The Undead of Middle-earth

In this video, we look at the Undead of Middle-earth; the Barrow-wights, the Oathbreakers, and the Nazgul. What are they exactly, how did they end up that way, and how can you destroy them?

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[doomhippie]

I kinda "hate" these questions like "why didn't Aragorn use the oath breakers further". Or "Why didn't Elrond push Isildur into the fires of Mt Doom".
These questions to me show an utter lack of understanding of the spirituality of Middle-Earth. The Oath breakers were punished for breaking their oath. They redeemed themselves by fulfilling that oath. keeping them any longer than absolutely necessary would be a tyrannical act as their oath was to defend Gondor, not to attack Mordor. Doing the "right thing" even though it leads to only more trials and tribulations is what the Lord of the Rings and Tolkien's mythology is all about. It's about sacrificing yourself for what is right. It is not about power projection and rulership.

[oguzhanenescetin]

I think the source of Nazgûl’s durability came not from whether they were intangible or not but from a spell that forcefully kept their bodies intact and it was this spell that Barrow blade targeted, leaving Witch King vulnerable which in turn resulted in his death.

Why? We know that they survived things that a man with a physical body cannot survive. I think if their bodies were simply invisible it would have the same amounts of durability and barrow blade wouldn’t have any special threat to the Witch King compared to a regular sword yet it is said that NO OTHER BLADE could cause as much damage to the Witch King as the Barrow blade did. But we also know for a fact that they had bodies meaning something other than the bodily resilience is present here but it cant be intangibility. Its also unlikely that they were able to make their bodies more durable by their spirit( the same way Gandalf and Balrog did ) because although they ( at least the chief among them ) seems to be sorcerously enhanced beings their spirit is still the same and a weak one at that. It should be noted that Tolkien said if a man in Valinor existed the spirit would either try to exert itself out of the body or become impotent because of the process of the body always remaining healthy against the ravages of time ( which was exactly what the Rings did ) Nazgûl were in a constant state of bodily disharmony for thousands of years and it seems that their spirits should have either forcefully left their houses or became impotent ( which is certainly not the case with the Nazgûl who all seem to be pretty intelligent ) by now. Sauron no doubt knew this ( since he could read their minds and learn about their discomfort even if we assumed that he wasn’t aware of such metaphysics ) and tried to keep their bodies intact by a spell not just to keep their spirit intact but also to make them more durable. Sauron wouldn’t risk his primary servants to just die by being stabbed in a random battle. I think this spell is also supported by the text saying “spell that kept his unseen sinews to his will” was what the blade targeted.

[bluediamonddirector]

I really enjoy your channel. Makes work less boring

[dabestestgoblin]

I feel like the most underrated group of "Undead" are Pharazon and his host being buried until the final battle and ultimate triumph over evil. Whats particullary interesting is that Tolkien left it unambigious, suggesting that Pharazon and his men could be redeemed.

[TheRationalGinger]

Good video but as for the Nazgul- it is explicitly stated in the books that the blade Merry used was given runes specifically designed to fight the witch king and his servants. It also states that his attack undid the magic holding the "undead" flesh together.

Eowyn may have landed the killing blow, but without Merry's strike it likely wouldn't have been possible

[ShawnHCorey]

The spirits that became the barrow wights could be the spirits of orcs. After all, orcs are suppose to be corrupted elves. If so, they would have the same doom as the elves, to linger in Middle Earth after their death. Sauron could have collect these spirits to use in various plots and schemes.

[c.ladimore]

"can no longer house the spirit" that is an interesting take I have not heard of yet. i like it

[istari]

My take on the Army of the Dead is that Aragorn would have himself become an oathbreaker if he had insisted the Army continue fighting for him. Even if that wasn't the case, taking the Army anywhere near Sauron or even The Witch King would have been a monumentally bad idea.

As far the Nazgûl go, I have always thought the barrow-blade Merry wielded broke the enchantments that protected The Witch King from all the things that otherwise would have injured or killed him, thus making him vulnerable to Éowyn's killing blow. But I'm a little dubious of the idea that the Witch King's spirit could remain in Middle-Earth after he was slain; that's granting Sauron a level of power I don't think he or even Morgoth would have had.

[frggdeckkkydexhhgg]

I think you should make a video about how different Middle-Earth peoples bury their dead.

[jonystyles]

So could the Witchking see dead elves spirits lingering in ME? Nice lore once again bro u the best, cheers

[sdev]

The corpses of the Dead Marshes are Tolkien's attempt to adapt old European folklore and mythology into Middle Earth - Corpse Candles are a VERY real part of superstitious European history dating back long ago. Tolkien used the idea of corpse candles with their little lights as Gollum explained in his works. Tolkien infused MANY legends, myths and folklores of Europe into Middle-Earth and most people do not understand this fact.

[TheMarcHicks]

Sauron does like a good phantom to trick people to their own ask Gorlim from the 1st Age.

[RobbyBurney]

With the witch king at the moment of "death" when his spirit rises up Tolkien says he wasn't seen again *in that age of the world*. Which implied to me that he lingered and came back later perhaps. Or was just a poetic way of saying he was gone haha

[Generalth]

Hi Darth!

I wonder how Professor Tolkien would have viewed the ways undead creatures have proliferated in fiction since Lord of the Rings. How would he feel about zombies or liches or vampires? He's always struck me as slightly curmudgeonly about how people adapt his work in "wrong" ways.

[SNWWRNNG]

It's confusing that Tolkien used undead for beings that never died. It might be best to abandon the alive-dead distinction and just focus on the facts.

[agustingomez]

If the Witch King was reduced to impotence, and not killed, by Merry and Eöwyn, then there's a chance Glorfindel's prophecy was about Gollum, the real hero of the story and an all-around noble individual.

[rogercroft]

If you break an oath about having lunch with someone perhaps you are punished with just a few minutes of undeath. Larger offences just get longer periods.

[Qbliviens]

An interesting question would be where did the Nazgul go after their death/the destruction of the Ring? Did they finally follow where all men go after death, did Iluvatar block their souls from doing that like the oathbreakers? Or did they simply fade like elves?

[talesoftheeldar]

Can you do a video on the Girdle of Melian?

[celestialspartan]

Aragorn releasing the Army Of The Dead as soon as their task was done made a lot of sense in both adaptions of Return Of The King. Even without the Ring, Sauron was still very powerful. So, he could’ve easily dominated the will of the army through his powers of necromancy. Coupled with the fact that they caused fear in both friend and foe alike, the Army Of The Dead was a great asset, but A HUGE liability.