Nobody expects the Nazgul! Our chief weapon is fear... fear and surprise... Our two weapons are fear and surprise... and ruthless efficiency.... Our three weapons are fear, and surprise, and ruthless efficiency... and an almost fanatical devotion to the Sauron... Our four... no... Amongst our weapons... Amongst our weaponry... are such elements as fear, surprise... I'll come in again.”
Exactly. If I have a preoccupied frown that makes it seem like I'm about to announce something life-changing it's because I'm thinking about Lord of the Rings or Star Trek or the like. "...is he mad at me?" Nope, just pondering the nuances of Shire economics.
I worked on farms for a good part of my early life. Generational farmers are not to be trifled with. They’re strong as an ox, stubborn as a mule, and have a broader knowledge of the physical world than just about anyone. And they tend to be well-armed.
I find the Nazguls' Hobbit interactions to be quite funny. This big, scary, evil invisible dude. Wearing a black cloak has to listen to Sam's Gaffer complaining about the neighbors. To me that's one of the funniest things in the books😅
One of the things that I think is easy to forget about Aragorn is that he wasn't just a king and warrior, but a healer, and that that's a deep part of his kingship. Bit of an aside but as it was mentioned, it's one of my favourite things about him.
It's one of the very few magics manifested by men, perhaps including the barrow blades and the concrete used to make Orthanc. Of course Aragorn is part Maia and part Elf...
If I ever get rich, I’m going to produce an audio book of Tolkien’s appendices and histories, and hire Robert to read them. Best voice on RUclips, hands down
Male sure he records it in the nude. This will give the reading a vulnerability, an underlying shame just under the surface skin. His shame bleeding through the reading...
Just realized that the Nazgûl were probably one of those aspects of Tolkien's writing most influenced by his time at the Battle of the Somme. The screams, the Black Breath, the sheer horror surrounding them.
@@oguzhanenescetin5702 Not always the Battle of the Somme in particular, but it is easy to draw parallels from Tolkien's life as a WW1 veteran, and a few things that appeared in his writings. I mean, anyone who would have survived this hell on Earth that was WW1 would be emotionally scarred for the rest of their life, especially with psychological aid being uhm.. not that advanced at the time
@@oguzhanenescetin5702 It does pop up a lot, but there is good reason for it. The most common comparison is the dead marshes, because we know the battle of Somme was slightly flooded and there were bodies staring up out of the water. Given that he wrote a great deal of the early history of middle earth while IN the trenches, it’s unavoidable that there would be parallels. I think people default to the Somme because it’s the most well known battle he was in. Though with the Nazgûl shrieking and black breath I think any battle ground in WW1 world qualify as an influence. Missiles shrieking overhead, constant fear of chemical attacks, people around him losing the will to live. Coming up with monsters with those traits and having them be defeated by friendship and good will was probably unconscious catharsis for Tolkien
This fits into Tolkien's whole philosophy when it comes to evil (and its strength/ birth). That being that most of its strength is immaterial; the fear of something wicked, not the actual physical wickedness. In fact, the Nasgul have no form at all, they're specters, essentially. The majority of their power is stopping good people from trying to stop them, which is in Tolkien's words, is all it takes for evil to arise. Even the Witch King dies in fairly middling circumstance, to a warrior of little regard, but the courage it took to fight him was all it took to overcome him. Gandalf more scares them off than actually fight them, and they shirk away from any being who meets their gaze. Because, for all their power, they are mortal men that have burdened themselves with covetous greed and fear that their power should be taken away. The most powerful abilities in Middle Earth are those that sway the hearts of men, in essence.
I like the contrast between the Nazgul, men who instill fear and men such as Aragorn, but also Eomer, Imrahil etc. who are not only great warriors by themselves, but also inspire hope. The Lord of the Rings is truly a clash between light and dark, personified by their respective champions.
It can hardly be a "clash" when any 1 good champion easily beats 9 strongest evil champions. Or in Silmarion's case, even more idiotic 1 elf vs literal evil god (Melkor) almost ending with a draw and said god walking away crippled. Only utter idiocy and holding gigantic idiot ball on the side of 'good' prevented easy and quick stomp of everyone 'evil' in an afternoon...
I don' know if Tolkein ever made it explicit but I always thought that the explanation for the Nazgul being so much less powerful in the Shire and on Weathertop was because their power came from Sauron, the further they are from his stronghold the more their power diminishes. That's certainly the feeling I came away with from just reading the Lord of the Rings, I never delved deeper into the less accessible tomes of the legendarium, that's what I follow this channel for.
Do you think they had aerials to pick up stronger dark magic signal strength? Guaranteed to be in an awkward position and will drop out as soon as you move!!!
That is an interesting idea I do happen to know that the Orcs are more bound to the will of sauron the closer they are to him and less so the farther away they are from him maybe something similar happens to nazgul
I feel like it was stated somewhere that the reason the Nazgul were so less powerful in the shire and on Weathertop, was because Sauron was still weak and gathering strength. It took him 2000 years to reform and return to Middle Earth, and so the Nazgul appeared along with him, and grew in strength as he himself grew. Can't remember where I read this though, so take this with a grain of salt.
@@Kriegerdammerung Farmer Maggot was a Hobbit in the Shire. When one of the Nazgul confronted him, looking for the Ring, Farmer Maggot just told him go get lost...not really any fear at all, despite the powers outlined in this excellent video.
Farmer maggot was originally a Tom Bombadil type character, in early drafts. The Nazgul didnt want to stab their way through the 30 000+ population of the shire.
