Howard Shore, Peter Jackson’s composer Lord of the Rings film trilogy, created an incredible soundtrack that defined the music of Middle-earth for a generation of fans. Shore made extensive use of leitmotifs, recurring pieces of music that denoted a certain character, place, or object. From the screaming horns and resonant metal of Isengard to the haunting melody of the One Ring, almost every aspect of Lord of the Rings had an associated theme. But few were as memorable as that of the Nazgûl, or Ringwraiths, the nine most faithful servants of Sauron.

The Nazgûl theme stood out from the rest of the soundtrack thanks to the echoing chorus that sang in a mysterious language when the Nazgûl appeared, such as when they attacked Aragorn and the hobbits at Weathertop. The leitmotif itself did not have an official name, as it was part of other pieces of Lord of the Ringslike “The Black Rider” and “A Knife in the Dark”. But the lyrics that accompanied this theme were a poem called “The Revelation of the Ringwraiths.” Given the care and attention given to every detail of Lord of the Rings trilogy, it was no surprise that “The Revelation of the Ringwraiths” had a deeper meaning. When translated into English, the lyrics explained the history, abilities, and methods of the Nazgûl.

Updated on October 7, 2024 by Ajay Aravind: One of the most fearsome dark warriors in Middle-earth, the Nazgûl were once humans now enslaved to Sauron by means of the “Nine Rings for mortal men condemned to die”. They remain quite mysterious throughout the legend: in fact, only one of their names has been recorded. However, Peter Jackson’s screenwriter Philippa Boyens wrote “Revelation of the Ringwraiths” to give these entities additional backstory. As such, we have updated this article with more relevant information.

Where does Nazgûl come from?

The only Ringwraith named was Khamûl, an ancient oriental

In the penultimate episode of Amazon The Rings of PowerSauron essentially imprisoned Celebrimbor and forced him to work on the Nine Rings. Celebrimbor had initially refused the idea, saying that men were too weak and that the rings would corrupt them beyond repair. Despite having completed the Nine, Celebrimbor managed to give them to Galadriel for safekeeping. However, in the season 2 finale, Galadriel then lost them all to Sauron. All things considered, however, the books don’t make it very clear to whom Sauron gifted the Nine Rings.

Fueled as much by the elven magic of Celebrimbor as by the evil sorcery of Sauron, the Nine Rings allowed their human recipients to remain immortal and granted them various other powers. They were soon trapped under Sauron’s spell, from which they could never escape. The first Nazgûl emerged in the third millennium of the Second Age, carrying out the dark orders of the Dark Lord until their defeat in the War of the Last Alliance. As Sauron slowly recovered without the One Ring, so did the Nazgûl, explaining why they only resurfaced when it was time to find “Shire” and “Baggins”.

The Nazgûl theme used an ancient language

Adûnaic was the ancestor of Westron, the common language of Middle-earth.

“The Revelation of the Ringwraiths” was written in Adûnaic, one of the many fictional languages ​​created by JRR Tolkien for his novels. Adûnaic was the language of Númenor, the island kingdom of the Second Age. in which Aragorn’s ancestors lived. This choice was probably due to the fact that three of the Nazgûl – including their leader, the Witch-King of Angmar – were originally from Númenor before becoming servants of Sauron. A few Rings of Power fans think Ar-Pharazôn will be a part of it, even though it doesn’t happen in the books. Tolkien did not develop Adûnaic to the extent that he did many of his other languages; it was less than 200 words. Thus, the creators of Lord of the Rings the films made some additions to the Adûnaic language to fill in the gaps left by Tolkien.

In 2010, journalist Doug Adams published The Lord of the Rings Film Music: A Complete Account of Howard Shore’s Scoresa collaboration with Shore which detailed the soundtrack of Lord of the Rings. It provides an official translation of “The Revelation of the Ringwraiths” and credits the creators of the Nazgûl theme. Like much of the trilogy, the song is a collaborative effort. Screenwriter Philippa Boyens, who co-wrote Lord of the Rings And The Hobbit films, wrote the lyrics to “Revelation of the Ringwraiths” as a poem. David Salo, an expert on Tolkien’s languages, later translated the poem into Adûnaic, and Shore composed the instrumental accompaniment for these lyrics.

