Aragorn's emergence as the last surviving heir of Elendil plays a huge role in the story of The Lord of the Rings. 14 They Broke the Line of Kingsīy the time of the War of the Ring, Gondor had been without a king for centuries. The speed of that transformation was dependent on the quality of each man's character, but even the strongest eventually fell completely. Unlike Bilbo, however, they lacked the will to relinquish their rings, and so their painful transformation into Ring-wraiths continued. As Bilbo would eventually relate to Gandalf, he felt "stretched and thin," and the men who would become the Nazgûl eventually came to feel that way too. The rings also granted their bearer with prolonged life, just as the One Ring would later do for Gollum and Bilbo Baggins. This satisfied their greed, and drew them further towards their doom. Taking the Rings of Power from Sauron started them down the dark path of corruption, but their fall wasn't an immediate one.Īs ring bearers, the Nine gathered more power and wealth to them, and became accomplished sorcerers. The Nazgûl enforced their master's will for centuries as ghostly, immortal specters, but they began their lives as mortal men. Here are the 15 Things You Didn't Know About the Nazgûl in The Lord Of The Rings. Whether seen in their fearsome black garb or glimpsed in their true ghostly forms, the Ring-wraiths struck terror and hopelessness in all who crossed their path.īy the time of The Lord of the Rings, they had already haunted Middle-earth for millennia, so if you've only read that book (or seen the Peter Jackson movies), you don't know the whole story. Ultimately, they fell completely under the sway of the One Ring and became unquestioning servants of the Dark Lord. Whatever goodness or nobility they once possessed was slowly drawn out of them as greed and lust for power consumed them, and their mortal bodies were warped and twisted into ghostly husks. Their backstory is an unforgettable cautionary tale once Kings of Men, they were corrupted by the Rings of Power gifted to them by Sauron.
![the lord of the rings ring wraiths the lord of the rings ring wraiths](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/b2/90/a4/b290a4cefa445b33fbedb8c56eea14fb.jpg)
Ring-wraiths, Black Riders, the Nine by any name, the Nazgûl were the most trusted and deadly servants of the Dark Lord Sauron, and they played a crucial role in his mission to retrieve the One Ring. In the land of Middle-earth, few beings inspired as much fear and dread as the Nazgûl.