3 Hours Of The Catastrophic Lore Of The Witch-king To Fall Asleep To

The Witch-king of Angmar explained in full, from the nine Rings of Power and the founding of Angmar to his death at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, told slowly for sleep. This is a three hour deep dive into the complete lore of the Witch-king, Lord of the Nazgul, arranged chronologically across nearly five thousand years of Middle-earth history. It covers the north first, his war against the splintered kingdoms of Arnor, then the south, Minas Ithil, Minas Morgul, and Gondor. Along the way it separates what J.R.R. Tolkien actually published from what fans, tabletop games, and secondhand retellings have added over the decades. The pacing is deliberately calm and there is no countdown or big reveal, so you can drift off at any point without losing the thread. What's covered in this video: Why the Witch-king has no proper name anywhere in Tolkien's published work, drafts, or letters, while Khamul, a lesser Nazgul who governs Dol Guldur, does get one. How Iron Crown Enterprises invented a full biography for him in the 1980s Middle-earth Role Playing sourcebooks, naming him Tindomul and Er-Murazor and making him a son of Tar-Ciryatan, none of which is canon. What Unfinished Tales actually says about three of the Nine being great lords of Numenorean race, and why Tolkien's private note suggesting the Witch-king was Numenorean is not the same as confirmation. How the Nine Rings, forged in Eregion by Celebrimbor with Sauron's involvement, prolonged the lives of nine mortal men until existence became unendurable. The contradiction between Gandalf's statement at the Council of Elrond that the Nazgul hold the Nine Rings and Tolkien's later letter describing Sauron gathering the rings back to himself. The founding of Angmar around Third Age 1300 at the fortress of Carn Dum, and the linguistic puzzle in both names, including the possible Khuzdul element in Carn Dum. The 675 year war against Arthedain, Cardolan, and Rhudaur, the death of King Argeleb the First, and the fall of King Arvedui in the Ice Bay of Forochel. How the Dark Plague of Third Age 1636 emptied Minas Ithil, killed King Telemnar and the White Tree, and left the Barrow-downs abandoned to the Barrow-wights. Why Merry Brandybuck's barrow-blade exists at all, buried by the same war and plague the Witch-king set in motion. The Battle of Fornost, where Earnur, Glorfindel, and Cirdan destroyed Angmar, and the exact wording of Glorfindel's prophecy that the Witch-king would later misquote to Eowyn. How the surviving Dunedain became the Rangers of the North under Aranarth, an unbroken line running down to Aragorn. Behind the scenes material including the discarded helmet, the Macbeth and King Lear echoes in his dialogue, the plastic party cups, and the auction that went sideways. Mentioned in this video: Witch-king of Angmar, Lord of the Nazgul, Sauron, J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien, Frodo, Sam, Merry Brandybuck, Pippin, Eowyn, Aragorn, Gandalf, Saruman, Khamul, Glorfindel, Cirdan, Earnur, Isildur, Arvedui, Aranarth, Argeleb the First, Telemnar, Treebeard, Tom Bombadil, Celebrimbor, Tar-Ciryatan, Tar-Atanamir, Isilmo, Tindomul, Er-Murazor, Angmar, Carn Dum, Arnor, Arthedain, Cardolan, Rhudaur, Gondor, Mordor, Numenor, Andunie, Eregion, Rivendell, the Shire, Dol Guldur, Minas Ithil, Minas Tirith, Minhiriath, Ice Bay of Forochel, Barrow-downs, Barrow-wights, Khazad-dum, Battle of Fornost, North Downs, Pelennor Fields, War of the Last Alliance, Council of Elrond, Nine Rings, One Ring, palantiri, White Tree of Gondor, Dark Plague, Rangers of the North, Dunedain, Unfinished Tales, Iron Crown Enterprises, Middle-earth Role Playing, David Salo, Sindarin, Quenya, Khuzdul, Adunaic, Macbeth, King Lear. Chapters: 0:00 Intro 3:52 The Villain With No Name 8:38 Nine Rings, Nine Broken Men 18:14 Angmar: The Forgotten Kingdom 22:04 The Plague That Buried His Killer 25:04 Fornost And The Misquoted Prophecy 32:38 Minas Ithil Becomes Minas Morgul 36:29 The King Who Never Came Back 42:14 The Hunt For The Ring 45:50 Weathertop And The Morgul Blade 55:41 The Gate Of Minas Tirith 59:31 No Living Man Am I 1:10:05 Four Actors, Three Helmets 1:18:43 What The Films Invented 1:26:24 Nazgul, Wraith, And Wight 1:30:15 Wagner, Plato, And Old Norse Ghosts 1:40:48 Every Earlier Screen Nazgul 1:52:19 Tolkien Grades A Screenplay 2:00:00 Commanding Sauron's Largest Army 2:07:41 Lost In Translation 2:16:20 The Versions That Never Existed 2:25:56 A Villain Made Of Gaps 2:28:00 Eowyn, Merry, And The Wounds That Stay 2:45:08 Denethor And The Stolen Palantir 2:48:01 The Loophole That Kills Tyrants 2:59:32 The Ring That Meant Nothing To Bombadil 3:10:06 Sleep Well