My thoughts upon the Nine

[darkaus]

I can say that I'm not entirely sure how I came to the assumptions I did where the Nazgul are concerned, I had nothing to work with. I was in Middle school, I think? Well, late middle school to early high school when the first of the movies came out. I had read the hobbit but was yet to read the trilogy. I wanted to write about what I'd seen but I had nothing, absolutely nothing, as a backbone. All I knew was how many there were, (9) what their mandatory color scheme was, (black) and that they emitted one of the strangest villain sounds I had ever heard. (shriek)

This to a large extent is why my early work suckith so badly. It didn't help I was a middle school-er, and it helped even less that I was a very poor speller. I really, really need to update my stories, but I digress. By the way, thank you for inviting me in to this site! (Though from the quality of my work I'm not sure why you did... hehehehe...)

The names are stock, of course they are. Khamul is cannon and that was easy enough but I had no idea for the rest. Then I did enough searches, which brought up the card game, which gave me names to fill in the blanks. I still like the name Murazor, and Ji Indur, the rest I am use to enough by now that I don't mind anything about them... save one. (Would you believe I didn't even realize, until it was pointed out to me, that Adunaphel was feminine? Good grief.) I have since substituted it with Irophen, though at this point it doesn't matter. What I wanted to understand with the nazgul, what I wanted to explore, was the relations between themselves and Sauron. I did so in this manner.

Remember what I've said, all of this will probably be wrong, but all of this is what I concluded as I wrote about the nine.

Gollum had a very strong impression made on him by the ring, he had it a long time; the nine had their rings a long time, the rings left strong impression on the nine.

There are nine rings forged for men to serve the One, the nine rings call to each other and echo the one.

Sauron was under Morgoth and respected that authority, he learned the master/apprentice relation from that exchange. Sauron replicates that relationship with positions switched, the Witch King becomes apprentice and as I fondly put it somewhere, heir to the iron throne.

The rings developed a pecking order among themselves, nazgul can thrall other members of the nine for short periods of time.

Some of the nine could have known each other before the change, such as Murazor and Khamul, and more had probably heard of each other.

There would be inter-rivalries and different levels of relation. Example, Khamul and Murazor were allies before the fade and remain close after. Ji Indur admires Murazor, in looking up to the greater wraith he curries favor, his skills and Sauron's faith in him irritate Khamul. The end result being a power triangle in the nine that locks the three strongest together on uneasy ground. Khamul and Indur dislike each other, Murazor only steps between them when he must, and the rest watch with varying levels of amusement.

The nine are capable of emotion. There are some emotions that will come easier but a full spectrum is available. I have seen Khamul with a hot temper and a bitter streak, Murazor distant, preoccupied, and detached with the potential to become instantly aggressive. Ji Indur to be aloof, introverted for the most, and quietly reflective, and each of the rest with a varied set of traits. Irophen, who is really only being fleshed out now is formal, curious, suspicious, and proud.

The nine have a ring bond. By this I mean that the nine have a sense of the rest of their number even when the group is apart. They cannot communicate with words but they can pass along impressions; an image of an impassable flood perhaps, or a sense of urgency. This can be used to regroup as well as re-assure.

There is a twisted affection between Sauron and the nine. Most notably the Witch King, but I felt that every wraith in some manner loved Sauron, even if it was nothing more than their individual rings devotion to the master ring. I though that as Morgoth made orcs Sauron made the nine, and would consider them a finer achievement; after all, elves are stronger than orcs, but a wraith is stronger than a man. Perhaps the nine were a way he surpassed his former lord. To this end I assumed he would have some fondness for them, but if not fondness, a possessiveness at least.

The nine could be individuals but were also prone to operating under a group mentality.

The nine would very much have individualized skills. As the Witch King was the most able to use his ring to sorcery the rest would have their own strengths. Khamul would hold a great deal of influence in the east and possessed impressive navigation skills, Ji Indur was the best at managing and fighting with his fell beast and would earn the nickname 'the sky scourge,' I saw Ren as the best horseman, responsible for their stock, and Uvatha their best spy. Irophen having little to no sorcery skill would instead become proficient in most forms of weaponry, and become the weapons master of minas morgul.

At some point I concluded that Sauron and Murazor would have frequently fought in the beginning of their relations. I assumed these fights never ended very well for the Witch King. It would take years to wear Murazor into compliance and familiarity, but Sauron certainly had the time.

Lastly I assumed that The Witch King allowed his death. This is because in the movie, on his knees before Eowyn, he was certainly not powerless. He could have dragged her down with him, grabbed her leg and tossed her aside, or ducked, or rolled, but done something. Perhaps he was too surprised, perhaps the injury dealt to him by the hobbit was more severe than perceived, and there's always fate foretold, but the impression I received was it was not welcomed, but it was permitted.

These were I disagreeumptions, and everything I have done on the nine is based around them. This seemed the only place I would ever be able to discuss this. . . so here it is.

[khazarkhum]

Hi

On emotions: they must have them, otherwise they'd be impossible to motivate. Tolkien indicates that WK feared Sauron, and it's not going too far to think he hated him. But there is nothing to say that the opposite could not be true: a love affair that grew to hatred.

Of the others, we are told that they tend to 'stray' which probably means 'run away.'.

[Elfhild]

Welcome to the forum, Darkaus.

A lot of writers use the names created for Iron Crown Enterprises' MERP games. The names are so commonly used that many people believe they are actually canon. Khamul was the only Nazgul whose name was listed, although there is a strong possibility that Gothmog could have been a Nazgul (being the lieutenant of Minas Morgul). However, the name was probably given to him later in life, as it means "Lord Voice." For that matter, "Khamul" might not have been the Second's birth name; it could be a title or pseudonym of some sort.
 
