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Witch-King Book Profile

The Witch-King was once a man, but became the Lord of the Nazgûl and Sauron’s most dreadful servant after being corrupted by one of the Nine Rings of Power. It is presumed that the nine Nazgûl, of whom the Witch-King was one, were the Lords of the Númenorean race and it was to these that Sauron gave the Nine Rings of Power in the 1600’s of the Second Age, after he had seized the Rings from Eregion.

The Witch-King was the tallest of the Nazgûl and wore a crown. His power was the greatest and he was the most feared, only being able to be harmed by blades touched by special spells, ordinary blades perishing when they touched him.

In TA 1300, the Nazgûl arose. Their Lord took the name Witch-king, formed the Realm of Angmar, and set out to defeat the weakened Dúnedain of Arnor. He then led wars against the North-kingdom until TA 1975. After defeating Arthedain, he was put to flight by armies led by Círdan, together with Glorfindel, and Eärnur of Gondor in the Battle of Fornost. It was then Glorfindel who counselled Eärnur not to pursue him, saying:

“Far off yet is his doom, and not by the hand of man will he fall.”

The Witch-King then disappeared from the North, but later, attacked and besieged Minas Ithil, renaming it Minas Morgul and naming himself it’s Lord. In TA 2050, the Witch-King challenged Eärnur, King of Gondor to single combat, resenting the fact that he had not been able to face Eärnur at the Battle of Fornost. Sadly Eärnur was slain.

During the War of the Ring, the Witch-King led the Ringwraiths in the hunt for the One Ring and Frodo Baggins, wounding the Hobbit at Weathertop. Commanding the army which attacked Minas Tirith during the Siege of Gondor, he was prevented from entering the City by Gandalf and by the timely intervention of the Rohirrim. He then turned his attention to the battle field and mounted a Fell Beast, descended his foes wielding a black mace, bringing despair. He found Théoden King of Rohan and pierced the King’s horse, Snowmane with a black dart, causing the horse to fall and crush Théoden beneath him. It was then that the Witch-King met his death – caused, as we know, not by the hand of a man.

by Rosearialelven

Member of the Month

-an interview with NenyaGold

How did you find CoE?
I typed Tolkien into Search and up came CoE!

What are your favourite areas of the site?
The RPG forum is my first love, having been a writer for most of my life. But I enjoy the Journals, The Prancing Pony, the Gallery and my Realm of Yavanna with all of its wonderful members!

How often do you visit CoE?
Daily and many times at that! Being both the Welcome Wagoneer Overseer and a Realm Leader, I’m busy on the site. And this doesn’t including having fallen into the RPG forum and not being able to climb back out!

How many times have you read the books?
Hmmm… Too many to remember!

Who is your favourite LOTR character?
Aragorn! No question! With Éomer and Éowyn following closely behind. I have a great respect for Sam and Frodo and the rest of the fellowship, though.

Do you have a favourite scene from the trilogy?
No, I have several favourites:

-In FotR, when Gandalf blows the smoke ship through Bilbo’s smoke ring! When I saw that, I KNEW the movies would be great!

-In TTT, when we see Edoras for the first time and the Hardinger Fiddle plays the music of the Rohirrim. It gave me chills then and it gives me chills whenever I hear it now!

-In RotK, being a hopeless romantic, the coronation of King Elessar and the look on his face when he sees Arwen. Also, in Arwen’s vision, when Aragorn picks up Eldarion!

What character left out of the films do you miss most?
Actually, I don’t… I thought I would but after seeing them so many times, they just work, and I think neither Tom Bombadil nor Glorfindel would have fit. I LOVE what Peter Jackson and his crews did to bring these books to life!!!

Do you know any Sindarin or Quenya?
Enough to say hello, well met, good bye, and my favorite, Sérë, which is Quenya for Peace. For naming my characters, their horses and swords I prefer using Quenya over Sindarin, just because it isn’t used very much, and CoE’s Elvish dictionaries are awesome!

What are you looking forward most to in ROTK EE?
Aragorn in the Houses of Healing. Of all the things he did on his journey to prove he was king, I think that was THE proof! “The hands of the king are the hands of a healer, and so shall the rightful king be known.”

Mod of the Month

-an interview with Eloise

How did you find CoE?
I didn’t. My lovely Mum did. 😀 It was just after TTT came out and I asked her to look for LOTR news for me. She found here and TORN. I decided to join here after visiting for a couple of weeks, when I got fed up of all my comments on news stories appearing as anonymous.

What are your duties here at CoE?
I moderate the newbies forum and the Green Dragon Inn. For newbies, I answer any questions that people might have regarding the site and generally try to help them settle in. The GDI is a forum for general Tolkien things which wouldn’t fit in the movies or books forums such as the stage plays or weaponry. I’m also a member of the official welcome wagon team.

What are your favourite areas of the site?
Oooh, don’t make me pick! Lol, I love the forums and I always have done. I also still love the news, and of course the gallery rocks. I also love the Humour section.