When I first heard that Amazon was going to make a series about the second age with an unlimited budget, my first thought was "you could do an origin story for some of the Nazgul.". Would still be a great basis for a series. Some good, some bad, all titans in their time, slowly falling under the power of the rings. Instead, we got short, angry Galadriel. Sigh.
Tolkien's magic seems to be based on "will," the ability to intend things into being, as best I can tell. Given this, I think of the Rings as enhancing the person's will, toward a certain end or several. The One Ring's focus was domination, especially magical domination. The Three were made to enhance the ability to preserve, protect, and defend, which is a subtle trap for the Elves: preserving is not growing. It's an open question whether the Dwarves could, in theory, turn their rings to something other than amassing wealth, if they had only willed it. Apparently the Nine served to enhance the ability to dominate another's mind, rather than their will, which was reserved to the One.
I have been watching your videos for quite some time now, can't say for certain how long, but it feels like a good few years at least! Even though by now most parts of the Tolkien lore is no longer new, I still get excited to watch your uploads. The selected artworks are always stunning, and your calm and relaxing narrating, make them a joy to watch and listen to, and allow me to immerse myself entirely and once again 'step into' this wonderful universe we all love. Thank you for your content!
@@joshuaeason3426 I mean he was replaced so that they could push the whole Arwen and Aragorn love story, and so they didn't have to try and explain to watchers who weren't as versed in Tolkiens works who Glorfindel was, not because he wasn't powerful. Glordindel is at bear minimum just as powerful as Gandalf the Grey while he is wearing Narya as they both faced Balrogs and though they both died, at least their physical form did they also did defeat their respective foes. Being on par with a maiar (and a very powerful one at that) who is also wielding a ring of power is no small feat.
@@joshuaeason3426 bruh, he was replaced cause he litterally does nothing else in the books other than taking Frodo for a ride. Nevermind the fact that him not joining the fellowship (being basically the most powerfull Elven warrior in the 3rd age) is such a weird plothole
Hi Rob, I've been a huge fan of this Channel for about 3-4 Years, I was just wondering if you had deleted all your old LOTR content. Really loved those videos, helped me through a hard time.
Thank you! It means a lot to me that my videos helped in some small way. :D And yes, they are returning; updated where we have new information (from new JRRT letters etc) and with improved audio and video.
@@InDeepGeek i too miss them dearly as i loved to play the playlist on shuffle as i fall asleep to stop myself from thinking bad toughts, i am glad to see you uploading more often lately 😊
That was one of the best videos and interpretations of the Nazguls power, and so we'll said, so we'll narrated, I could really feel everything he was saying. Very well done❤
Wow, I started to make a comment and when I typed Nazgûl my auto correct recognized it and fixed it. I’ve never typed it before. That is how iconic Tolkien’s work is, his characters are in the automatic dictionary.
Prophecys are dangerous vor a reason. No matter if its LotR, Game of Thrones or Dune prophecys in Literaturen are Always vague Up for Interpretation and hiddeous crimes can be commited in the name of IT
@@mpetrison3799 she isn’t a Mary sue in the movie she struggles killing him and only can together with Merry because of him wounding him with his sword that was forged to fight the WK
@@malena5026 In the movie that sword is just a hobbit-suitable sword that Aragorn probably bought in Bree. It's only an enchanted barrow-blade in the book.
1:22 "some sorcerers." Do we actually have any sorcery in the actual stories? How do the abilities of a sorcerer compare to the 5 wizards such as Gandalf?
Obviously, otherwise there wouldn't have been a reason for Merry to be there if Eowyn was capable of actually beating him on her own. Like, he broke her left arm with a single swin of his mace when she shielded herself from his attack, in fact, at that point, the Witch King was as strong as Gandalf, a single mortal with a simple sword could've never defeated him.
Pretty sure that blade unwraithed him allowing Eowyn to deal the death blow, but I do agree technically. Even if she didn't kill him it would've been possible for anyone else in the battle to kill him at that point.
One of the things I liked most about shadow of war was how they gave a few more nazgul personas. I know it’s not canon and also doesn’t match the timeline. But I like it.
I love how Glorfindel is just a Faith Build powerhouse, that even multiple Nazgul will purposely avoid. It's like they can see some ridiculous bright radiance in the distance, and they just "nope" the heck around that. I was immediately enthralled when I first read of Glorfindel basically manifesting like Jesus. Dude revealed his true form. Gotta be careful when killing some elves. Sometimes they come back upgraded.
@@stickiedmin6508 Yes, as he nothing says he is the same. If he were he would be way bigger shot than he is. As in senior to Cirdan, Elrond and Galadriel.
One of the only weaknesses in Peter Jackson’s films, in my humble opinion, was how Aragorn was able to take on the entire group by himself. I thought it weakened the plot a bit. Still my favorite movie, of course. 😅
For being called the "most terrible servants" of Sauron they accomplished very little during the War of the Ring. They failed to find the hobbits. Five of them, including the Witch King, fled from Aragorn at Weathertop. All nine lost their horses at the Ford of Bruinen. They had to do the walk of shame back to Mordor to get the flying fell beasts, and one even lost that to Legolas above the Anduin.
07:26 what scene is he talking about? I tried to find it but cant, is it in fellowship of the ring? Frodo draws his sword when they move down bellow them and unseen world we see only after ring is on and the sword long gone.
What happened with the "Lord of the Rings from the Witch King's perspective" video and some others from before? Are they exclusively for patreon currently?
Everyone speaks the phrase "fell beasts" as if that describes a particular sort of animal, like saying "dragon" or "balrog". But the word "fell" is simply an adjective that means "of terrible evil or ferocity; deadly". Tolkien used the word simply to avoid further defining what kind of beast the nazgul rode.
