The Encyclopedia of Arda - an interactive guide to the world of J.R.R. Tolkien
Dates
First seen in c. II 2250,1 and destroyed in III 3019
Location
Most associated with Mordor and Minas Morgul on its borders, but also occupied Angmar and Dol Guldur at various times
Origins
Men drawn into the Wraith-world by the Nine Rings
Race
Originally Men
Divisions
Various, including some Dúnedain of Númenor
Settlements
Meaning
Wraith is derived from a Scottish word for 'ghost', of unknown origin
Other names
Generally equivalent to the Ringwraiths or Nazgûl, though the term also extended to lesser beings translated into the Wraith-world

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About this entry:

  • Updated 22 January 2020
  • Updates planned: 1

Wraiths

Spectral creatures of the Wraith-world

Ghostly beings that existed more in the hidden Wraith-world than our own. The most famous of these were the Ring-wraiths, Men ensnared by Sauron's Nine Rings, but their victims, too, were transformed into wraiths.


Notes

1

Actually, there is one reference to a wraith that considerably predates II 2250. This was in I 460, when Gorlim, who had betrayed Barahir and his companions to Sauron, brought a warning to Barahir's son Beren in a dream. Gorlim had already been slain at this time, and his posthumous form in Beren's dream is described as his 'wraith'. Here the word seems to be broadly synonymous with 'ghost' or 'spirit', rather than the more specific use for the later Ringwraiths and their victims.

Indexes:

About this entry:

  • Updated 22 January 2020
  • Updates planned: 1

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