How often do you visit CoE?
Lol, it depends. If it’s during school time at least three times daily, once in the morning, afternoon and evening. If it’s the weekend or holidays though, loads of times throughout the day.

How many times have you read the books?
Ah! I can’t remember! I think probably about five times for both LOTR and the Hobbit, and maybe about two or three times for the Silmarillion.

Who is your favourite LOTR character?
Gandalf. I love the fact that he’s so powerful but so human at the same time. I also have a bit of a thing for Frodo 😉

Do you have a favourite scene from the trilogy?
I love the whole thing obviously, but my favourite part is between Rivendell and the time they meet Galadriel and Celeborn. Especially the Moria part.

What character left out of the films do you miss most?
Tom Bombadil. I know not that many people like him, but I missed him 🙁 I also would have liked the Barrowdowns scene to be left in.

Do you know any Sindarin or Quenya?
I know a teensy tiny bit of both. I know some things in Sindarin like hello and goodbye which I’ve picked up from the books and films. And I’ve started learning Quenya, but I’m only on lesson two at the moment.

What are you looking forward most to in ROTK EE?
The voice of Sauron! Lol, I’m really hoping he’ll be in it, I really want to see the whole scene with him before the black gates.

Short Bio
I’m a pretty boring 16 year old, who lives in Scotland. Apart from LOTR, I’m a little bit obsessed with Harry Potter, Hills and loads of other things. In my spare time I surf the net, randomly go walking and practise karate. Told you I was boring 😉

Admin of the Month

-an interview with Naneth

How did you find CoE?
I was looking for pictures from the FOTR movie to use as desktops for my computer, and happened to type “councilofelrond” ….. by chance as it may seem. Yet maybe it was not so.

What are your duties here at CoE?
Well, I correct Sindarin exercises submitted by the students, answer questions in the forum and through PMs, check Sindarin translations, occasionally write articles on the Languages, and make sure everything is running smoothly in our wonderful Quenya section created and run by Malinornë and the great Names-Bases, run by Fíriel (Sindarin) and Lambengolmo (Quenya). I add things to the Extra Elvish Practice page as ambitious helpers submit things, and post Elvish compositions that advanced students submit …. although I’m a bit behind in getting those posted as of late …. since we are in the middle of changing over to a new platform in the Elvish department. We are hoping to get a Rohirric Names base up and running very soon.

What are your favourite areas of the site?
If I have any time at all in a day, I like to pop in at the Prancing Pony and have a look around !!

How often do you visit CoE?
I log on many times a day ….. as my schedule permits. There is always something waiting to get done in Elvish101 !!

How many times have you read the books?
I think I’ve only read them three times.

Who is your favourite LOTR character?
Frodo is my favorite. He’s not flashy, but he gave everything he had.

Do you have a favourite scene from the trilogy?
I love the ending when Frodo sails off and Sam stays and looks across the water for such a long time into the night, hearing the sound of the waves on the shore. There is no other scene that brings out such strong emotions in me …. I cry even when I think of it.

What character left out of the films do you miss most?
I would have to say Quickbeam.

Do you know any Sindarin or Quenya?
I sure hope so … or we’re in trouble (lol) !!

What are you looking forward most to in ROTK EE?
Everything !! For health reasons, I wasn’t able to sit in the theatre for 3 1/2 hours, so I haven’t even seen the third movie yet. Since I waited that long, I’m waiting for the EE so I can see the whole ending the way it should be …. I hope The Scouring of the Shire is a surprise in it.

Middle-earth: Imagination Made More Real

On Wednesday 11th August, as part of Siggraph 2004, there will be a 2 hour Tech Talk entitled, “Middle-earth: Imagination Made More Real”. Contributors will include Weta Digital who will be giving a presentation on their work on the effects for RotK. There are further details at avvideo.com.

Siggraph 2004 is an international conference and exhibition on computer graphics and interactive techniques which is being held in Los Angeles.

The Fellowship of the Ring turns 50

JRR Tolkien’s The Fellowship of the Ring was first published fifty years ago today. For its first print run only 3,500 copies were published. You can read some of the original reviews of the book at BBC News.

UK residents – win LotR trading cards

For a chance to win one of five sets of the special series of Decipher LotR trading cards created by Weta Workshop, enter the competition at futurenet.com. These cards feature some of the Tolkien characters who weren’t seen in the movies and include Tom Bombadil and Radagast

The closing date is 16th August.

Ian McKellen – official site update

The e-post section of Ian McKellen’s official site has been updated. He talks about filming Gandalf’s farewell to the hobbits, speaking elvish and more.

UK release date for RotK collector’s boxset

According to Amazon.co.uk the release date of The Return of the King collector’s boxset, which includes the polystone statue of Minas Tirith, is 10th December 2004.

Time Warner’s bid for MGM

The New York Daily News report that Time Warner appear to have the lead over Sony in the bid for MGM. Time Warner own New Line Cinema and MGM controls the TV and movie rights to The Hobbit.