "Baggins of the Shire". Disguised as riders clad in black, they sought out Bilbo Baggins who, as Gollum had revealed, had the One Ring in his possession. It was around 3018 that the "nine walkers" of the Fellowship were chosen to mirror the Nazgûl "nine riders".
The Nazgûl at this point used specially bred black horses for transportation. When they were swept away by the waters of the river Bruinen, their horses were drowned. The Ringwraiths were forced to return to Mordor to regroup. They reappeared later mounted on flying creatures, at which point they were referred to as Winged Nazgûl.
The Lord of the Nazgûl himself was slain by Éowyn, the niece of Théoden, and Merry (known as the Magnificent thereafter), during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields: Merry's stab with a powerfully enchanted barrow blade drove the Witch-king to his knees, allowing Éowyn to deliver a killing strike to his neck.
The remaining eight Ringwraiths attacked the Army of the West on their fellbeasts during the last battle at the Black Gate. However, when Frodo Baggins put on the ring in the fires of Mount Doom, Sauron ordered the eight remaining Nazgûl to fly to Mount Doom to intercept Frodo. They arrived too late, with the Ring falling into the fire along with the hapless Gollum. At the moment of the One Ring's destruction, all the remaining Nazgûl were destroyed.
Black Breath
An exposure to the Nine resulted in a poisonous influence called the Black Breath, also known as the Black Shadow, in some cases. The effects of the Black Breath were deep despair, unconsciousness, nightmares and even death. However, athelas can be used to counter the effects.The most well-known victims to the Black Breath were Faramir, Éowyn, and Merry, who were healed by Aragorn during the War of the Ring.
Names
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'/'The Shadow of the East'. Tolkien stated that three of them were great Númenórean lords. Khamûl was a lord of Easterlings, and was the only Nazgûl known by his name. Some fans also speculate that either Herumor or Fuinur, or both, Númenóreans who rose to great power among the Haradrim, became Nazgûl.They are also called "the Fell Riders", "the Nine Riders" and "the Black Wings" when appropriate, and "the Shadows", "the Nine", "the Nine Servants of the Lord of the Rings", and, by the Orcs of the Tower of Cirth Ungol, "the Shriekers".
The early Middle-earth Role Playing games and material derived from them name the eight, other than Khamûl; Er-Murazor (the Witch-king, of Númenórean race), Dwar of Waw, Ji Indur Dawndeath, Akhorahil, Hoarmurath (Númenórean), Adunaphel the Quiet (female Númenórean), Ren the Unclean and Uvatha the HorsemanThe Encyclopedia of Arda. ["What were the names of the nine Nazgûl?"], but none of these names or details are considered canon. It is particularly unlikely, in the context of the books, that any of the Nazgûl would have been female. Nor is it clear who were of Númenórean descent: only Khamûl's origin is given with certainty, and he was an Easterling. While the Witch-king is often assumed to be a Númenórean Lord, this is not stated in any of Tolkien's texts.
In the Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game, the Nazgûl are called The Witch King, Úlairë Attëa (The Easterling), Úlairë Nelya, Úlairë Cantëa, Úlairë Lemenya, Úlairë Enquëa, Úlairë Otsëa, Úlairë Toldëa and Úlairë Nertëa. The 8 new terms are not new names. In Quenya, Úlairë means Ringwraith, and the second name is merely a numeral from two to nine.
Trivia
- 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."[[Citing sources citation needed]] This usage, which has been suggested to be traced back to the 1969–1982 IBM antitrust suit with the United States Department of Justice, appears to have originated in a comment on Slashdot:
I was startled to hear the thundering of hooves. Having lived near Armonk, NY all my life, I had never heard such a sound before. "What is that horrible sound?" "That is the sound of the Black Steeds riding west from Armonk." "The Black Steeds?" "The Nazgul. They once were men. Now they are neither dead nor alive. They are IBM's attorneys."[link]
- 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" (LettersTolkien, J. R. R.; Christopher Tolkien (editor). The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien. ISBN 0618056998., 100).
- Nazgül, in Turkish, is a girl's name meaning "Coyly rose".
- Nazgûl is also the name of an Orkish Black Metal band from Italy, who sing Lord Of The Rings-inspired songs in Latin.
- The dementors from the Harry Potter series are sometimes compared to the Nazgûl.
- In Led Zeppelin's "The Battle of Evermore" (Led Zeppelin IV) there is an allusion to a ringwraith. One of the lyrics reads, "The drums will shake the castle walls, the ringwraiths ride in black, ride on."
References
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