Nazgul and the Routine of Evil | LOTR Monsters Pt. 3

[@themorbidzoo]

Go to surfshark.com/morbidzoo for 4 extra months of Surfshark at an unbeatable price!

[@songbird666]

"The Nazgul are the bureaucrats of Mordor," she says. "The Nazgul lack substance, there's nothing beneath their cloaks and armor," she says. It just hit me. They're SUITS.

[@br1na332]

OK. This. This is a banger comment.

[@jesustyronechrist2330]

You know Tolkien hated allegory, right?

[@simonriley4131]

​@@jesustyronechrist2330So? Doesn't make his work immune of allegoresis

[@cweb9169]

Say it with me children APPLICABILITY.

[@LarryHazard]

​@@jesustyronechrist2330but what if it suits

[@CasualFox12495]

Very kind of Arwen to do a video essay on the Nazgul before going on her trip to Minas Tirith.

[@TheLyricalCleric]

The bureaucracy of Mordor is a good subject for analysis-I noticed the awful reporting system the orcs discuss when Frodo and Sam are hiding among them in Mordor. Every orc is constantly informing on other orcs to higher ups down the line, and Sauron is overseeing everything as an awful micromanager. Imagine the worst telemarketing job you’ve ever had, and imagine it with a magical fire mountain and black tower as a head office. So gross.

[@RasserMeyer]

Ouch.. "When people say this kind of fantasy fiction is escapism, evading the real world, and so on. I think that's an evasion. It's actually trying to confront something that most people would rather not confront."

[@harrow426]

I think its also interesting to note that the witch king is slain by eowyn and merry, a woman fighting in defense of her home and a hobbit fighting in support of his friends, rather than any hero of man. If the nazgul are wraiths, sworn to senseless and indiscriminate violence, it is those who fight only in defense of hearth and home who can stand against them.

[@dotanuki3371]

what do you think the heroes of men fight for? pipeweed?

[@harrow426]

@dotanuki3371 traditionally? Glory and honor, king and country, riches and power. Cultures of war mythologise the warrior, uplifting it as the masuline ideal and shaping their society in support of that. Tolkien having a nazgul (the only nazgul to be killed) slain by a woman when the main cast is made of nine men is intentional. The fact that of the fellowship, the lone soldier is the one who succumbs to the temptations of the ring, is intentional.

[@dotanuki3371]

@@harrow426 what you are describing is war of conquest. those defending minas tirith or contemporary ukraine are not looking for conquest

[@GeraltOfNivea]

I'm really glad this released right before Thanksgiving. When people (loved ones) "vanish" into their own cult they don't just stop seeing the world as it is but demand you join them in their fantasy. Its not enough to merely believe in a world of Q conspiracies, for instance, all your family must as well or they themselves are "lost." They're "there" but every interaction is a balancing act.

[@treyden]

18:25 I have literally never thought about the parallels between the wraiths as a group and the fellowship as a group. it's often said that the fellowship represents and reveres empathy but the nazgul are so interchangeable that they hardly seem like a group to me. but that is the point. they are the foil to empathy: utter uniformity

[@JohnnyTortel]

I think this was very much intended by tolkien since there are both nine nazgul and nine companion. Gandalf (or maybe Elrond) even says something to that effect

[@Mythil]

You have been scratching a Lindsey Ellis itch I didn't know I had, and I mean that in the best possible way.

[@clairestark9024]

I find morbid a little sharper and self aware than lindsey. This is not to say lindsey is bad but morbid is that damn good.

[@kostajovanovic3711]

Might I add, more intersectional in her approach

[@MilesDashing]

That is the best possible compliment.

[@Cyryvy]

Check out Pushing Up Roses as well, she's great

[@sporovid5856]

What’s arguably worse than one of your loved ones being fully “turned into a wraith,” is the gradual transformation. There’s something quite disconcerting about having a normal conversation with someone one moment, only for them to go on a tirade of parroted phrases the next. At least when someone’s fully gone, you feel justified cutting them off, but a false hope can hurt more. It very much feels like being Sam watching Frodo lose himself to the ring.

