The flying Nazgul
 

I know that it doesn't clearly state what they rode but does anyone have somewhat of an idea of where they came from or what they might have been.

If I remember, the fell beasts were found by Sauron in 'Mountains under the moon' and nurtured on 'fell meats' until they grew to the gigantic size necessary for use by the Nazgul. I've always imagined them as similar to Pterodactyls but bigger and spikier.

The mountains concerned could be near Minas Morgul (having been Minas Itil - tower of the moon) though i favour the Mountains of Mirkwood as in Frodo's vision on Amon Hen he saw the strife of men and elves and 'fell beasts' in Mirkwood. Though of course fell beasts could refer to giant spiders, orcs etc.

Bow to Rumil, you have all the answers today.
Good quotes! Thanks

Wait a minute didn't we go through all this before.

I wonder how big they were when Sauron found them.

Tolkien wrote this in response to a reader's question - "Did the Witch-King ride a pterodactyl at the siege of Gondor?"

Tolkien did not imagine them to look like pterodactyls, he imagined them to be pterodactylic, which means nothing but 'wing-fingered', and implies the beasts had wings perhaps similar ot bats, and no front claws.

[ November 04, 2002: Message edited by: Sharkû ]

hmmmmm. I always imagined them as entirely black with the bat-like wings described in Sharku's post, long lizardish necks, four legs with clawed toes, and a diseased-looking dinosaur head. I'm not entirely sure what I based my imaginings on, but I always had a very clear picture of them in my mind.

Maybe it was like the battype thingie in the silmarillon Thuringwethil but a more up to date version i'm not sure but it must be battiefied in some way i think. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]