‘Begone foul dwimmerlaik, lord of carrion! Leave the dead in peace!’
A cold voice answered: ‘Come not between the Nazgûl and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shriveled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye.’
A sword rang as it was drawn. ‘Do what you will; but I will hinder it, if I may.’
‘Hinder me? Thou fool. No living man may hinder me!’
Then Merry heard of all sounds in that hour the strangest. It seemed that Dernhelm laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel. ‘But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you if you touch him.’
J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King, “The Battle of the Pelennor Fields”
Middle-earth March - Day 24 Beware, today’s post is spooky! The topic for today’s Middle-earth March contribution suggested by @tolkientribe is “Minas Morgul: The Witch King”. This little fella lives in our Tolkien bookshelves and scares away people who would do harm to our books! So, he is a tolerated roommate of ours. In the books where he comes from originally, he is quite intimidating though – and we wouldn’t want to be in Frodo’s place when he had to face him at Weathertop!
“[…]Fornost, also known fully as Fornost Erain(Sindarin ‘Northern fortress of the Kings’ from for(n) (north) + ost(fortress);Norbury of the Kings or simply NorburyinWestron), was a city in Eriador of the kingdom of Arnor. It was located at the south end of the North Downs, about 100 Númenórean miles north of Bree. It was eventually abandoned and fell into ruin, and became popularly known as Deadmen’s Dike. At the time of the events of The Lord of the Rings(TA 3018–3019), Fornost had been abandoned for about a thousand years, and “even the ruins of Kings’ Norbury were covered with grass.” […]”
(This is their brand new album called Aancë which was released independently on the 1st of November, 2016.
Fegefeuer Anilmathiel is an atmospheric/epic black metal with an influences of dungeon synth, ambient, medieval music, love, passion, desperation, fantasy, and nature. The band is coming from Murcia, Spain. It was found in 2010 as Fegefeuer but in 2013 the band changed its name to the current one. Founded by Herthenarth [all instrments and vocals].)
Written by Angmar; Edited by Elfhild From Book 8 of The Circles
After the Mouth of Sauron had departed from the prison cell, the Morgul Lord divested himself of his garments and lay down upon his bed. Willing himself into a deep state of torpor, soon he began to dream. Whether it was the vain imaginings of his own mind, or some test from his Master, he knew not.
In his dream, the Morgul Lord was in his cell, just as he was in the waking world. Suddenly the door slowly swung open, creaking upon its hinges. A great urge came over him to walk down the hall and leave his chamber for a little while. As he walked down the corridor, he began to wonder where he was going and why. Then he knew. He stood at the great arched doorway that led to the Great Hall of Barad-dûr. And there it was… the Throne of the Dark Lord.
As he looked at the towering chair of black adamant, he placed a foot on the first step and then took another step, and another, until he had climbed to the very top of the raised dais where the throne itself rested. As he gazed at the symbol of majesty, he realized that he was almost the - no, he was exactly the same - huge shape as Sauron Himself. He smiled at the dramatic figure he must be making, his robes swirling around him, as he seated himself upon the great chair. As he lay his hands upon armrests cushioned with thick black velvet, he saw upon his hand the Ruling Ring. He gazed over the massive hall which stretched before him, and his mind was quick to set about devising the first words he would say after the orcs had crowned him as Ruler of the World.
“Long have the orc-folk suffered under the yoke of a cruel and unjust Master Who rewarded them with little and exacted everything from them. They have suffered for Him, bled for Him, died for Him, and what have they received in return? Nothing! That day is over at last.” The Morgul Lord looked out over the sea of orcish faces, and read nothing but adoration. “Those who are with me, come forward now, and I will lead you into victory over the Tyrant!” The deafening cheers that went up from hundreds of throats echoed and reechoed through the hall until they seemed to fill all of Barad-dûr with jubilation. He stood before the chair and raised his arms in benediction before dismissing them to go forth and put down the last shreds of opposition to his rule.
A knock at the door roused the Morgul Lord from his death-like slumber, and he growled softly, for it had been the first truly satisfying rest that he had had for months.
It feels good to be writing about the Nazgul again.
Er-Mûrazôrwas the most gifted and powerful of the many great Lords of Númenor. Although only a prince, his might outshone all but a few of Númenor’s Kings and, in the end, he lived longer than any other Númenorean. Mûrazôr’s tale covers over six and a half millennia and is one of Man’s great tragedies.