Some theorize that a minor character named Tal-Elmar could have later become one of the Nazgul, even the Witch-king. Though the theory is interesting, I don't really subscribe to it. The story is confusing to follow, because the setting and time period are uncertain. (In case you are interested, Tal-Elmar's story can be found in "The Peoples of Middle Earth." Here is a page which briefly discusses the story: www.thetolkienwiki.org/wiki.cgi?Tal-Elmar)

Some also theorize that Herumor and Fuinor, two Black Numenoreans from the Second Age, may have been Nazgul. You may have seen their names before in fanfiction. (Read more about them in "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age" in the Silmarillion)
 
In The Circles (the story that Angmar and I write), we use numbers from a fan-created Black Speech dialect combined with a descriptive adjective for the names of the Nazgul. Besides the Witch-king, Khamul and Gothmog, we have Zagbolg (Fourth the Bloody); Krakfhatal (Fifth the Barbarian); Rutfiimurz (Sixth the Young), Udukhaturz (Seventh the Intelligent); Skrishau (Eighth the Quiet); and Krithnarinuz (Ninth the Forgotten). The shortened forms are Zag, Krak, Rut, Udu, Skri and Krith.

Sauron was under Morgoth and respected that authority, he learned the master/apprentice relation from that exchange. Sauron replicates that relationship with positions switched, the Witch King becomes apprentice and as I fondly put it somewhere, heir to the iron throne.

"Heir to the iron throne," I like that term.

There would definitely be power struggles among the Nazgul. After all, they are nine lords who come from a mix of cultures. Clashes are bound to occur, due to nationalism, ethnocentricity, and the fact that royals are generally accustomed to getting their own way all of the time.
 
The Nine are indeed capable of emotion and independent thought. If you don't have it already, you really need to check out "The Lord of the Rings Companion" by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull. The section on "A Knife in the Dark" (p. 180-181) sheds a lot of insight upon the Witch-king's uncertainties about the Ring Quest. He doesn't want to go on the quest because he's afraid of Gandalf and his other enemies, but can't turn down his mission because he would incur Sauron's wrath. Yet Sauron is already peeved, because the Witch-king and the other Nazgul haven't captured either the Ring or its bearer. This information should be read along with "The Hunt for the Ring" in Unfinished Tales. It's a pity that Tolkien didn't write more about the Nazgul. However, he liked to write from the POV of an anonymous Western scribe, who hardly had an unbiased opinion of the forces of darkness.
 

The nine have a ring bond. By this I mean that the nine have a sense of the rest of their number even when the group is apart. They cannot communicate with words but they can pass along impressions; an image of an impassable flood perhaps, or a sense of urgency. This can be used to regroup as well as re-assure.

 
The Rings allow their bearers to communicate telepathically. The Nazgul can also sense each other's presence:

"The Nazgûl found one another easily, since they were quickly aware of a companion presence, and could hear the cries over great distances. They could see one another also from far away, even by day, when to them a Nazgûl was the one clearly visible thing in a mist." ­ Marquette MSS 4/2/36 (The Hunt for the Ring), Reader's Companion by Hammond and Scull, p. 164

I believe they could also project images and visions into the minds of other wraiths. After all, they can send dark and evil dreams to their victims, so it is only logical they could send messages to their comrades.

There is a case in Unfinished Tales where the Nazgul are being sent messages from Sauron. It is doubtful that the Nazgul were wearing their Rings during the Ring Quest (there is much evidence that Sauron wore the Nine Rings on his nine fingers to control the Nazgul, as he didn't have the One Ring at his command), so perhaps telepathic communication was difficult to achieve over long distances. Perhaps this would be a situation where dream/vision communication could be utilized, since the messages wouldn't be as concrete as actual thought-speech and would therefore be easier to project.

Of course, I am fascinated with the prospects of astral projection and remote viewing in Middle-earth. There are incidents of clairvoyance in Tolkien's writings, but he doesn't refer to these supernatural events by today's metaphysical terms.
 
I believe that the Nine would have had a love/hate relationship with Sauron, the One Ring, and their own Rings. After all, they were escentially slaves, and every slave longs for freedom. "They had, as it seemed, unending life, yet life became unendurable to them." (The Silmarillion, p.289) Imagine being the Dark Lord's thrall forever, and to add insult to injury, no one can see you (unless you cast a spell to deceive their minds) and your very presence strikes fear in the hearts of others. The only way you can escape is if your master is destroyed, and that means that you will become mortal again and die. Either way, it is a lose/lose situation.

Your theory that the Witch-king allowed Eowyn to kill him is quite interesting. I have been considering writing a little something about Pelennor, and so I have been doing much pondering upon the Witch-king's thoughts about Eowyn's revelation. The thought of his considering Eowyn as his ticket out of his slavery to Sauron, just as she probably considered him as her ticket out of her own life, had not occurred to me. However, there is a theory that the Nazgul may have tried to subvert the Ring Quest in an attempt to throw off the shackles of Sauron. (It's one way to explain the gross incompetence of nine men who were supposedly "the Enemy's most terrible servants.") Perhaps some of the Nazgul may have been suicidal as well - being at the mercy of the whims of a Dark Lord would hardly be beneficial to anyone's mental health.

However, only the destruction of the One Ring or the Nine Rings could truly free the wraiths. The Witch-king merely became a disembodied spirit after Eowyn and Merry destroyed his body. (See footnote to Tolkien Letter #246) Even after the One Ring had fallen into the Cracks of Doom, the Nazgul still continued to exist - although not for long; they finally met their end in the volcano's pyroclastic surge. What happened to their spirits is not known, although they probably went to Mandos to be judged.