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Felagund
Nargothrond
Apr 13, 7:38pm
Post #201 of 203
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a postscript on the Ringwraiths (origins and the 'masterless years')
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I was recently reading the follow-up to the Nśmenor & Gondor 'lore-dump' / lecture that we get from Faramir when he has Frodo and Sam in his custody at Henneth Annūn, and was struck by a passage concerning the Nazgūl. 'The Window on the West' is where I usually focus but in the following chapter, 'The Forbidden Pool', there's a gripping reference to the Nazgūl from Faramir, in the context of their capture of Minas Ithil:
'As you know, that city was once a strong place, proud and fair, Minas Ithil, the twin sister of our own city. But if was taken by fell men whom the Enemy in his first strength had dominated, and who wandered homeless and masterless after his fall. It is said that their lords were of Nśmenor who had fallen into dark wickedness; to them the Enemy had given rings of power, and he had devoured them: living ghosts they were become, terrible and evil. After his going, they took Minas Ithil and dwelt there, and they filled it, and all the valley about, with decay: it seemed empty and was not so, for a shapeless fear lived within the ruined walls. Nine Lords there were, and after the return of their Master, which they aided and prepared in secret, they grew strong again.
I don't reckon this adds anything fundamentally new to what the scholarship in this excellent thread has already brought to bear. There's further confirmation of the presence of Nśmenóreans in the ranks of the Ringwraiths, although nothing specific about the Witch-king. There's also more going with the grain material on the relative aimlessness of the Ringwraiths after the War of the (Last) Alliance, and their resurgence once their Master returns to direct their wills. I thought I'd add it to the collection though, not least as it's a passage that I'd forgotten existed! And it's figurative language is so powerful, with regard to the downfall of these Nine Lords: "and he devoured them..". Chilling!
Welcome to the Mordorfone network, where we put the 'hai' back into Uruk
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CuriousG
Gondolin
Apr 13, 8:42pm
Post #202 of 203
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Being "devoured" is not on my personal bingo card
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which is explains why I don't serve Dark Lords: not morality, but enlightened cowardice! 
Thanks for adding this to the discussion, Felagund. I did indeed feel vaguely queasy when I read the passage you cited and got to "devoured," which is more concise and blunt than anything Gildor or Gandalf or Elrond says to Frodo. Sort of another signal in the book that we're now in The Danger Zone (without Tom Cruise), and nice language is no longer being bandied about a living room or cozy pub. And more emphasis that serving Sauron means losing your soul and identity, no matter how much power he gives you.
While the Nazgul seem to have agency in conquering Minas Ithil (after a 2-year siege, I believe), and whatever they did in Dol Guldur, they do seem mostly bereft of agency most of the time, hence Faramir calling them "masterless." They're like the remoras that attach to a shark.
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Felagund
Nargothrond
Apr 18, 4:18pm
Post #203 of 203
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Yes, it's hard-hitting language and bordering on horror genre in its framing, I reckon!
What I'm also struck by here is that Faramir, in serving as Tolkien's lore download instrument here, demonstrates that some Gondorians at least were aware of the origins of some of the Nazgūl. By extension, these particular Nazgūl are an unliving reminder to the Gondorians of how far their distant kin had fallen, ere the Akallabźth.
Welcome to the Mordorfone network, where we put the 'hai' back into Uruk
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