I can’t help but think that Tolkien would never begin answering a question about gradations of power without first having a lengthy discussion on the meaning and scope of the word “powerful”..
Of course they may also avoid Glorfindel as he was the one who prophesied that no mortal man would defeat the Witch King, a prophecy the Witch King believed in, but then Glorfindel had died and been returned to middle earth mafter defeating a Balrog mellenia earlier.
One great thing about the original (and arguably best CCG ever) Middle Earth card game, Middle Earth: The Wizards by I.C.E is the companies desired and direction to not break canon. They only took liberties when Tolkien left questions unanswered, as he did with the Nazgul. One of the names for the nazgul in I.C.E is Adûnaphel. Firstly, that is such an excellent name. Secondly, Adûnaphel was depicted as a female nazgul. Unfortunately, the honor and respect it took to not break canon did not move forward with Amazon nor Wotc. Middle Earth in Magic the gathering and RoP are Tolkien in name only. You can even describe those products as Untolkien.
Look, I knew it wasnt happening, but there was a part of me that REALLY wanted this video to start with "How powerful are the Nazgul? Super powerful." and just end there. Its like, fair enough. 🤣 Great video and channel
I was about to say Aragorn would have to deliver the finishing blow, but that would conflict with the prophecy that "not by the hand of man shall he fall." Therefore, the 4 hobbits would have to jump him
1:11 Interesting symbol on the crown to the right of the Witch King... 1:29 to 1:31 Yep--The Witch King of Angmar and Kamul the Easterling are the only two Ringwraiths Tolkien identified by name.
I've often considered that the Nazgul can't hold the weapons themselves, they are wearing armor and clothing and especially gauntlets and it's the clothing that is "holding" the weapon. It's the armor that is sitting on the horse and it's the boots touching the ground. I ponder that because of a statement made about how, after the Ford of Bruinen, they are unrobed and that effected them greatly. Occam's razor probably suggests that is a level of complexity over necessity, but that statement at the Ford troubles me without it.
Onr thing that bugged me in Return of the King (movie version) was when the Witch King faces down Gandalf, and breaks his staff. Very silly, as Gandalf- especially the White, was quite a bit more powerful than the Witch King.
The Nazgul have always been my favorite characters in Tolkien mythos, still to this day I wish he expanded on them even more but at the same time I love that he didn't because the unknown makes them that much more interesting of characters.
I just gotta say thanks to Britain for providing the dark, misty, mysterious atmosphere that has inspired so many of its children in their world creation.
@@benx6549 Oh, I'm hoping for it alright! The Hobbit trilogy taught us that Jackson's team aren't concerned with adhering to the books anymore, so why expect them to? Disappointment is practically guaranteed. Instead of getting my hopes up for something cool like that, I just want to see more of Legolas doing crazy elvish Matrix moves. Have we ever seen him fight the Nazgul? Not yet, we haven't. Okay, hear me out. Once I got past the fact that Legolas was in The Hobbit, he became my favorite part of that trilogy. They fleshed out his character a little more and gave him a proper nemesis in Bolg. That scene where Legolas sees his own blood for the first time was so badass. And the final showdown on that crumbling tower, just wow. If that ends up being Orlando Bloom's last battle as Legolas, they sure gave him an awesome sendoff. Not canon at all, but awesome nonetheless. Now, do we expect the team who put Legolas in The Hobbit to restrain themselves from putting Nazgul fights in The Hunt for Gollum? I think not. At the end of the day, whether or not the new movies suck, I refuse to hate Peter Jackson. The man's a genius. He gave us the original trilogy, and I will always appreciate that. At this point, I'm just down for the ride.
I'm actually amazed that the first scene with frodo and the nazguul had lore reasons behind why it sniffed and sensed them but didn't manage to find them. I always just thought that was an oddly lucky, maybe even far-fetched thing they wrote in just for suspense. .
The book mentions that the intended use for the morgul blade was that it be stabbed directly into the heart and left there. Presumably, the effect would be nearly instant. The stab missed because, unexpectedly, Frodo resisted. I understood that Frodo's speaking in Elvish threw the wraith off.
"The leader... raised up his hand. Frodo was stricken dumb." I so wish Jackson had filmed this moment exactly as written so the kids could say, "hey, he's copying Darth Vader!" only to realize no, it's the other way 'round.
I wonder how much the Nazguls were aware of their own actions and surroundings how much of their consciousness was their own and not Sauron's overriding them. Gollum was horribly mangled and broken beyond recognition caused by an overruse of the One Ring, that he obtained through an act of pure evil, which further more corrupted his mind and soul. The Nine Kings were men, who, from what we know, were apparently virtuous at the beginning, and eventually, they all fell under the thrall of Sauron, still wearing their rings. It happened several thousands of years prior to the Lord of the Ring, so imagine how far, how thoroughly damaged their minds and souls could have been from being directly subjected to Sauron's crushing will for so long. Just as the Dead Men of Duneharrow, maybe the Nazguls, at the time of their death, saw clear for the first time in millenias, and felt relief at finally being free.
My theory as to why the Witch-King is the leader of the Nazgûl is because I believe he was the only one of the Nine who was a king BEFORE he gained his Ring of Power, the other 8 were great warriors or sorcerers (I like to imagine that there were 4 of each; 4 who were strictly Warriors and 4 who were strictly Sorcerers) but they were not kings yet and they used their rings to become kings, but the Witch-King as a human was already all three: a Warrior, a Sorcerer, and a King.