[@sincera6716]

The narrative of this video took me on a ride down a slope I had not the will go down myself. It started with the references to "The Banality of Evil" and the comparisons to some modern-day political fears, then cascaded into cult survivorship. Blending the descriptions of the Nazgul in with descriptions of victims of brainwashing sunk me into a captive stupor and rattled my heart. Every subsequent line I sat tracing to a friend who, not a victim of a cult, I have lost contact with due to consistent and cyclical abuse. The gold I found at the "bottom" was a sickening irony that the abuser is an unapologetic fan of both the Tolkien books and the Peter Jackson adaptations, referencing them nigh constantly. I very recently had to emotionally distance myself from that very friend who I have watched time and time again cry out for help, but each time I reach, there's nothing. So the wails continue, even in my dreams.

[@samf4112]

While I was watching this, my brother sat down with me and asked a few questions. We both had a great time! This is such a great analysis of the Nazgul. When you started talking about the banality of evil I got very excited--I love Arendt's work. I'm a bit sick at the moment and my brain is rather fogged, so I can't leave anything super insightful. Just want to say that seeing a video of yours always brightens my day. Thank you.

[@themorbidzoo]

@@samf4112 thank you! ☺️

[@LeoFieTv]

As someone who has problems analysing media beyond the literal plot and obviously spelt out morals, probably because of my autism, I really appreciate this series. Thank you, Zoo.

[@jadefalcon001]

Oh gods , it’s not just me! I fully grasp all these analyses and explorations, but can hardly ever see any of it on my own.

[@daviddobarganes9115]

Same Im like "Im having fun brain silly time" And then months later "Oh, symbolism"

[@pastlife960]

Hey there fellow neurodivergents! I don’t know if this will help, but a great way to begin literary analysis is to concentrate as much on what the characters aren’t saying as what they are. Or if it’s film or tv, look at what colours people are wearing. Let it go from there

[@Alukard-Abysswalker]

Always loving your analysis but this one short as it is might be one of my favorites, the way you convey perfectly the ideas of "These are not the monsters we assume but regular people that won't engage with the world, blind even to their own actions" and "They are both here and not here, like our friends and family lost to these alt right cults" hit the nil perfectly, alongside well everything else you said. The sort of analysis that makes me appreciate Tolkien more and inspires me to write as well

[@akulatraxus9153]

“oooh! New Morbid Zoo!” “Aww it's not out yet.” “Huh 30 seconds left, yay!”

[@Music34897]

What a rollercoaster

[@sinnattugaq]

It’s one of the good days when a Morbid Zoo video is released

[@noahhubbard1819]

The Morbid Zoo strikes again lol! Seriously, this was the series I didn't know I needed. As an arachnophobe, if Shelob and the spiders of Mirkwood are in the pipeline at all, then I'll brave the fear for a disection of them

[@thickles]

11:18 I really love the point you made about how people who subscribe to these certain ideologies become blind to everything they cannot use. I remember the same point being made in your Pale Man video and it really stuck with me

[@B-019]

I'm glad you really touched on not just how, but WHY the Nazgul are portrayed so well as both being terrifying and powerful... But also pathetic, almost pitiable. Good vid as always.

[@obamaslefteyeball1710]

God I love this series please don’t end it here, it feels like we’re in the prime of an underrated TV show

[@collin6691]

Also, Tolkien said there is a high pitch sound, and the filmmakers found the perfect sound and implemented it great, which still deserves praise.

[@EtruskenRaider]

The image a person there but somehow gone and missing is agonizingly accurate for today’s right wing landscape. I had a friend whom I can say that I loved in a way that hetero masculine friendships was once comfortable in expressing. This is a man I respected and cared for. We came from opposite political backgrounds but he always seemed to have firm moral principles in common with my own even when we disagreed on how to express them. On my last visit to his home, he was flying a Trump flag and my heart broke. While we never made a scene or talked politics, I felt myself speaking to a ghost. Here was the shade of the man I knew but somehow gone and lost. It was an experience of heartbreak that sent a shiver through my bones like the shriek of the Wraiths.

