With the destruction of his forces and his task in the north complete, the Witch-king fled. His forces marched against the armies of the Witch-king and utterly destroyed them during the Battle of Fornost. However, Eärnur arrived too late to be of help in defending Arnor's territories, and his army sought revenge against the Witch-king instead. The Witch-king's true undead appearance as depicted in Peter Jackson's filmsĪ year later, Eärnur, prince of Gondor, arrived with the intention of aiding Arthedain. By TA 1974, Angmar attacked again and captured Arthedain's capital of Fornost, and with that, the last kingdom of Arnor was destroyed. After the fall of Cardolan, Angmar's advance was slowed by resistance from the Elves of Lindon, Lothlórien and Rivendell. Also during this time, the forces of the Witch-king burned and destroyed the watchtower of Amon Sûl. After suborning Rhudaur and replacing the Dúnedain king with one of the native Hill-men, in the year TA 1356 the Witch-king moved against Arthedain, resulting in the death of King Argeleb I.īut Arthedain was not yet defeated, and it managed to maintain a line of defense along the Weather Hills. His first target was the realm of Rhudaur. It was around this time that the Witch-king established himself in Angmar (thus gaining his title) and began to launch attacks against the nearby kingdom of Arnor, which had fractured into three smaller kingdoms.
The Nazgûl re-emerged around 1300 of the Third Age, as Sauron at long last began to take shape after his defeat at the hands of the Last Alliance. Though no longer able to maintain physical form, just as Sauron was after losing the One Ring, both the Nazgûl and Sauron were able to endure as long as the Ring survived.
They were temporarily dispersed after Sauron's downfall in SA 3434 in the War of the Last Alliance. Despite their great power and position as instruments of Sauron's will, not much is known of their activities during the Second Age. The Nine were first observed around 2251 of the Second Age, and soon became Sauron's primary servants. Only two of the Nine were ever named: the Witch-king of Angmar and Khamûl the Easterling. Three of the Ringwraiths may have been among the first and most powerful Númenóreans to be corrupted by Sauron, a thousand years before the Downfall: they revered Sauron, and became ensnared in his designs because of their lust for power or knowledge. Their lives and their powers became bound to Sauron's via the One Ring as Sauron grew or diminished, so too did the Nazgûl. The Rings eventually rendered their bearers invisible to all but those who could see into the wraith world, and enslaved them to the will of Sauron.
These Nine used the rings to achieve great power, wealth, and prestige in life, but as time passed the Rings continued to exert a corrupting influence. Sauron succeeded in corrupting the powerful Nine through his dominance over the rings.
He gave nine of them to great lords and warriors of Men, including three Númenóreans, and one Easterling king. These were locked away in one of the safes of Eregion, but all were captured by Sauron. Nineteen Rings of Power were made in Eregion, forged by Celebrimbor. Kings of Men with their Rings of Power, as seen in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring 7.1 The Lord of the Rings Trading Card Game.1.3.1 Battle of the Morannon and Defeat.