Couple of points to nitpick on . 1. Their horses were not speacially bred for them, but rather stolen in the night from rohan. 2. Felbeasts have some sort of connection to the moon. Forgot the details thouhh
Let's consider the following statement by Gandalf: “A mortal, Frodo, who keeps one of the Great Rings, does not die, but he does not grow or obtain more life, he merely continues, until at last every minute is a weariness. And if he often uses the Ring to make himself invisible, he fades: he becomes in the end invisible permanently, and walks in the twilight under the eye of the dark power that rules the Rings. Yes, sooner or later - later, if he is strong or well-meaning to begin with, but neither strength nor good purpose will last - sooner or later the dark power will devour him.” It can be inferred from this that Gandalf knew (or had been informed by Saruman and/or the Elves) that at least some recipients of the Great Rings (including some of the humans who received them) were well-meaning to begin with and took longer to succumb than others. It would be interesting to speculate on the process by which a well-meaning human lord, warrior or magician might have been corrupted over time through possession of a Great Ring, how this would manifest itself in changes in their behaviour and the consequences of their behaviour, and at what point others would perceive that they had transitioned from human to Ringwraith.
nice video, but you forgot to mention their fear of the power of Ulmo and Orosse - thats why they feared to cross the water so many times and thats why Sauron had never made open war on sea...Ulmo was still very present even in 3rd age...he cared a lot, maybe even more than Manwe
Nobody expects the Nazgul! Our chief weapon is fear... fear and surprise... Our two weapons are fear and surprise... and ruthless efficiency.... Our three weapons are fear, and surprise, and ruthless efficiency... and an almost fanatical devotion to the Sauron... Our four... no... Amongst our weapons... Amongst our weaponry... are such elements as fear, surprise... I'll come in again.”
... (sigh)
"I didn't expect this sort of Mordor Inquisition"
Have you got all the stuffing up one end?
@@curtishammer748NOBODY EXPECTS THE MORDORISH INQUISITION!!!
I would really love if behind every Black rider was an orc making horse hoof noises with a coconut
@@green_dragon_knight😂😂😂 That would be brilliant
Her : i'm sure he is thinking about another woman.
Me : How powerful are the Nazgul?
Yup
Exactly. If I have a preoccupied frown that makes it seem like I'm about to announce something life-changing it's because I'm thinking about Lord of the Rings or Star Trek or the like. "...is he mad at me?" Nope, just pondering the nuances of Shire economics.
@@Peatingtune shire economics lol
But what WAS aragorn's tax policy?
she Elf
Another weakness of the Nazgul is epic paragons of courage and valor, specifically Farmer Maggot.
I thought their greatest weakness was Sauron’s failure to provide a dental plan
I think everyone is afraid of Farmer Maggot.
I worked on farms for a good part of my early life. Generational farmers are not to be trifled with. They’re strong as an ox, stubborn as a mule, and have a broader knowledge of the physical world than just about anyone. And they tend to be well-armed.
I find the Nazguls' Hobbit interactions to be quite funny. This big, scary, evil invisible dude. Wearing a black cloak has to listen to Sam's Gaffer complaining about the neighbors. To me that's one of the funniest things in the books😅
@@Scientist_Salarian Now I'm just flashing back to the 'rural medicine' sketches, and the farmer pain scale topping out at "I'm here, ain't I?"
One of the things that I think is easy to forget about Aragorn is that he wasn't just a king and warrior, but a healer, and that that's a deep part of his kingship. Bit of an aside but as it was mentioned, it's one of my favourite things about him.
The hands of the king are the hands of a healer, and so shall the rightful king be known.
Kingsfoil go brr.
It's a deep and old part of European folklore that kings can heal, even by just a touch.
It's one of the very few magics manifested by men, perhaps including the barrow blades and the concrete used to make Orthanc. Of course Aragorn is part Maia and part Elf...
And an octogenarian 🤴
If I ever get rich, I’m going to produce an audio book of Tolkien’s appendices and histories, and hire Robert to read them. Best voice on RUclips, hands down
Phil dragash is my favorite lotr audiobook narrator
Male sure he records it in the nude. This will give the reading a vulnerability, an underlying shame just under the surface skin. His shame bleeding through the reading...
@@charlesg5085 50 Shades of Grey got nothing on this LotR narration.
@@charlesg5085nude and on a wooden pony.
@@charlesg5085 I'd pay extra for that
Just realized that the Nazgûl were probably one of those aspects of Tolkien's writing most influenced by his time at the Battle of the Somme. The screams, the Black Breath, the sheer horror surrounding them.
Why do people always connect everything they can find in Lotr to battle of Somme?
@@oguzhanenescetin5702 Not always the Battle of the Somme in particular, but it is easy to draw parallels from Tolkien's life as a WW1 veteran, and a few things that appeared in his writings. I mean, anyone who would have survived this hell on Earth that was WW1 would be emotionally scarred for the rest of their life, especially with psychological aid being uhm.. not that advanced at the time
@@oguzhanenescetin5702
It does pop up a lot, but there is good reason for it. The most common comparison is the dead marshes, because we know the battle of Somme was slightly flooded and there were bodies staring up out of the water.
Given that he wrote a great deal of the early history of middle earth while IN the trenches, it’s unavoidable that there would be parallels. I think people default to the Somme because it’s the most well known battle he was in. Though with the Nazgûl shrieking and black breath I think any battle ground in WW1 world qualify as an influence. Missiles shrieking overhead, constant fear of chemical attacks, people around him losing the will to live. Coming up with monsters with those traits and having them be defeated by friendship and good will was probably unconscious catharsis for Tolkien
Chemical weapons used in wwI like Chlorine and mustard gas... Black breath.
@@oguzhanenescetin5702 definitely not everything, but for some of the horror elements it's easy to see the parallels.
