Middle-earth

Organization

The Nazgûl

Also known as Ringwraiths, The Nine, Black Riders, Ulairi

The nine mortal Men enslaved by the Nine Rings of Sauron, wraiths of terror and his most feared servants, chief among them the Witch-king of Angmar.

Tolkien’s textsSupported by the narratives published in Tolkien’s lifetime.
Category
Organization
Language
The Black Speech and the tongues of long-dead men; they spoke rarely and terribly.
The Nazgûl

What this is

In brief

A body of nine wraith-servants, not a race or kingdom. The Witch-king and his fellows are individually Men degraded into wraiths; the Nazgûl are an organisation of Sauron’s servants, some of whom later ruled Minas Morgul and Angmar.

Origins

Sauron gave the Nine Rings to great lords of Men in the Second Age, ensnaring them; they became the Nazgûl, neither living nor dead, their wills bound to the Ring. The Witch-king, once a Númenórean lord, was their chief.

Culture

A shadow-host, not a society. They serve Sauron absolutely, ride flying fell beasts, cloak themselves in black and wield fear as a weapon. Their captain held the Witch-realm of Angmar and later Minas Morgul.

Language

The Black Speech and the tongues of long-dead men; they spoke rarely and terribly.

History

The Nine served Sauron through the wars of the Second and Third Ages. The Witch-king destroyed Arnor as lord of Angmar, captured Minas Ithil and ruled it as Minas Morgul, and pursued the Ring-bearer from the Shire in T.A. 3018. At Weathertop he wounded Frodo with a Morgul-blade. He fell at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, slain by Éowyn and Meriadoc; the Ring’s destruction ended the rest.

Leaders

  • Witch King Of Angmar

Settlements

  • minas-morgul
  • angmar
  • barad-dur

Alliances

  • mordor
  • isengard

Conflicts

  • war-of-the-ring
  • battle-of-the-pelennor-fields
  • angmar-wars

Notable members

Sources

  • The Lord of the Rings · 1954–55

    Three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King.

  • The Silmarillion · 1977

    Posthumously edited. Contains the Ainulindalë, Valaquenta, Quenta Silmarillion, Akallabêth and Of the Rings of Power.

  • Unfinished Tales · 1980

    Expanded and alternative accounts of the First, Second and Third Ages.

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