Nazgul – Middle-earth Reflections

Posted on November 3, 2020 by Olga

Ghost city.

Now, feeling the way become steep before

his feet, he [Frodo] looked wearily up; and then he

saw it, even as Gollum had said that he would:

the city of the Ringwraiths.

(Two Towers, p. 388)

On descrying the dreadful citadel of the Nazgûl, Frodo cowers in terror at the sight: Minas Morgul, the formerly beautiful Minas Ithil, instills great fear with its uncanniness. In the long years that the Ringwraiths had been holding it, they turned Minas Ithil into the place reflecting their own unsettling eerie ghostliness. It is thus no wonder that Minas Morgul is one of the creepiest places in Middle-earth.

Posted on October 31, 2018 by Olga · 6 Comments

Wraiths the writhen.

There are many creatures in Tolkien’s Legendarium that come across as uncanny and downright scary. The Nazgûl definitely belong to this category. Also known as the Ringwraiths, they send panic and fear before them, and this name — Ringwraiths — has hidden clues to their nature.

Posted on October 31, 2017October 29, 2017 by Olga · 7 Comments

When the Nine are abroad.

Following the success of The Hobbit, Tolkien was asked to write the sequel to it: the publisher and the public wanted more adventures of the Hobbits. As the Professor began working on the follow-up to his story, the new tale, which eventually became The Lord of the Rings, was slowly diverging from the light tone of The Hobbit and the area of children’s literature into the darker and more sinister realm. One of the chief contributors to the darkness of the new tale were the Black Riders. Read more

Posted on May 16, 2017May 16, 2017 by Olga · 5 Comments

Glorfindel: the power of white light (II)

The rider’s cloak streamed behind him, and his hood was thrown back; his golden hair flowed shimmering in the wind of his speed. To Frodo it appeared that a white light was shining through the form and raiment of the rider, as if through a thin veil.

(Fellowship of the Ring, p. 275) Read more