Among the many sinister foes faced by the heroes of Middle earth, the Nazgul are perhaps
the most visually striking and fear inspiring of all those who came into the service of
the Dark Lord Sauron.
In this video I’d like to talk about how the Nazgul came to be, to recap their activity
before the events of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and to highlight some of the powers
and abilities that contributed to their fearful reputation.
Almost halfway through the second age after the Elf prince, Celebrimbor forged the Nineteen
Rings of Power in Eregion and upon Sauron’s creation of the “One Ring to Rule them all”...
The elves realized Sauron’s betrayal, reacting by locking the rings away in Eregion prompting
Sauron to confront the Elves in open war.
This war resulted in Sauron’s successful reclamation of the rings.
His original plan had been to bring the elven ring bearers under his influence.
Because the Elves were able to detect his evil intentions, he then turned his attention
to the lesser beings of Middle Earth.
Subsequently he distributed nine of the rings of power to great lords and warriors of Men.
Three of them were great lords of the Númenórean race.
Sauron’s ability to mislead and entrap the Numenoreans played a major role in the Kingdom’s
eventual downfall.
So the fact that at least a third of the Nazgul came from the island of Numenor serves as
evidence of Sauron’s crafty designs and his keen awareness of how to exploit mankind’s
desire for power and knowledge.
Additionally because Sauron had previously spent a large amount of time amassing a following
from Eastern and Southern men, it comes as no surprise that one of the Nine was also
an Easterling king, Khamul, who was the second most powerful of the nine and the only one
that was ever named aside from the Lord of the Nazgul, the Witch-king of Angmar who received
that title in the third age.
Sauron’s forging of the one Ring allowed him to dominate the other rings and corrupt
these Nine mortals.
The men who received these rings became sorcerers and used them in attaining great glory, power,
and wealth.
One feature of their rings was that any mortal who wore them was granted a lifespan far beyond
their natural one.
It's possible that this was an unintended side-effect, as Sauron originally meant for
these Rings to be worn by Elves, who are themselves immortal.
Regardless of the intention, the rings caused the lives of the 9 to be prolonged, and allowed
them to peer into and see objects and creatures of the spirit world known as the Unseen.
In time, however, life became unendurable to the nine, and whenever they would put the
Rings on, they would see the phantoms and delusions of Sauron.
The Rings made their bearers invisible to all except for those who could see into the
wraith world.
And slowly one by one, depending on each of the Nine’s native strength and willpower
to resist evil, they eventually fell into the shadows becoming slaves under the domination
of Sauron's One Ring, they became forever invisible except to the eyes of the One Ring’s
weilder, wraiths who only did the Dark Lord’s bidding.
The Nine were first seen around 2251 of the Second Age, and soon thereafter became Sauron's
foremost servants.
Interestingly, the power and abilities of the nine were tied to, and were either enhanced
or diminished by the strength and might of Sauron himself.
As such after Sauron's defeat at the end of the Second Age in the War of the Last Alliance
they were temporarily dispersed.
But because of the Dark Lord’s influence over them through the One Ring, both the Nazgûl
and Sauron were able to endure and live on as long as the ring survived.
When considering the different abilities of the Ringwraiths, The Witch-king is perhaps
the most impressive as he is said to have been the most difficult to slay.
This stems from the fact that any weapon that struck him would be destroyed and its bearer
would subsequently be poisoned.
The Nazgul were known to carry long swords of steel and flame, venomous daggers, and
poisonous darts, with the Witch King additionally possessing a mighty black mace able to shatter
shields and kill enemies with a single blow.
Along with enhanced senses of hearing and smell the Nine also had powerful voices, which
were used to instill dread and terror into the hearts and minds of mortals.
The Nazgul were also surrounded by a toxic aura of terror, referred to as the Black Breath.
This could cause any who lingered in their vicinity to be disoriented and fall ill, with
intense exposure potentially being lethal..
As such only specially trained horses or the fell beasts of Mordor could carry them.
There were several heroes of Middle-earth who could resist the Nazgul’s aura of dread
and were able to successfully confront and drive back one of these foes.
However, only a few could survive being confronted by all Nine at the same time.
As his name suggests, the Witch King stands among the nine as the most powerful sorcerer,
able to greatly affect matter in the physical world, as was made evident in his breaking
Frodo's sword with a wave of his hand and his weakening of the Gates of Minas Tirith,
which allowed them to be breached.
The Ringwraiths generally had poor vision in the physical world, but they were highly
aware of the beings with a presence in the wraith world, such as the wearer of the One
Ring and certain Elves.
Anyone who was able to look into the wraith world could see the Nazgûl as they had appeared
in their mortal lives.With the exception of the Witch-king of Angmar, none of the Nine
could operate very well nor were they apt to set out alone in the daylight as they generally
feared it.
Also apart from the Witch-King, the Nazgul also maintained a fear of water, and except
in dire need they proved unwilling to enter into any body of water or cross over any stream
that was not made passable by a bridge.
In regards to their activities during the second age, other than their great power and
position as weapons of Sauron's will, not much is known.
Their actions during the War of the Last Alliance at the end of the Second age are also unknown.
Because their strength was tied so heavily to the will of Sauron, his defeat at the end
of the second age resulted in a great diminishing of their power and abilities as they disappeared
into the shadows.
For the first thirteen hundred years of the Third Age they remained unseen.
The Witch King was the first of the nine to be accounted for as he established himself
in Angmar where he gained his title.
From Angmar, the Witch-king led Sauron’s forces in several assaults resulting in the
destruction of the successor kingdoms of Arnor.
In the 1975th year the Witch-King suffered a defeat forcing him to flee and eventually
return to Mordor.
Nearly two decades later, the Witch-King led the Ringwraiths in the siege of Minas Ithil
which would become Minas Morgul.
This city would become a base of operations to facilitate the rebuilding of Sauron’s
armies.
The siege of Minas Ithil marked the first recorded activity of the 9 Nazgul in the third
age.
Here they remained dormant until the year 2951 when Sauron openly declared himself.
Thereafter they remained active continuing to do the Dark Lord’s bidding as he worked
to once again rise to power seeking to dominate the free peoples of Middle Earth.
But I’m curious to know what you think of the Nazgul.
Is there a particular moment in their history or aspect of their power that stands out the
most to you?
Let me know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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Thank you all so much for your support and as always, have a very nerdy day.