[@alimmaa8697]

A video essay that is as poetically tragic as it is revolutionarily hopeful doesn’t exis…

[@gnomed6154]

Showed my boyfriend your, "The VVitch" video for the first time mere hours before it was struck down by Universal. Absolutely lucky we got in when we did. He loved it, he now insists we watch all new Morbid Zoo videos together. Hope you get that resolved btw. ❤️

[@laurencewinch-furness9450]

Fun fact - Tolkien based the black breath on his experiences with PTSD in WWI.

[@Absoulute_Zer0]

No way this was 20 minutes long. I barely felt like time had passed. Excellent video, Zoo! Super excited for the One Video to Rule Them All!

[@CaptainPeregrin]

"The invisibility the Ring gives its wearer is not a superpower, it's a consequence." That's certainly a good way to read it, especially the movies, but I always believed that the power of invisibility was unique to hobbits and hobbit-like creatures (like Smeagol), and it gave other powers to other creatures. In the books, it's never explicitly stated that the Ring caused Isildur or Sauron to disappear. It certainly didn't make Tom Bombadil disappear (although he's a special case however you look at it). The books only state that the Ring gives powers according to each person's will and abilities. Hobbits are people who are naturally equipped for stealth, so the Ring enhances those powers and makes them invisible. Presumably, a more powerful person would be able to wield it to do other things, and wouldn't necessarily want to be invisible

[@JohnnyTortel]

That'd make sense. And the other rings don't make anyone disappear either

[@manjackson2772]

The ring did make Isildur disappear. He was wearing it on the Gladden Fields, when it slipped from his finger and gave him away to the patrolling orcs. It didn't make Sauron disappear because it was part of him, it was his power and he fully controlled it - and besides, it makes you invisible by shifting you onto the spiritual plane, and as a Maia, he exists there already. It would be the same for Gandalf and the other wielders of the Three, at minimum we know that extremely powerful Elves have a presence in the spirit realm, because Frodo sees Glorfindel as a beacon of light when he's close to becoming a wraith himself. Maybe all Elves do.

[@andrewromig9753]

Wow. Just. Wow. I don't really have the words to adequately describe the extent to which the LOTR series has apparently been a complete blind-spot for me as far as depth for incisive exploration before. I've read the books, seen the movies, and still didn't pick up on the vast majority of what you've discussed in this series of videos. In fact, I used to think that series was actually pretty straightforward and mundane. I'm re-thinking that now, obviously. Thank you, Mariana. Your insight is incredible and I couldn't possibly be more proud to be a supporter.

[@themorbidzoo]

Thank you! LOTR is, and I am completely serious about this, the defining text of the 20th century

[@brooksbanister]

This was by far the most chilling commentary on the monsters so far. Literally felt goosebumps in multiple moments. Masterful, thank you.

[@EthanGoodrum]

Fantastic work, and excellent point about them damaging the world by refusing to see it for the infinitely diverse place it is, but just the spreadsheet of check boxes they want it to be. Sounds a bit too familiar.

[@anonymousname5860]

“Nine for Mortal Men, doomed to die.”

[@ElevatorEleven]

Something my brother said while we watched this together, becoming the monster is a lot like becoming an incel. Becoming a wraith, sleepwalking through life as a mindless murderer, can be alluring because there's an immediate power to it. You may become a wraith after a while, but at least your current problem might go away. I don't have to try talking to girls if I'm a wraith. Reminded me of a tv show quote about drugs: "Allergy medicine with tractor starter fluid strained through a coffee filter is methamphetamine." "Tractor starter fluid doesn't -kill- you?" "No, it'll definitely kill you, but, first you'll get pretty high."