This fits into Tolkien's whole philosophy when it comes to evil (and its strength/ birth). That being that most of its strength is immaterial; the fear of something wicked, not the actual physical wickedness. In fact, the Nasgul have no form at all, they're specters, essentially. The majority of their power is stopping good people from trying to stop them, which is in Tolkien's words, is all it takes for evil to arise.
Even the Witch King dies in fairly middling circumstance, to a warrior of little regard, but the courage it took to fight him was all it took to overcome him. Gandalf more scares them off than actually fight them, and they shirk away from any being who meets their gaze. Because, for all their power, they are mortal men that have burdened themselves with covetous greed and fear that their power should be taken away.
The most powerful abilities in Middle Earth are those that sway the hearts of men, in essence.
Well said!
I like the contrast between the Nazgul, men who instill fear and men such as Aragorn, but also Eomer, Imrahil etc. who are not only great warriors by themselves, but also inspire hope.
The Lord of the Rings is truly a clash between light and dark, personified by their respective champions.
It can hardly be a "clash" when any 1 good champion easily beats 9 strongest evil champions. Or in Silmarion's case, even more idiotic 1 elf vs literal evil god (Melkor) almost ending with a draw and said god walking away crippled. Only utter idiocy and holding gigantic idiot ball on the side of 'good' prevented easy and quick stomp of everyone 'evil' in an afternoon...
Thanks for your high quality videos!
I don' know if Tolkein ever made it explicit but I always thought that the explanation for the Nazgul being so much less powerful in the Shire and on Weathertop was because their power came from Sauron, the further they are from his stronghold the more their power diminishes. That's certainly the feeling I came away with from just reading the Lord of the Rings, I never delved deeper into the less accessible tomes of the legendarium, that's what I follow this channel for.
I would love a confirmation of this as well, it’s been my thought for years
Do you think they had aerials to pick up stronger dark magic signal strength?
Guaranteed to be in an awkward position and will drop out as soon as you move!!!
That is an interesting idea I do happen to know that the Orcs are more bound to the will of sauron the closer they are to him and less so the farther away they are from him maybe something similar happens to nazgul
I feel like it was stated somewhere that the reason the Nazgul were so less powerful in the shire and on Weathertop, was because Sauron was still weak and gathering strength. It took him 2000 years to reform and return to Middle Earth, and so the Nazgul appeared along with him, and grew in strength as he himself grew. Can't remember where I read this though, so take this with a grain of salt.
@@Greendalewitch Sauron's strength didn't change much during the novels. It was just bad writing on the part of Tolkien honestly.
Have I ever said that your videos make reading the books you talk about ever more enjoyable than it already was?
They take double damage from being told off by grumpy farmers, too. Farmer Maggot FTW!
Can you explain me the implications of the joke? I do not understand )=
@@Kriegerdammerung Farmer Maggot was a Hobbit in the Shire. When one of the Nazgul confronted him, looking for the Ring, Farmer Maggot just told him go get lost...not really any fear at all, despite the powers outlined in this excellent video.
@@MrLeafeater I suspected as much. That farmer was the MVP from the correct perspective ;)
If he had a shotgun, they would have been destroyed.
Farmer maggot was originally a Tom Bombadil type character, in early drafts. The Nazgul didnt want to stab their way through the 30 000+ population of the shire.
Having your cloak catch on fire is "quite annoying" - Rob 😂 That made me chuckle
When I first heard that Amazon was going to make a series about the second age with an unlimited budget, my first thought was "you could do an origin story for some of the Nazgul.".
Would still be a great basis for a series.
Some good, some bad, all titans in their time, slowly falling under the power of the rings.
Instead, we got short, angry Galadriel.
Sigh.
It's the girl boss era bro. Gotta manage those expectations
Tolkien's magic seems to be based on "will," the ability to intend things into being, as best I can tell. Given this, I think of the Rings as enhancing the person's will, toward a certain end or several. The One Ring's focus was domination, especially magical domination. The Three were made to enhance the ability to preserve, protect, and defend, which is a subtle trap for the Elves: preserving is not growing. It's an open question whether the Dwarves could, in theory, turn their rings to something other than amassing wealth, if they had only willed it. Apparently the Nine served to enhance the ability to dominate another's mind, rather than their will, which was reserved to the One.
I have been watching your videos for quite some time now, can't say for certain how long, but it feels like a good few years at least!
Even though by now most parts of the Tolkien lore is no longer new, I still get excited to watch your uploads.
The selected artworks are always stunning, and your calm and relaxing narrating, make them a joy to watch and listen to, and allow me to immerse myself entirely and once again 'step into' this wonderful universe we all love.
Thank you for your content!
9:04 come on, its Glorfindel! even Sauron will think twice before facing him.
You're right. He's so over powerful and important he was replaced by Arwen in the movie. Come on man 😂😂😂😂
@@joshuaeason3426 I mean he was replaced so that they could push the whole Arwen and Aragorn love story, and so they didn't have to try and explain to watchers who weren't as versed in Tolkiens works who Glorfindel was, not because he wasn't powerful. Glordindel is at bear minimum just as powerful as Gandalf the Grey while he is wearing Narya as they both faced Balrogs and though they both died, at least their physical form did they also did defeat their respective foes. Being on par with a maiar (and a very powerful one at that) who is also wielding a ring of power is no small feat.
I understand why he wasn’t in the movies, but I still wish we could’ve seen his transformation onscreen.