The Nazgûl theme was deeply symbolic

Shore won two Academy Awards for his work on the LOTR trilogy.

The first sentence of “The Revelation of the Ringwraiths” was “We renounce our Creator.” The “Creator” in question was Eru Ilúvatar, the god of Lord of the Rings. Sauron’s master, Morgoth, was the first Dark Lord who rebelled against Ilúvatar.so by aligning themselves with Sauron, the Nazgûl became the enemies of Ilúvatar. This was somewhat ironic because although Ilúvatar was their creator in a cosmological sense, it was Sauron who made them the Nazgûl – and his hold over them was so strong that they could never renounce him. The next line, “We cling to darkness”, referred to the fact that the Nazgûl operated from the shadows, both literally and figuratively. Like most evil creatures Lord of the Ringsthey hated sunlight, so they hunted Frodo mainly under the cover of night. This phrase was also a play on words, since “cleave” can mean “to cut”, which the Nazgûl often did with their Morgul blades.

“We take for ourselves the power and the glory” describes the offer Sauron made to the nine Men who would become Nazgûl. Based on Tolkien’s “Rings of Power and the Third Age” section The Silmarillion, Sauron’s rings of power transformed them into great “kings, wizards and warriors”, but they lost their humanity and free will in the process.. On the surface, “Behold! We are the Nine” was a simple phrase about the number of Nazgûl, but when capitalized, “the Nine” was also a term Tolkien used for these Rings of Power. Perhaps this line was coming from the point of view of the Rings of Power since they controlled the Nazgûl. The song ended with the phrase “The Lords of Endless Life”, referring to both their immortality and the high status many of them have achieved through their rings of power.

The Nazgûl theme returns at a surprising moment in The Hobbit

The Ringwraith leitmotif is also used for other villainous characters

Strangely, the Nazgûl theme was also played during a scene in The Hobbit: an unexpected journeyin which no Nazgûl was present. Towards the end of the film, the Orcs corner Bilbo, Gandalf and Thorin’s company of dwarves on the edge of a fiery cliff. Initially, the heroes fled to the treetops to escape, but Thorin then recognized his archenemy, Azog the Defiler. Eager to avenge his grandfather, Thorin returned to the ground and charged Azog. As Thorin ran through the fire in slow motion, the familiar theme of Nazgûl began to play, with its haunting chorus. This must have been a late addition to the film, because The HobbitThe official soundtrack included different music for this scene. To many viewers, the theme played at this point seemed out of place, but this was not the first time the Nazgûl theme was played without Nazgûl.

The first occurrence of the Nazgûl theme occurred during the prologue of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. It began to play when the Orc armies advanced towards the Last Alliance of Elves and Men. After a brief pause when Sauron appeared on the battlefield, it continued as he swung his mace through the legions of his enemies. The theme represented the forces of evil in Lord of the Rings more than the Nazgûl in particular. The use of this music in The Hobbit established a connection between Azog and the Witch-Kingwith whom he had a lot in common. Each was Sauron’s most powerful servant at that time in Middle-earth’s history, each rode at night, each spent time at Weathertop, and each wielded a blade in addition to a blunt weapon. The use of this theme could also have foreshadowed that the gold of Erebor would corrupt Thorin as the Rings of Power corrupted the Nazgûl. The Nazgûl sharing their leitmotif with Sauron and his other servants was emblematic of their total submission to the Dark Lord; they were nothing more than his puppets, and he took away their music and their humanity.

Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings is a series of epic fantasy adventure films and television series based on the novels by JRR Tolkien. The films follow the adventures of humans, elves, dwarves, hobbits and more in Middle Earth.

First film

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

Latest movie

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

First episode broadcast date

September 1, 2022

Cast

Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, Sean Astin, Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Sean Bean, Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Hugo Weaving, Liv Tyler, Miranda Otto, Cate Blanchett, John Rhys-Davies, Martin Freeman, Morfydd Clark, Ismael Cruz Cordova, Charlie Vickers, Richard Armitage

Where to stream

Max, Prime Video, Hulu

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