Nazgûl
Character group from J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Nazgûl (from Black Speech nazg, "ring", and gûl, "wraith, spirit"), introduced as Black Riders and also called Ringwraiths, Dark Riders, the Nine Riders, or simply the Nine, are fictional characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth. They were nine Men who had succumbed to Sauron's power through wearing Rings of Power, which gave them immortality but reduced them to invisible wraiths, servants bound to the power of the One Ring and completely under Sauron's control.
Nazgûl | |
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In-universe information | |
Aliases | The Nine Úlairi (in Quenya) Black Riders Fell Riders Ringwraiths |
Book(s) | The Fellowship of the Ring (1954), The Two Towers (1954), The Return of the King (1955), The Silmarillion (1977), Unfinished Tales (1980) |
The Lord of the Rings calls them Sauron's "most terrible servants". Their leader, known as the Witch-king of Angmar or the Lord of the Nazgûl, had once been the King of Angmar in the north of Eriador. At the end of the Third Age, their main stronghold was the city of Minas Morgul at the entrance to Sauron's realm, Mordor. They dress entirely in black. In their early forays, they ride on black horses; later they ride flying monsters, which Tolkien described as "pterodactylic". Their main weapon is terror, though in their pursuit of the Ring-bearer Frodo Baggins, their leader uses a Morgul-knife which would reduce its victim to a wraith, and they carry ordinary swords. In his final battle, the Lord of the Nazgûl attacks Éowyn with a mace. The hobbit Merry Brandybuck stabs him with an ancient enchanted Númenórean blade, allowing Éowyn to kill him with her sword.
Commentators have written that the Nazgûl serve on the ordinary level of story as dangerous opponents; at the romantic level as the enemies of the heroic protagonists; and finally at the mythic level.
The Nazgûl appear in numerous adaptations of Tolkien's writings, including animated and live-action films and computer games.