@@joshuaeason3426 bruh, he was replaced cause he litterally does nothing else in the books other than taking Frodo for a ride. Nevermind the fact that him not joining the fellowship (being basically the most powerfull Elven warrior in the 3rd age) is such a weird plothole
@minnumseerrund no shit Sherlock. It's called sarcasm, you should try it some time. 🙄
Hi Rob, I've been a huge fan of this Channel for about 3-4 Years, I was just wondering if you had deleted all your old LOTR content. Really loved those videos, helped me through a hard time.
Thank you! It means a lot to me that my videos helped in some small way. :D And yes, they are returning; updated where we have new information (from new JRRT letters etc) and with improved audio and video.
@@InDeepGeek awesome Robert, we love the content and thank you.
@@InDeepGeek i too miss them dearly as i loved to play the playlist on shuffle as i fall asleep to stop myself from thinking bad toughts, i am glad to see you uploading more often lately 😊
That was one of the best videos and interpretations of the Nazguls power, and so we'll said, so we'll narrated, I could really feel everything he was saying. Very well done❤
Wow, I started to make a comment and when I typed Nazgûl my auto correct recognized it and fixed it. I’ve never typed it before. That is how iconic Tolkien’s work is, his characters are in the automatic dictionary.
I’ve noticed that when typing Boromir. It at least suggests it after typing bor!
Words and names from my country come up sometimes.
My theory is that our languages are based off country AND popular stuff.
Where are you from?@@Crocy
Arguably the Witch-King’s greatest weakness was prophecy twists.
Prophecys are dangerous vor a reason. No matter if its LotR, Game of Thrones or Dune prophecys in Literaturen are Always vague Up for Interpretation and hiddeous crimes can be commited in the name of IT
Yep, in the books.
In the movies, tho, it was Mary Sue.
@@mpetrison3799 she isn’t a Mary sue in the movie she struggles killing him and only can together with Merry because of him wounding him with his sword that was forged to fight the WK
If the Witch King had read Macbeth he would have been better prepared.
@@malena5026 In the movie that sword is just a hobbit-suitable sword that Aragorn probably bought in Bree. It's only an enchanted barrow-blade in the book.
These are the best depictions I've seen in your videos!
Please do a video about "Tolkien's steampunk ponderings on Numenor"!!! That sounds like an absolutely fascinating topic!!!!
He did
@@haraldjensen1839It even has a card in the video.
You are incredibly good at explaining Tolkien's lore. I've read the source material, but not gleaned the nuances you bring forth in these videos.
4 videos in 1 week? love to see it
I believe that at least a couple are re-uploads. Not sure why, but l am absolutely not complaining.
@@davidtatro7457 i think only the ASOIAF videos are re-uploads but what can you expect when GRRM doesn’t give any new material to work with
1:22 "some sorcerers." Do we actually have any sorcery in the actual stories? How do the abilities of a sorcerer compare to the 5 wizards such as Gandalf?
I was wondering this too!!!
so glad u still make viedos about lotr , just got home enjoying this with an ice cold dry cider thank you, bless
is thier somewhere u have all your videos as files , i whould def buy this as cd box set or a long movie with it all recorded
Yay, new video! Always happy for a new lotr upload!
Facing the wind as they ride through the sky
Shadows of Mordor, black horses they fly
always nice finding culture
Good ole Sabaton.
Anything you do about the Nazgûl is amazing. Love your channel
Another excellent video. The level of quality this channel continues to produce is worthy of high praise.
Cool listening to this guy. It’s like listening to David Attenborough.
Excellent video! Thanks!
Hey! I really like your content. Keep it up!
Thank you. I enjoyed it.
Ooooh, the artwork is so beautiful🤩. Your videos are S-tier👍
Great Video. I think the nazguls are one of a kind when it comes to depicting power being bound to depencies
"most terrible servants" makes it sound like they were really bad at their jobs... which isn't a super-wrong assessment.
Yeah lmao
The Barrow blades are the only reason the Witch King was beaten by Eowyn and died. Noone can convince me otherwise.
Obviously, otherwise there wouldn't have been a reason for Merry to be there if Eowyn was capable of actually beating him on her own. Like, he broke her left arm with a single swin of his mace when she shielded herself from his attack, in fact, at that point, the Witch King was as strong as Gandalf, a single mortal with a simple sword could've never defeated him.
Why would anyone think otherwise? Without the barrow blade wound, the witch king would be invulnerable to Eowyn.
Pretty sure that blade unwraithed him allowing Eowyn to deal the death blow, but I do agree technically. Even if she didn't kill him it would've been possible for anyone else in the battle to kill him at that point.
One of the things I liked most about shadow of war was how they gave a few more nazgul personas. I know it’s not canon and also doesn’t match the timeline. But I like it.
Thank you Robert
brilliant video, ty
I love how Glorfindel is just a Faith Build powerhouse, that even multiple Nazgul will purposely avoid. It's like they can see some ridiculous bright radiance in the distance, and they just "nope" the heck around that.
I was immediately enthralled when I first read of Glorfindel basically manifesting like Jesus. Dude revealed his true form. Gotta be careful when killing some elves. Sometimes they come back upgraded.
Killing a fallen angel who was a better fighter than their own will do that!
“Nope” pretty much sums up their reaction to Glorfindel 💯 😂
He never came back. Nobody faced balrog and lived or returned from death to tell the tale. Except Gandalf.
@@vksasdgaming9472
So you think it was a _different_ Glorfindel?
@@stickiedmin6508 Yes, as he nothing says he is the same. If he were he would be way bigger shot than he is. As in senior to Cirdan, Elrond and Galadriel.
I always felt like each of them had different power levels with the witch King being the strongest
By far. Khamul is the only one we can conclude was more powerful than the other seven.
And I would say the gap is like
Other 7 < Khamul
Love the lore videos!