[@dxeka1994]

I wish I had the capacity to compare LOTR to 1984. Both have a lot of thematic correlation specifically on how power operates, corrupts or hollows someone out. Your attribution and observation of the Hollowness of the Nazgul reminded me of O'Brien's line from 1984 to Winston - " We shall crush you down to the point from which there is no coming back. Things will happen to you from which you could not recover, if you lived a thousand years. Never again will you be capable of ordinary human feeling. Everything will be dead inside you. Never again will you be capable of love, or friendship, or joy of living, or laughter, or curiosity, or courage, or integrity. You will be hollow. We shall squeeze you empty, and then we shall fill you with ourselves."

[@HaedynKing]

Thank you for the video. I just ordered my local library's copies of Jenny Odell and Hannah Arendt on hold. I came to the part where you tear the Nazgul's great screaming weapon apart and thought, 'If she could release a book/ebook of her essay-scripts to keep in my PRECIOUS library, to highlight your truth-bombs for my own peace-of-mind and to show off to potential listeners...yeah, that would be great, yeah.'

[@Eklipsix]

I appreciate that you take the time to empathize with your morbid zoo beasts so much, Mariana. The comparison of the ring wraiths and relatives/friends with warped or radicalized views is so poignant. You don't just look at monsters as othered entities that represent evil and that must be defeated; you highlight the importance of recognizing the monsters within us, the traits of humanity warped by fear and anger. *chef kiss* Keep up the amazing work 🙏

[@themorbidzoo]

@@Eklipsix Thank you so much :)

[@VeraGreca]

Your essays are always so beautifully constructed--every sentence and word has weight and when you hit upon a key point it's like, bam, YES.

[@frederickvictor2038]

Gotta watch this in the morning cause i am so sleepy but nothing better than my favorite youtuber educating me about evil first thing in the morning

[@FOM_extras]

11:00 I seriously need to be taking notes for these videos it's just so information dense but like in such an amazing way I love it so much

[@SeanMania213]

Man there were so many bars in this episode. I had to pause and rewind so much I felt like I was listening to the new Kendrick drop 😂

[@yakkers221b2]

As the occasional wielder of an awesome and terrible fart, I agree that it wouldn't translate very well to the medium of film

[@NullSet-e2h]

Damn, that was pretty good. Never really clocked the endless movement and screeching of the nazgul as pitiable.

[@Yeti_Boop]

Amazing. I love this one. Partly because to me the Nazgul are one of my favorite fantasy "creatures" so this just adds several new layers to them and the tragic loss of humanity they represent. Also half my family has gone insane over the last decade...

[@riccardomazzaro1901]

Your commentary proves, once again, that you are one of the best in the business. I have seen countless analysises of Tolkien work, but none got closer to the accuracy of yours.

[@chavesa5]

You are the only personality whose sponsorships I can stand to watch

[@GizepiHV]

Keep up the great work. Your talent is needed. Articulating these monsters as surrogates of our real world’s most heinous ideologues is a delightful, narrative display of contempt for them.

[@ieatwhiteruntz19384]

my 90 minute bus ride home just got a WHOLE lot more epic

[@CasualFox12495]

Oh fuch yes! I just finished my relisten of Silmarillion!! Please tell me Melkor makes a cameo!

[@themorbidzoo]

@@CasualFox12495 not this time I’m afraid! 😔

[@Lambda_Ovine]

Joseph Stalin truly and genuinely saw himself as an instrument of the revolution, at every step of the way. The USSR was as far from proletarian liberation as anything can be

[@neil7928]

Not a minute wasted in these vids, I love them! That was a great point about the air raids Tolkien would have experienced. I remember reading that the German Stuka dive bombers had sirens attached to their wings for the specific purpose of terrifying people.

[@davet9820]

"The engine of ideology of any kind" yeah this is really well said. Any ideology that starts to care more about its anticipated outcomes than what it does to achieve them is incredibly dangerous.

