Lord of the Nazgul
 

Im reading ROTK and in chapter 6 they talk about the Lord or King of the nazgul. I was just wondering who that could possibly be.

The Witch King of Angmar. I'm not sure if there is somewhere that talks about him before he was ensnared by the Ring, but he is the leader and most powerful of the Nazgul. There is a long history between him and Aragorn's ancestors that can be read in the first appendix at the back of Return of the King. Some folks skip the appendices when they first read the book, but appendix A is a must in my opinion.

H.C.

The Nazgûl and their King are explained in our Nazgûl Theme on the main site. The theme also list many threads here in the forum that discuss the Nazgûl.

The witch king sure is my favourite char... big and mighty.. hey barrow-wight, wasn´t the witch king like among ten most powerful in ME? Maybe five most powerful. lol, why am I changing subject? must be because i´m swedish. We´re just sooo foolish

That's true [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

[ March 25, 2003: Message edited by: Afrodal Fenyar ]

I agree that the witch king is the highest. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Eol, try not to write posts that simply agree with someone, and don't put forth a new idea. If you're doing it to increase your post count, just stop. You might want to read the Guidelines in the Novices and Newcomers forum about how not to post. I've noticed that you've done it in a couple of places, and I'm advising you to discontinue this practice, before the moderators start deleting.

I have always wondered why out of the Nine Nazgûl, Sauron choose this particular "Black Captain" to lead the other Eight Nazgûl.
I am sure the Nazgûl needed a leader, however, why was this one (The Witch King) specifically choosen out apart from the other Eight.
Did the Witch King of Angmar possess any particular abilities which distinguished him from the others?
It is known that he played a vital role in destroying Arnor, only what i am asking, is how and why was he appointed to this role?
Does Tolkien mention any of this in his works? Apologies if this has been discussed before.

There's no need to post agreement with fact. The Witch King being the leader of the Nazgul isn't an opinion.

Letter No. 210, speaking of Zimmerman's attempt at putting the work to film:

"I have always wondered why out of the Nine Nazgûl, Sauron choose this particular "Black Captain" to lead the other Eight Nazgûl.
I am sure the Nazgûl needed a leader, however, why was this one (The Witch King) specifically choosen out apart from the other Eight.
Did the Witch King of Angmar possess any particular abilities which distinguished him from the others?"

What do you expect him to do, breath fire and shoot lasers! Come on! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Leaders are chosen (ideally) because they're superior to the others. Isn;'t that enough?!

He was a great sorcerer and king. Hence the Name witch-king of angmar. Although angmar was made after Witch-king was ensared.

Hehe...definitely [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] I was only curious and wished to learn if Tolkien elaborated on this subject in some of his writings. And it is evident that there is a reference to the Black Captain's superiority, as seen in Legolas' post. That was all i wished to learn...

Yeah, sorry if I came across too harsh. [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

Just I'd been on tor.n, and after reading loads of posts by people who thoguht Grond was some kind of walking, talking, flying lizard, and NOT a battering-ram, despite the fact that...well, he is...I was very snappy. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

hehe, witch-kings cool. and he flys around on this dragon type thing. But i'm a tad bit confused about his name. seemed like he would be called "The Warlock-king" or something a bit more fitting for a male

Actually, witches can be male.

During the old witch hunts in past centuries there were quite a few male witches burnt; I beleive the majority of accused witches in Sctoland were men.

Sicne witch hunts were however excuses for sad pathetic villagers to hunt someone who couldn't defend themselves, old, senile women were the easiest targets. Hecne why nowadays witch = old woman.

Originally, he was the Wizard-King, and was a fallen Wizard. But obviously, that's all changed in the final version of LotR. [img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]