One of the only weaknesses in Peter Jackson’s films, in my humble opinion, was how Aragorn was able to take on the entire group by himself. I thought it weakened the plot a bit. Still my favorite movie, of course. 😅
Very intriguing thank you for sharing! 😃👍
For being called the "most terrible servants" of Sauron they accomplished very little during the War of the Ring. They failed to find the hobbits. Five of them, including the Witch King, fled from Aragorn at Weathertop. All nine lost their horses at the Ford of Bruinen. They had to do the walk of shame back to Mordor to get the flying fell beasts, and one even lost that to Legolas above the Anduin.
Sounds like a terrible servant to me!
8 lost horses i thought
@@specialnewb9821 That doesn't sound much better.
07:26 what scene is he talking about? I tried to find it but cant, is it in fellowship of the ring? Frodo draws his sword when they move down bellow them and unseen world we see only after ring is on and the sword long gone.
I can't figure that out either. Not in the movie or the book, so maybe a cartoon or video game?
My InDeepGeek coffee mug arrived today! ⚔️☕
"...They also, like many evil creatures, are sensitive to things that are good and pure." Sounds a lot like former friends.
When you think about it, the Nazgul got a heck of a deal. Well worth it.
Im a new fan of LotR and I love your videos! Thank you for making them!
What happened with the "Lord of the Rings from the Witch King's perspective" video and some others from before? Are they exclusively for patreon currently?
Everyone speaks the phrase "fell beasts" as if that describes a particular sort of animal, like saying "dragon" or "balrog". But the word "fell" is simply an adjective that means "of terrible evil or ferocity; deadly". Tolkien used the word simply to avoid further defining what kind of beast the nazgul rode.
Beregrond calls them hellhawks.
I can’t help but think that Tolkien would never begin answering a question about gradations of power without first having a lengthy discussion on the meaning and scope of the word “powerful”..
Of course they may also avoid Glorfindel as he was the one who prophesied that no mortal man would defeat the Witch King, a prophecy the Witch King believed in, but then Glorfindel had died and been returned to middle earth mafter defeating a Balrog mellenia earlier.
Please do a video about the powers of the different rings and why the one ring is so powerful!
Somehow I didn't catch the bit about Frodo's blade glinting back when I read the books, so that was fascinating to learn.
One great thing about the original (and arguably best CCG ever) Middle Earth card game, Middle Earth: The Wizards by I.C.E is the companies desired and direction to not break canon.
They only took liberties when Tolkien left questions unanswered, as he did with the Nazgul.
One of the names for the nazgul in I.C.E is Adûnaphel. Firstly, that is such an excellent name. Secondly, Adûnaphel was depicted as a female nazgul.
Unfortunately, the honor and respect it took to not break canon did not move forward with Amazon nor Wotc.
Middle Earth in Magic the gathering and RoP are Tolkien in name only.
You can even describe those products as Untolkien.
Cheers, interesting as always
Look, I knew it wasnt happening, but there was a part of me that REALLY wanted this video to start with "How powerful are the Nazgul? Super powerful." and just end there. Its like, fair enough. 🤣 Great video and channel
9:00 AAYYYEEE I didn't know David spade rode horses 😅
Woah that would make a great What-If Video, what if Frodo killed the Witch-King on Weathertop?
I was about to say Aragorn would have to deliver the finishing blow, but that would conflict with the prophecy that "not by the hand of man shall he fall."
Therefore, the 4 hobbits would have to jump him
Whose art at 4:40 with Éowyn and the Witch King?
1:11 Interesting symbol on the crown to the right of the Witch King...
1:29 to 1:31 Yep--The Witch King of Angmar and Kamul the Easterling are the only two Ringwraiths Tolkien identified by name.
I've often considered that the Nazgul can't hold the weapons themselves, they are wearing armor and clothing and especially gauntlets and it's the clothing that is "holding" the weapon. It's the armor that is sitting on the horse and it's the boots touching the ground.
I ponder that because of a statement made about how, after the Ford of Bruinen, they are unrobed and that effected them greatly.
Occam's razor probably suggests that is a level of complexity over necessity, but that statement at the Ford troubles me without it.
Onr thing that bugged me in Return of the King (movie version) was when the Witch King faces down Gandalf, and breaks his staff.
Very silly, as Gandalf- especially the White, was quite a bit more powerful than the Witch King.
Yes, I found this scene ridiculous!
That didn't happen in the book. Some poetic license is fine, but that completely changed the reality of their relative power.
In the book " The Wizard of 4th Street, there's a band named " The Nazgul"...the book is from the '80s, and well worth finding...
The Nazgul have always been my favorite characters in Tolkien mythos, still to this day I wish he expanded on them even more but at the same time I love that he didn't because the unknown makes them that much more interesting of characters.
Great video.
Suddenly realized Nazgul invasions have gone waaay down since the invention of strobe lights.
I'd love to see a video about these human sorcerers.
Now I just want to see a montage of the Witch King training in the Barad-Dur gym to get more powerful 😂
I just gotta say thanks to Britain for providing the dark, misty, mysterious atmosphere that has inspired so many of its children in their world creation.
I've always thought the nazgul were supremely interesting. Also, more Witcher content please!
Sauron had to have known he was cooked when all of his top brass Nazgul cornered Frodo on that tower and Aaragorn 1v9's them with a torch.
5 on weathertop, 4 chasing Gandalf
Part of me wishes to have Frodo turn into a mini Nazgul. He'd look like a kid on a war horse. How fearsome would he have been?
Watching this to get hyped for the inevitable Nazgul VS Gandalf/Aragorn/Legolas fight scenes in The Hunt for Gollum.