[@joshuawinestock9998]

Missed opportunity to overlay the Nazgul scream with a macro of a chudjack going "REEEE"

[@etevenatkowicz9745]

Some opportunities are meant to be missed

[@notchristopherwalken]

Another absolute shredder from the video essay queen lmao

[@sabretoo]

I'm looking forward to your video on the Rings! So the Nazgul, by using the rings, actually exist in a parallel dimension. This is such a cool concept for a monster, and I'm convinced by your argument that it's a great political metaphor. Do you think this extra-dimensional concept could be a mythological/medieval reference too? It sort of reminds me of the tradition that you can only see the fae through a hag stone. Or the "mare," which rode horses and gave people sleep paralysis and "nightmares" (a kind of parallel dimension). (It also makes me think of the strange beings of White and Black Lodges from Twin Peaks, who also pass rings back and forth to the humans.) It's interesting to compare the Ring wraiths to the actual ghosts that Aragorn recruits. They are both ethereal undead dudes cursed by their human actions, but they are almost exact opposites. The Nazgul exist in a parallel dimension; the ghosts are trapped in ours. The Nazgul have no desire and no honor; the ghosts are controlled by their id and saved by fulfilling their task. The Nazgul are kinetic energy, the ghosts are potential energy.

[@themorbidzoo]

Ooooohh interesting thoughts, yes I agree!

[@TheEndKing]

It sounds like modern day Nazgul would be wearing VR goggles 24/7.

[@genericallyentertaining]

All of these Lord of the Rings videos have hit me hard, but this one in particular feels like a punch to the gut. I'm definitely gonna have to read Hannah Arendt now. It's insane to me that these videos don't get more views, because this is easily some of the best Tolkien analysis from a contemporary perspective I've ever seen, and as difficult as the subject matter is, these videos feel comforting just for seeming like a bastion of sanity in a world gone mad. Thanks for making these. (Also still very much enjoying the acoustic versions of the film soundtracks during the credits!)

[@claudiaborges8406]

Most honest sponsor segment I’ve ever seen. You couldn’t make that sht up

[@charsiuwu8084]

Every Nazgul is just a slightly pissier Harvey Spector

[@col.lessiedancer3357]

This was so insightful. Your articulation and thoughtfulness are always a breath a fresh air. I wish more people were as thoughtful about what they say as you are. Have a wonderful day and keep being one of the best if not the best creator out there!

[@PaigeSinclaire]

The witch video is back up! ❤❤❤ that’s like my favorite! Thank you so much for answering me on X 💖 I’m loving your LOTRs vids like so much!

[@themorbidzoo]

@@PaigeSinclaire thanks ☺️

[@itstrickyproductions]

I really love this analysis! You always have such a thorough approach to identifying how art can grasp at concepts that feel so difficult to articulate! I’ve been thinking a lot post-election about whose worth trying to communicate with about my beliefs, who would actually be willing to have good faith conversations, and I feel like I’ve found some answers here. TL;DR Thank you for the work you do! It matters!

[@Travis-ff5lx]

First of all, I’m glad I watched your video on The Witch fairly recently. Second, I have enjoyed every one of your videos regardless of subject matter. Your ability to analyze and define are nothing short of sublime. This is the only channel I actively wait for the next video.

[@optiwlk]

Oh my God! I didn’t realize you were actually doing a whole series on this shit! I’m literally as happy as a clam in pants! And also my weekend got 10% better! Morbid zoo. You are the best. Thank you!

[@etevenatkowicz9745]

Junot Diaz has a running comparison in The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao between Sauron and the ringwraiths, and Trujillo and his human ghouls. The first time I read it I thought it was super cringy but the second time i read it it absolutely seized me. Totally apt comparison.

[@alexlaurent1018]

This series has been fantastic and I can't wait for more! It's making me want to get back into LOTR

[@nicv8581]

Something small that I think illustrates the harm creatures like the Nazgûl are capable of is the morghul blade. While Frodo did change on his journey, it was the stab wound from the witch king that drove him west to seek healing at the end.

[@jamescranley933]

Whilst traveling the third world i came accross a rather vile individual who fitted the bill of only seeing things that served him like what you’re talking about at 11:30. What got me is we called him out for it and he was so brazen about his intentions to rip off the licals and bleed every red cent he could.

