Nazgûl of Middle-earth: The Ringwraiths
Among J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings' most horrible creatures are the Ringwraiths, sometimes known as the Nazgûl. These black armor-clad, Morgul blade wielding spectral riders are devoted servants of Sauron, the Dark Lord. Their search is for the One Ring and then back-off to their master. But who were these entities, and what past exists for them? Examining the Ringwraiths' beginnings, actions, and final fate, this page explores their legend.
Origin of the Ringwraiths
Not always the terrifying wraiths they evolved into were the Ringwraiths. Once mortal men, they were kings of enormous influence and power. Seeking to rule Middle-earth, Sauron created nine Rings of Power to seize Men's wills during the Second Age of Middle-earth. The expert elf-smith Celebrimbor in the territory of Eregion produced these Rings, not Sauron personally. But Sauron gently encouraged Celebrimbor to create the Rings and imbued them with his own dark power. Then he divided these Rings among nine strong Men's rulers, who were still rather young in their kingdoms at the time. Three kings from Númenor, a strong island kingdom later devastated by Sauron's activities, plus a king from the Easterlings, a people living east of Middle-earth, comprised these nine rulers.
Although these rulers first acquired enormous wealth and power from the Rings, The One Ring, Sauron's final creation, progressively corrupted their bodies and minds. The Nine developed an obsession with power, their need for dominance eclipsed their humanity. Abandoning their former identities and transforming into the Ringwraiths, or Nazgûl, Sauron's most devoted servants turned from their past.
Time has faded the precise identities of the nine kings who turned into the Ringwraiths. Two are well-known, though; they are
Angmar'switch-King:
The terrible figure known as the Witch-king Of Angmar, who personified the Nazgûl's dark power, led the Ringwraiths. Among Sauron's most potent servants, he was thought to be a Númenórean king. He was crucial in the foundation of the dark realm of Angmar and in the destruction of the northern kingdom of Arnor.
Khamûll the Easterling.
Khamûl the Easterling came to lead the Nazgûl following the death of the Witch-King at the Battle of Pelennor Fields. Renowned as a ferocious fighter and a brilliant strategist, he proved to be a fitting successor to the Witch-King.
The Ringwraiths: Emerging as Wraiths
The Ringwraiths vanished from the physical world as they gave in to the Rings' power; their bodies turned ghostly and ethereal. They lived in a spectral plane, a world not known to those not touched by The One Ring but clearly seen to those who carried it. They were basically ghosts, formless and invisible except when covered in the dark robes providing form.
Still, their absence of physical bodies turned out to be a drawback. They were vulnerable when they were carried away by a river in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring; their horses drowned and their cloaks washed away. This incident implies that, since it deprives the Ringwraiths of their physical form, water is a weakness of theirs.
The rise of Angmar
Lead by the Witch-King, the Ringwraiths created the dark realm of Angmar, a kingdom of fear and terror north of the Misty Mountains, during the early Third Age of Middle-earth. For the Nazgûl, a base from which they could extend their influence and might, this area grew to be a stronghold. Angmar aimed to undermine the Dúnedain, the descendants of the Númenóreans who were meant to be the Rangers of the North, and the northern sister kingdom of Arnor, to Gondor.
Under the direction of their army of Orcs, Goblins, and other dark creatures, the Ringwraiths waged war against Arnor's kingdoms. Arnor was finally destroyed, leaving three successor kingdoms—Arthedain, Cardolan, and Rhudaur. They even targeted the Elves' home, Rivendell, but were turned back by the strong wizard Elrond and his army.
Legendary power and savagery belonged to the Witch-King. He besieged a hill north of the Shire called Weathertop and killed King Arveleg I of the Dúnedain. Still, his run of terror finally came to an end. Together, the armies of Gondor, Arthedain, and Lindon routed the Angmar army in the Battle of Fornost. Though injured, the Witch-King fled with his power broken; his rule over Angmar was destroyed.
Ringswraiths and Gondor
Particularly the Witch-King, the Ringwraiths participated in the fall of Gondor's royal line. Gandalf notes in The Lord of the Rings that the Stewards had replaced the broken line of kings in Gondor over centuries. This came from the Witch-King confronting King Eärnur of Gondor.
Seeking to destroy the king and weaken Gondor, the Witch-King regularly pushed Eärnur to single combat. Originally reluctant to resist, Eärnur first held back until many years of the Witch-King's taunting caused him to give in and leave his crown on his father's tomb riding out to meet the Witch-King. His Steward urged him to resist. Eärnur never returned, though, and Gondor's royal line was split with the Stewards taking over.
The Ringwraiths' Doom
Strong and terrible, the Ringwraiths seemed to be unbeatable. Particularly the Witch-King was renowned for his strength; he was even described as "unbreakable" and "unvanquizable." As Glorfindel remarked, "Far off yet is his doom, and not by the hand of man will he fall." Though he did not fall to a man but rather to a hobbit, Merry, and a woman, Éowyn, his doom was far off.
The Witch-King was fighting Éowyn at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. But Merry, swinging a Barrow-blade—a weapon blessed to cut the bonds between the wraith and its physical form—hit the Witch-King. From his spectral body, this cut the Witch-King's will, enabling Éowyn to strike him dead.
The destruction of The One Ring brought the remaining Ringwraiths to their doom. The Ringwraiths identified Frodo Baggins, carrying the Ring, as he ascended Mount Doom to destroy it, and rode to retrieve the Ring for Sauron. But a huge eruption burst as Frodo destroyed the Ring, engulfing the Nazgûl in fire and flames. They vanished alongside their master's authority. Given their power came from the One Ring, their doom was probably sealed even without the eruption. The Ringstraiths were nothing without Sauron and the One Ring.
Driven by their servitude to Sauron and their thirst for power, the Ringwraiths were strong evil creatures. Their past reminds us of the perils of unbridled ambition and the corrosive character of power since it is one of destruction and anxiety. Their final catastrophe, however, presents some hope since it shows that even the toughest forces can be defeated.