Let's hope not
@@benx6549 Oh, I'm hoping for it alright! The Hobbit trilogy taught us that Jackson's team aren't concerned with adhering to the books anymore, so why expect them to? Disappointment is practically guaranteed. Instead of getting my hopes up for something cool like that, I just want to see more of Legolas doing crazy elvish Matrix moves. Have we ever seen him fight the Nazgul? Not yet, we haven't.
Okay, hear me out. Once I got past the fact that Legolas was in The Hobbit, he became my favorite part of that trilogy. They fleshed out his character a little more and gave him a proper nemesis in Bolg. That scene where Legolas sees his own blood for the first time was so badass. And the final showdown on that crumbling tower, just wow. If that ends up being Orlando Bloom's last battle as Legolas, they sure gave him an awesome sendoff. Not canon at all, but awesome nonetheless.
Now, do we expect the team who put Legolas in The Hobbit to restrain themselves from putting Nazgul fights in The Hunt for Gollum? I think not.
At the end of the day, whether or not the new movies suck, I refuse to hate Peter Jackson. The man's a genius. He gave us the original trilogy, and I will always appreciate that. At this point, I'm just down for the ride.
Best Tolkien RUclipsr!
I'm actually amazed that the first scene with frodo and the nazguul had lore reasons behind why it sniffed and sensed them but didn't manage to find them. I always just thought that was an oddly lucky, maybe even far-fetched thing they wrote in just for suspense. .
They are too slow in combat, but very effective in pyschological warfare.
Morale is a major component of warfare and rulership. We do best to remember it!
Idea for a video: What would happen if the rings given to the dwarfs had done what they were intended to do?
7 more wraiths, so what? Innit?
The book mentions that the intended use for the morgul blade was that it be stabbed directly into the heart and left there. Presumably, the effect would be nearly instant. The stab missed because, unexpectedly, Frodo resisted. I understood that Frodo's speaking in Elvish threw the wraith off.
I think Gandalf later says the broken off tip was working deeper in Frodo as well.
"The leader... raised up his hand. Frodo was stricken dumb."
I so wish Jackson had filmed this moment exactly as written so the kids could say, "hey, he's copying Darth Vader!" only to realize no, it's the other way 'round.
Can you do a video on what is or what is the significance of the Eye of Sauron?
Minos Mor-gul and dul-guldur and mor-gul blade… the root word for sorcery is in play. A blade a sorcery.
I didn't expect to hear about madara's limbo attack as done by the witch King
"having your robes catch on fire is annoying even for a Nazgul" LOL...
I wonder how much the Nazguls were aware of their own actions and surroundings how much of their consciousness was their own and not Sauron's overriding them. Gollum was horribly mangled and broken beyond recognition caused by an overruse of the One Ring, that he obtained through an act of pure evil, which further more corrupted his mind and soul.
The Nine Kings were men, who, from what we know, were apparently virtuous at the beginning, and eventually, they all fell under the thrall of Sauron, still wearing their rings.
It happened several thousands of years prior to the Lord of the Ring, so imagine how far, how thoroughly damaged their minds and souls could have been from being directly subjected to Sauron's crushing will for so long.
Just as the Dead Men of Duneharrow, maybe the Nazguls, at the time of their death, saw clear for the first time in millenias, and felt relief at finally being free.
- "The Nazgul are near immortal powerful wizards and warriors"
- Aragorn: "Hold my torch"
You rock bro!
The Nazgûl are arguably the most badass and tragic monsters in fantasy.
You sir are the Mark Felton of all things middle earth. Thank you.
My theory as to why the Witch-King is the leader of the Nazgûl is because I believe he was the only one of the Nine who was a king BEFORE he gained his Ring of Power, the other 8 were great warriors or sorcerers (I like to imagine that there were 4 of each; 4 who were strictly Warriors and 4 who were strictly Sorcerers) but they were not kings yet and they used their rings to become kings, but the Witch-King as a human was already all three: a Warrior, a Sorcerer, and a King.
Couple of points to nitpick on .
1. Their horses were not speacially bred for them, but rather stolen in the night from rohan.
2. Felbeasts have some sort of connection to the moon. Forgot the details thouhh
Let's consider the following statement by Gandalf:
“A mortal, Frodo, who keeps one of the Great Rings, does not die, but he does not grow or obtain more life, he merely continues, until at last every minute is a weariness. And if he often uses the Ring to make himself invisible, he fades: he becomes in the end invisible permanently, and walks in the twilight under the eye of the dark power that rules the Rings. Yes, sooner or later - later, if he is strong or well-meaning to begin with, but neither strength nor good purpose will last - sooner or later the dark power will devour him.”
It can be inferred from this that Gandalf knew (or had been informed by Saruman and/or the Elves) that at least some recipients of the Great Rings (including some of the humans who received them) were well-meaning to begin with and took longer to succumb than others. It would be interesting to speculate on the process by which a well-meaning human lord, warrior or magician might have been corrupted over time through possession of a Great Ring, how this would manifest itself in changes in their behaviour and the consequences of their behaviour, and at what point others would perceive that they had transitioned from human to Ringwraith.
nice video, but you forgot to mention their fear of the power of Ulmo and Orosse - thats why they feared to cross the water so many times and thats why Sauron had never made open war on sea...Ulmo was still very present even in 3rd age...he cared a lot, maybe even more than Manwe
I wonder where their spirits went. Halls of Mandos would be a tough room for them.
They ended up in Des Moines Iowa.
@@majornugzzz5424 That checks out
there were human wizzards in tolkien world? :) nice, everyday I learn something new.