Leaving aside the fact that Tolkien never got around to write a comprehensive and complete history of his world, it strikes me that the lack of knowledge about the ringwraiths' identities is somewhat fitting. It underscores that, whoever they might have been and whatever might have distinguished them from other men, all that they lost once they became slaves to the one ring.
I love this kind of content and it's what makes your channel one of my favourite go to places in all of cyberspace for all things Tolkien! I really like your take on how the Numenoreans establish themselves through the time periods of the Second Age. It seems to fit the progression of the power that Sauron accumulates and in how the Nazgûl grow into the deadly force throughout this timeline. Looking forward to more of these thought provoking mini lectures of yours James, I can't get enough of this kind of material!
I love this channel I always get good info and great reviews. You should have more subscribers. I am a total fan of LOTR and Tolkiens works. Great Job.
Glad to see you doing this, and already looking forward to future episodes. As for the discussion: I personally love that Tolkien deliberately left a lot of stuff unexplained/vague. That is one of the big reasons his world feels so real. Some things are lost to history and can never be known again.
Love your passion and dedication that you bring. As I read the books, I'll have to come back and rewatch this and other videos so I can be more confident with my knowledge of Tolkien's works. Always found the Ringwraiths interesting and pinpointing probable locations as you did would be awesome.
Just found your channel and am loving it. Are you doing anymore content in this series where you talk about different aspects of the story or characters? Would love to watch more just like this.
hi there, i discovered ur channel today and saw some videos of urs. Wanted to thank you for posting such informative videos. I saw a book named 'Nature of Middle Earth' and plenty others that you didn't mention on your Tolkien Read Order video. What do you think about these books, and which order should i read em ? Thanks!
Great video! I'm interested in what it means that Tolkien said they "became" great men after getting the rings. What they were like in the beginning, how they used the rings to become great, how Sauron picked these specific individuals etc etc
Interesting discussion but the title of the video is a misnomer. It would have been better to entitle it a discussion on the location/area of where the ringwraiths came from. Identity in my opinion would be their given name at birth and the family from which they came which was never divulged it seems by the author, Tolkien. Men it was written, coveted wealth and power and to lesser extent knowledge, and this idea of being betwitched by Sauron was an idea taken it seems from the tale about Faust who sold his soul in exchange for knowledge and power. Tolkien I believe deliberately left the identities, or the birthname/families of the ringwraiths a mystery to let each individual reader devise his own origin theory. I am not sure the ringwraiths originally came from either noted or peasant lineage but that a particular mans burning desire for wealth and power in the desired regions where Sauron desired influence was the key driver that Sauron looked for. From whatever lineage an already established lord of a region came from and whose lust for more wealth power and knowledge had not abated Sauron was abled to entrap and enslave
That’s an interesting question. I’m not sure whether there is a specific reason for this, but there’s always been a fascination in literature with numbers that can be multiplied by 3. How 7 rings for the dwarves fit into this equation I’m not sure but it somehow fits better than having an even number.
Leaving aside the fact that Tolkien never got around to write a comprehensive and complete history of his world, it strikes me that the lack of knowledge about the ringwraiths' identities is somewhat fitting. It underscores that, whoever they might have been and whatever might have distinguished them from other men, all that they lost once they became slaves to the one ring.
I love this kind of content and it's what makes your channel one of my favourite go to places in all of cyberspace for all things Tolkien!
I really like your take on how the Numenoreans establish themselves through the time periods of the Second Age. It seems to fit the progression of the power that Sauron accumulates and in how the Nazgûl grow into the deadly force throughout this timeline.
Looking forward to more of these thought provoking mini lectures of yours James, I can't get enough of this kind of material!
Wow thanks so much my friend 🙂 Much appreciated!
I love this channel I always get good info and great reviews. You should have more subscribers. I am a total fan of LOTR and Tolkiens works. Great Job.
Wow, thank you! Much appreciated 🙂
Glad to see you doing this, and already looking forward to future episodes. As for the discussion: I personally love that Tolkien deliberately left a lot of stuff unexplained/vague. That is one of the big reasons his world feels so real. Some things are lost to history and can never be known again.
Love your passion and dedication that you bring. As I read the books, I'll have to come back and rewatch this and other videos so I can be more confident with my knowledge of Tolkien's works. Always found the Ringwraiths interesting and pinpointing probable locations as you did would be awesome.
Excellent analysis! More videos like this please :)
Thank you! Stay tuned for more 🙂
Love this kind of content; so excited about this series!
Thank you so much 🙂
Excellent idea! Thanks. I really appreciate your effort to make such excellent videos.
can't wait for the 3 hour Bombadil episode
jokes aside, I loved this vid! Ringwraiths are such an amazing part of Tolkien's world
Your bookshelf is just marvelous. So much colour.
Many thanks! 🙂
would love to see a book about the origin of the Ringwraiths and their eventual corruption to shadow. Would never happen but one can dream.
While that would be great, part of the allure of the Ringwraiths is their very mystery 🙂
Just found your channel and am loving it. Are you doing anymore content in this series where you talk about different aspects of the story or characters? Would love to watch more just like this.
Thank you very much for your kind words! There will certainly be more of these videos soon 🙂
this series seems so good! you have to continue
Sounds cool!
hi there, i discovered ur channel today and saw some videos of urs. Wanted to thank you for posting such informative videos.
I saw a book named 'Nature of Middle Earth' and plenty others that you didn't mention on your Tolkien Read Order video. What do you think about these books, and which order should i read em ?
Thanks!
Thank you so much for your kind words. I feel Nature of Middle-earth should be read after The History of Middle-earth series 👍
Great video! I'm interested in what it means that Tolkien said they "became" great men after getting the rings. What they were like in the beginning, how they used the rings to become great, how Sauron picked these specific individuals etc etc
Interesting discussion but the title of the video is a misnomer. It would have been better to entitle it a discussion on the location/area of where the ringwraiths came from. Identity in my opinion would be their given name at birth and the family from which they came which was never divulged it seems by the author, Tolkien. Men it was written, coveted wealth and power and to lesser extent knowledge, and this idea of being betwitched by Sauron was an idea taken it seems from the tale about Faust who sold his soul in exchange for knowledge and power. Tolkien I believe deliberately left the identities, or the birthname/families of the ringwraiths a mystery to let each individual reader devise his own origin theory. I am not sure the ringwraiths originally came from either noted or peasant lineage but that a particular mans burning desire for wealth and power in the desired regions where Sauron desired influence was the key driver that Sauron looked for. From whatever lineage an already established lord of a region came from and whose lust for more wealth power and knowledge had not abated Sauron was abled to entrap and enslave
Out of curiosity and I bet a video could be made of this question but why did each race get an odd number of rings??
That’s an interesting question. I’m not sure whether there is a specific reason for this, but there’s always been a fascination in literature with numbers that can be multiplied by 3. How 7 rings for the dwarves fit into this equation I’m not sure but it somehow fits better than having an even number.
I think the identity of the witch king is Isildor since he is a king AND he is a numanorian
It cannot be Isildur because the Ringwraiths were already in existence hundreds of years before his birth.