Witch-king of Angmar
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The Witch-king was originally a great king of Men. In the Second Age, he and eight other men were given the nine Rings of Power by the Dark Lord of Mordor, Sauron. The Rings gave them incredible power, which they used to further their own ambitions, but eventually the Rings completely corrupted them and turned them into the ghastly, undead Nazgûl.
Biography
The Second and Third Ages
The first sighting of the Nazgûl in Middle-earth was reported in 2251 of the Second Age. For the next 1200 years, the Lord of the Nazgûl would serve Sauron as his second in command. He fought in the war against the Last Alliance of Elves and Men between 3434 and 3441 of the Second Age. It was in 3441 that Sauron was defeated by Isildur and the nine Nazgûl disappeared from Middle-earth.One thousand years into the Third Age, Sauron took a new form as the Necromancer, and founded the fortress of Dol Guldur in southern Mirkwood in 1050 of the Third Age. This signalled the return of the Nine Nazgûl to Middle-earth.
The Lord of the Nazgûl reappeared in 1300 of the Third Age in the north near the lost realm of Arnor. There he founded the kingdom of Angmar. It is after the formation of Angmar and several conflicts with the Dúnedain of the North that the Lord of the Nazgûl became widely known as the Witch-king, Lord of Angmar, reflecting the fact that he practiced black sorcery. Because of the great havoc he wreaked in the north, he became notorious among the peoples of Middle-earth as the terrible Lord of Angmar; thus, he thereafter retained his title of Witch-king, even long after he left Angmar.
He then began his open war campaign with the three divided kingdoms of Arnor (Arthedain, Rhudaur, and Cardolan). In 1409 of the Third Age, the Witch-king invaded the kingdom of Rhudaur and Cardolan and eventually destroyed both kingdoms. Soon, the only resistance against the Witch-king's forces was the western kingdom of Arthedain. The Witch-king continued his war for hundreds of years. In 1636, the Witch-king sent wights to the Barrow-downs in Cardolan in order to prevent the rebirth of the kingdom. The Witch-king claimed ultimate victory in the north in 1974 of the Third Age, when his forces captured Fornost Erain, the capital of Arthedain. With its capture, the final kingdom collapsed, and with it, the last remnants of the lost realm of Arnor were destroyed.
The Witch-king gladly took his seat of power in the newly captured Fornost. But his glory did not last long, for in 1975, prince Eärnur of Gondor landed at the harbors of Mithlond, leading an army of Gondorians. His army was joined by the Elves of Lindon and the remnant of the northern Dúnedain and marched on the Witch-king.
They did not meet the Witch-king at Fornost, but on the plains west of it toward Lake Evendim, home of the ancient kings of Arnor, Annúminas. The battle would forever be known as the Battle of Fornost. Earnur's army was later joined in the midst of battle by Glorfindel and his Elven army from Rivendell. The combined forces of Elves and Men brought utter defeat to the Witch-king and his forces. After the battle, the Witch-king fled south to Mordor and his kingdom of Angmar, without an able leader, was destroyed. It was when the Witch-king fled and Eärnur attempted to follow that Glorfindel stopped him and made his famous prophecy,
- "Do not pursue him! He will not return to these lands. Far off yet is his doom, and not by the hand of Man shall he fall."
When the Witch-king returned, his wrath of defeat still burned within. In 2000, the Witch-king led the Nazgûl on a siege of Minas Ithil. They finally captured it in 2002, in the name of Sauron and renamed it Minas Morgul, the Tower of Black Sorcery. It was at Minas Morgul that the Witch-king made his stronghold, giving him the title of Lord of Morgul.
In 2043, King Eärnil II of Gondor died and his son, the Witch-king's old enemy, Eärnur inherited the throne. Upon his coronation, the Witch-king challenged him to combat, but Eärnur refused. However, seven years later in 2050, the Witch-king again challenged him, this time he accepted. Eärnur rode out of Minas Tirith to meet the Witch-king in Minas Morgul. He entered the city's gates and was never seen again, thus ending the reign of the Gondorian Kings and causing the beginning of the ruling Stewards of Gondor.
No more than twelve years after the siege of Minas Ithil, Osgiliath was next in the Witch-king's line of sight. He led hordes of Orcs and Haradrim against the city. The city had already been devastated centuries before by a plague, and the Witch-king's forces ruined what remained of the city and destroyed the great bridge linking the east and west banks of the Anduin river. This was a devastating blow to the morale of Gondor.
In 2941, the Necromancer was finally expelled from Dol Guldur when Gandalf confirmed that he truly was Sauron in disguise. Sauron returned to Mordor and began preparations to find his One Ring. He began the reconstruction of his dark tower, Barad-dûr, in 2951 and sent three Ringwraiths to re-capture Dol Guldur. And in 3018, with the capture of Gollum, Sauron learned the location of the Ring from two words uttered by Gollum, "Shire...Baggins." Sauron opened the gates of Minas Morgul and sent forth the Witch-king and the other Nazgûl disguised as Black Riders to fetch his Ring.
The War of the Ring had begun.
