Fell Riders

A name used in Gondor for the Nazgûl or Black Riders, the chief servants of the Dark Lord and the leaders of Sauron's forces during the years before the War of the Ring. (This name for the Nazgûl uses the old word 'fell' in the sense of 'deadly' or 'evil'.) By the end of the Third Age, these Riders had served the Dark Lord for thousands of years, having been enslaved by the power of the Nine Rings during the Second Age.

After the Fall of Sauron at the end of the Second Age, the Nazgûl retreated for a time into the East, but with their master's re-emergence, they too returned to serve him. Their leader, the Witch-king, was sent into the northern lands to encompass the destruction of the North-kingdom of Arnor, and this he achieved before rejoining his fellow Ringwraiths in Mordor. Soon after his return, the Nazgûl captured the ancient Gondorian tower of Minas Ithil, using it as a stronghold that became known as Minas Morgul, the tower of dark sorcery. At this time the tower of Minas Anor was renamed as Minas Tirith, the Tower of Guard, keeping a watch over the new peril that now lurked across the Great River.

In III 2050, the Lord of the Fell Riders lured King Eärnur into their tower and thus brought the line of Kings in Gondor to an end. After this they remained quiet for many years, until their lord Sauron revealed himself nearly a thousand years later, and then the Fell Riders went to open war against Gondor. At that time the Gondorians still held the old city of Osgiliath, but the Nazgûl drove them back and took control of the crossings of Anduin. When the time came for the full assault against Minas Tirith, the Lord of the Nazgûl was therefore able to lead his forces across the Great River and mount a Siege against the City of Gondor itself.

The Lord of the Nazgûl, chief of the Fell Riders, was slain in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields that followed, and the others did not long survive him. Just ten days later, as the Captains of the West engaged the forces of Sauron at the Morannon, the One Ring went into the Fire of Doom. Sauron had urged his Fell Riders to Mount Doom as soon as he had understood his danger, but as they approached, the mountain erupted in fire, and the surviving Fell Riders were destroyed.