TheBlack Prince was born in S.A. 1820 in the port city of Andunie in the province of Andustar on the island of Númenor. As the second son of King Tar-Ciryatan and the younger brother of Tar-Atanamir the Great, he traced his lineage to the first King, Elros Tar-Minyatur. His mother gave him the name Tindomul, for he was born during a solar eclipse and his hair was blacker than any she had ever seen. The King’s Men, however, called him Mûrazôr.
Like his brother, the proud and greedy heir to the throne, the Black Prince supported his father’s ambitions and lobbied for the increased exploitation of Middle-Earth. Tar-Ciryatan sought great wealth and sent his huge fleets to Middle-Earth in order to exact tribute, and both his sons embraced the benefits of his often ruthless policies. Both embodied their father’s penchant for material things and power, which was hardly surprising in light of the fact that they witnessed their father force their grandfather from the Númenórean throne.
Atanamir, however, enjoyed the privileges and attention accorded to the heir to the throne, and Tar-Ciryatan showed him his prideful love in a way never exhibited to Mûrazôr. The jealousies inherent in the family character eventually grew to frightening proportions in the Black Prince’s heart, fomenting hatred and unbounded desire. Thus did Ed-Mûrazôr cross the Sea and set foot upon Middle-Earth, seeking power and dominion.
Ever cunning and swift to discern the hearts of Men, Sauron perceived the Prince’s displeasure and offered him a means to achieve his goals. The Prince accepted the Dark Lord’s offer and in the year 1883 of the Second Age, Er-Mûrazôr became a pupil of Sauron. Mûrazôr’s knowledge of the Black Arts was second only to Sauron’s, and he quickly rose to become the Dark Lord’s most trusted and loyal lieutenant. His lessons learned, he submitted his spirit to his Master and rose again as the greatest and most terrible of the Enemy’s servants: the Lord of the Nazgûl, the one known as the Witch-King of Angmar.
As a Nazgûl, the Witch King had a wide arsenal of powers. Besides from the common Black Breath any weapon that struck the Witch-King would be destroyed (a fate shared by Meriadoc Brandybuck’s and Éowyn’s swords), and its bearer would be poisoned. The Witch-King was also a feared sorcerer, having powers over the physical world, breaking Frodo’s sword with just a move of his hand, or weakening the Gates of Minas Tirith allowing the Grond to break them. He was stronger at night time. His power fluctuated over the centuries, with the two peaks of his power being during his campaign against Arnor and in his final battle at Minas Tirith.
Engaging the Witch-King in battle, Éowyn killed the Nazgûl’s Fell beast. The Witch-king, however, was unaffected by this and attacked Éowyn with his mace. After breaking Éowyn’s arm, the Witch King prepared to kill her, but Meriadoc stabbed him in the leg from behind with his Barrow-blade, which was of Westernesse make. Injured, the Witch-king screamed in pain and Éowyn stabbed her sword into his crown and body, thus killing the lord of the Nazgûl and fulfilling the prophecy of Glorfindel.
It was built by the Gondorians after the War of the Last Alliance. The name means Spider’s Cleft. It was close to here that Shelob made her lair. Shelob was an ancient spider, that was there even before the Building of Barad Dur. After the Plague that hit Gondor, its garisson was decimated, making it easy prey for the Witch King and his orcs. It was here that Frodo and Sam fought Shelob, and also it was here that Sam rescued Frodo by the Orcs.
It was originally named Minad Ithil and built by Anarion’s brother, Isildur. It guarded Gondor from evil from the East. After the plague, the population of the city was devastated. Following that, the city was besieged and taken by the Witch King. It was renamed to Minas Morgul, the Tower of Dark Sorcery. It was here that the last king of Gondor died. After the War of the RIng, the city was destroyed by Faramir.
![“Fornost”www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmC97-vDBDQ (Full album)“[…] Fornost, also known](https://64.media.tumblr.com/0d9ef7c0b5e370c9488ed39875aadb2f/tumblr_ogh9ezfCX31toln3yo1_1280.jpg "“Fornost”www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmC97-vDBDQ (Full album)“[…] Fornost, also known")
