The Ringwraiths or in the Black Speech “Nazguls” of The Lord of the Rings were the original spectral knights. From mentions in Led Zeppelin songs to AD&D monsters, they have made their cultural presence known. Living in Dol Guldur, these nine human kings were given rings by Sauron that crippled and warped them into his evil servants. Led by the Witch-King of Angmar, they travel by black horse or fell beast to do their master’s bidding. Not surprising, many of best scenes in the novels feature Nazguls: the attack at Weathertop, the race to the ford, the battle of Pellinor Fields with king Theodon and Eowyn’s killing of the Witch-King, etc. Beginning in the 1970s, truly great artists have rendered these scenes with an affection rare for any modern book.
As with so many Fantasy images, it was Frank Frazetta who got there first. The Brothers Hildebrandt were perhaps better remembered for their calendars but Frank did his work in 1975, two years earlier.
The movies have had their go at the Ringwraiths. Ralph Bakshi’s ethereal creepers were sufficient but Peter Jackson upped their game in The Lord of the Rings films thirty years later. Jackson had master artists, John Howe and Alan Lee, to help WETA bring the Nazghuls to life (or is that death?)
Art by Mike Kaluta
Many other artists have drawn the fight between Eowyn and the Witch-King but here are three of my favorites.
Some very famous characters have been born out of Tolkien’s Ringwraiths. Frank Frazetta created the Death Dealer, originally for the cover of a paperback anthology, Flashing Swords 2 (1973) but the idea would become a paperback series of its own, comics, and eventually become the symbol of the Army III Corps.
Terry Brooks created the Skull Bearers along similar lines being “winged black destroyers”, combining rider with winged mount. Oddly, there are very few images of the Skull Bearers unlike the Nazghuls.
J. K. Rowling has often down-played her influences (both Tolkien and C. S. Lewis) but the Dementors of Harry Potter’s world seem familiar to LOTR fans.
If you missed Portraits of Gollum…
