Nazgûl

For the supervillain team employed by Apocalypse see Dark Riders.

In J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy Middle-earth universe, the Nazgûl (from Black Speech Nazg (ring) and Gûl (wraith, spirit); Ringwraiths, sometimes written Ring-wraiths), also known as the Nine Riders or Black or Dark Riders (or simply the Nine), are evil servants of Sauron. They are first mentioned in his book The Lord of the Rings, first published in 1954–1955. The book refers to the Nazgûl as Sauron's "most terrible servants." Template:Spoiler

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" (Letters, 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.

The War of the Ring

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 of the Ring 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, helped by 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 fell beasts 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 and terms

The rarely used Quenya name for Nazgûl is Úlairi; from this it can be conjectured that the Sindarin term is Ulaer.

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".

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 whose name is revealed to the reader. Some fans also speculate that either Herumor or Fuinur, or both, Númenóreans who rose to great power among the Haradrim, became Nazgûl, except this has been disproven since both were born well after the nine were made. Since no ring wraith is ever listed as dying, there is no way Herumor or Fuinur could have become Nazgûl.

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), Adûnaphel the Quiet (female Númenórean), Ren the Unclean and Uvatha the Horseman, but none of these names or details are considered canonical. In the context of the books, it is unlikely that any of the Nazgûl would have been female, due to repeated mentions of "kings" (though not totally impossible, since Tolkien wrote about the female leader Haleth in The Silmarillion and compares her and her guards to Amazons in Unfinished Tales, and wrote very little about the cultures of the South and East lands). 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 directly stated in any of Tolkien's books. However,in his notes for translators Tolkien stated that the Witch-king's name and background were not recorded, but that he was probably of Númenórean descent.

In the Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game, chiefly based on the Jackson films (see below), 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.

In adaptations

The Nazgûl, as portrayed in the 1978 animated film version.

One of the Nazgûl portrayed in the Lord of the Rings film trilogy.

In Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film version of The Lord of the Rings, the Nazgûl hack and slash the hobbits' beds at The Prancing Pony inn themselves. In the book, the deed is done by their accomplices.

In the 1981 BBC Radio serial of The Lord of the Rings, the Nazgûl can be heard chanting the Ring-inscription. [1]

In the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy (2001–2003) by Peter Jackson, the Nazgûl also attack the inn themselves. Emphasis is given to their loud shrieks, which are made deafening, and their use of the fell beasts in battle is expanded.

In other media

The Nazgûl are featured in many products based on Tolkien's writings and more recently, the Jackson films. These include the merchandise mentioned above. Some other examples include the computer games The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring, not based on the aforementioned films, and The Lord of the Rings: The Battle for Middle-earth and its sequel, which are.

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. 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 Nazgûl. They once were men. Now they are neither dead nor alive. They are IBM's attorneys."[2]

• 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" (Letters, 100).
• Nazgul is a girl's name of Persian origin, adopted in various Middle-eastern languages, meaning "Shy rose" or "delicate flower".
• Nazgûl is also the name of an Orkish black metal band from Italy, who sing The Lord of the Rings-inspired songs in Latin.
• The dementors from the Harry Potter series are sometimes compared to the Nazgûl, as they both wear black robes that conceal their faces and most of their bodies except for their hands (though the Nazgûl as interpreted by Jackson wear metal gloves and their metal-booted feet can also be seen, unlike dementors).
• 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."
• The Garo from The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask strongly resemble the Ringwraiths. The Garo are undead "shells" that are basically robes. The Garo spy on the undead Ikana.
• The cries of the Nazgûl as interpreted in Peter Jackson's films are mixed from that of his wife and co-screenwriter, Fran Walsh.