The War of the Ring and Downfall
The Witch-king of Angmar and the other eight Nazgûl rode swiftly from Mordor to the lands of the Shire. They continued to search for "Baggins" until they tracked him to Buckland. The Nine Riders raided Buckland but could not find the Ring.The Witch-king led four other Nazgûl to Weathertop where they discovered Frodo, Strider, and the other hobbits. The Ringwraiths attacked the party and the Witch-king wounded Frodo with a Morgul blade. Though successfully driven off by Isildur's heir, Strider, Frodo's wound threatened to turn him into a wraith like the Nazgûl. Elrond of Rivendell sent Glorfindel to guide Frodo to Rivendell where Elrond could heal his wound. Glorfindel's race to Rivendell lured the Ringwraiths into the Bruinen. The river was under the control of Elrond who released a great flood, augmented by Gandalf the Grey. This flood killed the horses of the Ringwraiths and sent them back to their master in Mordor, buying the Fellowship time to plan an attack.
With their return to Mordor, Sauron provided the Nazgûl with great winged beasts as their new mounts. Sauron used the lesser eight Nazgûl for reconnaissance work. The Witch-king, however, returned to Minas Morgul and reassumed the role of commander of Sauron's forces. He then began operations to capture Osgiliath. The Witch-king was afterwards known as the Black Captain by the soldiers of Gondor because he instilled fear in his enemies; in a skirmish the previous year, Gondor captain Boromir was driven off, barely managing to destroy Osgiliath's last stone bridge.
The final battle for Osgiliath was fought on March 13, 3019 of the Third Age against Faramir's rangers. Faramir's forces could not hold the Orc hordes who swarmed across the Anduin in barges under the control of Gothmog. Faramir pulled his forces back to Minas Tirith assailed by flying Nazgûl, losing nearly all of his forces in the retreat. Faramir was returned to Minas Tirith gravely wounded.
On March 14 the Witch-king, infused by Sauron with added demonic force, led massive numbers of Orcs, Haradrim, and Easterlings to besiege Minas Tirith. Before dawn on the 15th, the great battering-ram Grond was used to break the city's main gate, and the Witch-king was prevented from entering the city only by Gandalf.
- "You cannot enter here," said Gandalf, and the huge shadow halted. "Go back to the abyss prepared for you! Go back! Fall into the nothingness that awaits you and your Master. Go!"
- "Old fool!" he said. "Old fool! this is my hour. Do you not know Death when you see it? Die now and curse in vain!" And with that he lifted high his sword and flames ran down the blade.
Théoden had just slain a leader of the Southrons when the Witch-king attacked him. Mounted on his fell beast, he drove upon Théoden. The advancing Rohirrim's horses panicked as his beast attacked. Théoden's horse, Snowmane, became frightened and was struck by an arrow and fell upon his master.
As the Witch-king hovered over Théoden, Éowyn, disguised as a man, stood in his way.
- "Begone, foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion! Leave the dead in peace!"
- "Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shrivelled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye."
- "Do what you will, but I will hinder it, if I may."
- "Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!"
- "But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Eomund's daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him."
Names and titles
The Witch-king's true name is never given, and therefore among Tolkien fans, the Witch-king is often simply called Angmar, after the name of the realm he founded and led (as Arthur Wellesley, the first Duke of Wellington, is simply "Wellington"). Many fans also identify him as one of the three Black Númenóreans Tolkien stated had become Nazgûl, or possibly Isilmo, a Númenórean prince and father of Tar-Minastir.Some sources name the Witch-King Murazor or Er-Murazor, and also give names for the other Ringwraiths. However, these names are found solely in the now-defunct Middle-earth-themed role-playing and trading card games produced by Iron Crown Enterprises, and are therefore non-canonical.
In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
In the film directed by Peter Jackson, the Witch-king's encounters during the War of the Ring differ from that told in the book.
First, he appears in Minas Morgul on a fell beast instead of leading the Morgul host on a black horse. He does not sense the Ring as he does in the book, but Frodo does recognize him as the Ringwraith who stabbed and nearly killed him, and he cries out in pain "I can feel his blade."
Later the Witch-king orders Gothmog to: "Send forth all legions. Do not stop the attack until the city is taken. Slay them all." When Gothmog asks him of Gandalf's fate, he confidently retorts, "I will break him."
During the siege of Minas Tirith, he confronts Gandalf on his fell beast, breaks his staff, and is just about to kill him when he hears the army of Rohan approach the besieged Minas Tirith. The scene is only in the extended version of the film. He departs to attack them, and is ultimately killed. Some fans have criticized Jackson's take on the confrontation scene, saying it unlikely that the Witch-king — in reality a corrupted, undead man — could be more powerful than Gandalf, who is not human (though he has a human body), but has ancient, divine origins. However, the book is quite clear that the Witch-king "wields great powers." The book also hints that the other eight Nazgûl are aware that "their Captain" would eventually come forth to "challenge the white light of their foe," and indeed, he does agressively confront Gandalf at the broken gates of Minas Tirith. Also Gandalf tells Denethor that he may have been outmatched at Osgiliath by the Captain of Despair (The Witch-King).
Later still, during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, he wields a flail and a sword instead of a mace. Also, the movie does not make it clear that it is Merry's enchanted Barrow-sword that renders the Witch-king vulnerable to Eowyn's ordinary sword.
External links
- [Witch-King of Angmar] at The Thain's Book
Trivia
- An undead witch-king named Þráinn appears in Hrómundar saga Gripssonar. It is possible that this was Tolkien's source of inspiration.
- The prophecy of Glorfindel also echoes Shakespeare's Macbeth, in which one of the witches foretells that "none of woman born / Shall harm Macbeth" (Act IV, scene i). Macbeth is eventually slain by Macduff, who "was from his mother's womb / Untimely ripp'd [aka, was born of a crude Caesarian section, and thus was not "born" in the sense of going through the birth canal ]." (Act V, scene viii).
See also
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