Throughout Middle-earth, there are creatures that are not quite alive, but not quite dead
either. They are undead. There are the Barrow-wights, the Oathbreakers (or the Army of the Dead),
and the Nazgul (The Ring-wraiths). And in this video we’ll be covering what it means
to be each one of these, what sets them apart, and digging a little deeper into Middle-earth’s
lore.
[INTRO]
There are three types of undead creatures in today’s video that we will be covering.
We’ll be looking at what they are and where we’ve seen them, starting with the Barrow-wights
that appear in The Fellowship of the Ring. This will be the most extensive one because
you probably already know most of what there is to know about the other two.
Now you may be wondering, I don’t remember them appearing in the films? That’s because
they didn’t. This was another thing that Peter Jackson cut from the films as the intention
was to make it as concise as possible. Because sometimes when translating it to the big screen,
book material doesn’t always work. It was also because they appear in Book One: Chapter
8: The Barrow-downs, both featuring Tom Bombadil, who I think was rightfully left out. And in
case, you haven’t seen it yet, there’s a video I did last year all about him right
here in this card and in the pinned comment down below.
So, the Barrow-wights are reanimated piles of bones possessed by spirits. Spirits of
what? Unknown. But what we do know is that they are evil and they reside in the Barrow-downs,
hence the name, Barrow-wights. Like in another video where I discussed Norse influences in
Tolkien, the origin of ‘wights’ comes from William Morris, an artist and a writer
of poetry and fiction, who Tolkien took a lot of inspiration from, like when Tolkien
wrote ‘the Story of Kullervo’. This usage of this type of creature was then used in
other literary works, like A Song of Ice and Fire, much like how other mythological creatures
are used and reused. The Barrow-wights were sent to the Barrow-downs
by The Witch King of Angmar because there was an attempt to rebuild the fallen Kingdom
of Cardolan (once a kingdom of the Dúnedain), but since the wights had haunted it, it would
scare anyone who attempted to do so, away. The four main Hobbits, Frodo, Sam, Merry and
Pippin had decided to stay with Tom Bombadil for some time, before setting off and continuing
their journey. But in the chapter I mentioned earlier, Chapter 8: The Barrow-downs, the
four head towards there and after having their lunch, they begin to feel tired, and thus
they fall asleep. When Frodo wakes up and it's beginning to get darker out, thinking
he still has his friends with him, he looks for a way out. But upon realising, he hears
cries and he tries to search for them. But, alas, he could not find any of them, and was
greeted by “a tall dark figure like a shadow against the stars” who gripped him with
an icy touch that drew him unconscious. And once he had woken up again, this time in a
barrow, he found himself next to Sam, Merry and Pippin, all of whom were unconscious.
They had jewelry and gold surrounding them, as well as a sword which Frodo then used to
chop off a wight’s hand after they sang and tried to approach him. And after it shrieked
and snarled, Frodo fell over Merry and recalled Tom’s song, requesting his aid. And he did.
He came and sang the wights away with his powerful song. All of them now rescued and
conscious, the treasure had hidden daggers which the four would later use as swords.
And after they had to make their final departure from Tom Bombadil, he told them to head to
The Prancing Pony.
The next group of undead spirits are the Oathbreakers (also known as “the Dead Men of Dunharrow”,
“the Men of the White Mountains”, amongst other titles, and “The Army of the Dead”
in the movie). And of course, as you know, they appeared in The Return of the King, when
Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli went to find them so that their oaths to Isildur could finally
be fulfilled by Aragorn (Isildur’s heir) and they could finally be at peace, which
he finally granted them once they agreed to help them push back some of Sauron’s forces.
All of this information about them is pretty much covered, but what exactly put them in
that position in the first place? Short answer is, well these were men who worshipped Sauron
in the Dark Years, the years in which Sauron ruled Middle-earth during the Second Age so
although they had promised and made an oath to serve Isildur, they had broken it when
he called for aid. And thus, a curse was put upon them.
The last type of undead we’ll be speaking about are the Nazgul. The ones you’ve probably
heard the most about. But in case you need a brief refresher, the Nazgul, sometimes called
“Ring-wraiths”, “The Black Riders” or just “The Nine”, are the mightiest
servants of Sauron, their chief being The Witch-king of Angmar. The Nine were mortal
men once upon a time, but they were given rings of power which later on corrupted them,
eventually turning them into wraiths that wore black robes. They carried around morgul-blades
which were daggers impregnated with a poison that could make you fall ill and turn into
a wraith. This is why Frodo couldn’t stay in Middle-earth any longer. While kingsfoil
had temporarily cured him and slowed the whole process down, he needed to leave because the
only way his wound could completely heal. As for their specific identities, that is
also unknown, except for one. So if you’ve played Shadow of War, as fun as that game
is, it's almost entirely false. The one that we do know of is called Khamûl, and he became
the new chief after the Witch-king was killed by Eowyn. And if you’re wondering which
one it was specifically, it was this one. The one who went looking for Baggins and chased
the Hobbits around. And obviously, horses were not a good enough
source of transportation because not only could they not seem to keep up, they lost
their horses when they were trying to reach Frodo later on. So they started flying on
these. These dragon-like creatures are called Fell beasts. Though they are described to
be more so like birds. Giant, featherless, smelly birds to be more precise.
“it was a winged creature: if bird, then greater than all other birds, and it was naked,
and neither quill nor feather did it bear, and its vast pinions were as webs of hide
between horned fingers; and it stank.” - Return of the King: Book Five: Chapter 6: “The
Battle of the Pelennor Fields”
Thank you for watching! Now that it's starting to get colder and winter will be upon us in
the next few months, why not pick up a mug or a sweater to keep you warm? Links are in
the description. Anyway, if you enjoyed this video, please leave ‘like’, comment down
below, ‘subscribe’ and ‘light the beacons’, and until our next meeting, I bid you farewell!