[@skateisdestiny]

Everytime you post something it feels like you're articulating thoughts I've had floating around in my brain for a while but have not been able to put them to words yet. This analysis of the Nazgul is absolutely chilling in its implications. I especially find your analysis of how their world is filtered and curated to whatever they want to see to be striking. It's such a perfect encapsulation of the mentality of people that I run into all the time these days, from the corporate employees who have let themselves become so swept up in what their part of the cog is that any slight mention of its implications or any hint of a critical eye makes them extremely uncomfortable, to family and friends falling prey to right wing idealogues and becoming shells of their foremer selves. The terrifying fact that we're all one step away from being swept up in this thinking never escapes me. I'm haunted by images of losing myself to a world that will do its absolute best to ensure that I do. My only defense against it is to try and remain as thoughtful, as kind, as open with others, and as aware of my own shortcomings as I can. Thank you for this! Truly love all your work!!

[@gonesavage]

Thank you for the insane deal on Surfshark. I just moved from the US to Australia and it’s going to help me out a lot.

[@Kevin_the_Caveman]

I've rarely been that excited for new videos as I am for yours

[@nyanko8972]

Your writing really is beautiful. Can’t wait for your next video.

[@danielkeller591]

I am so godamn hyped

[@pastlife960]

I really hope you do the Mumakil! I adore the passage in Two Towers that sympathises with the great beast as just as much a victim as any other, and what that says about both how we use animals in war, and how the Haradrim themselves are victims tricked by Sauron

[@indie-cloud]

Absolutely soul-shattering dissection of the material. I’m always so impressed and moved by your essays!

[@AcuteGoblinitis]

Had your channel pop up in my recommendations and subscribed just before the start of this Tolkien series, and what a great timing! Always such a good time, thank you for these!

[@GalvatronRodimus]

I think this is one of your best videos. Loving the LOTR content

[@natashab5654]

God, that "pity the ringwraith" closing statement. Chills!

[@GDomm-q2c]

I wish I had a way of words as you do. You have genuinely been a huge inspiration for me and a reason I have picked up writing again. Keep doing what you are doing, and I will keep watching (:

[@QBG]

This was a _really_ good one! That last line in particular was fucking ace! I'm loving these LOTR videos. Can't wait to see what's next!

[@Nedularr]

This series is my favourite show of the year 🤯❤

[@D-ql8mz]

Interesting perspective, I always thought of nazguls as just relentless force, unnatural (i.e. artificial) energy, impossibly to reason with. You have very bright mind! Drawing parallels between past, fiction and modern days is fascinating and mortifying at the same time. Unfortunately, I'm intimately familiar with loosing loved ones to a modern cult.

[@heptonaut]

god this series is unbelievably good

[@baconbits966]

Your output this past year has been nothing short of incredible!

[@Westeros91]

Best video essayist on KZbin

[@B4DDHero]

Super hot fire, as per usual. I very much appreciate your recognition of the heartbreak of losing your loved ones to ideology

[@cactusproductions6531]

Damn I never really thought of the Nazgûl in that way I knew they were men fallen to the corruption of the rings but to pity them in that way just makes them all the more tragic

[@drewknoles3258]

You make my brain hurt in a good way.

[@nelsonmza9915]

Brilliant! Love the connections you’ve made on this essay. Thanks.

[@br1na332]

Great video is great. Sometimes I feel frustrated that the videos are so good I feel like I don't even know what to say, but cheer like I'm seeing Gandalf vogue over the hill ❤

[@kezia8027]

That tipping point, of choosing to believe yourself over external input is something that I have been struggling with more and more lately. I feel the pull of wanting to move to echo chambers; I don't want to see or hear most of the vile hatred that is out there, I'm tired. Also, I know that if I close myself off to opinions other than those I already agree with, then I will become stagnant and eventually end up on the wrong side of history. Without a doubt there are things we consider perfectly acceptable today, that in 50 years we might see as abominable - I don't know what those things might be, but I need to be willing to change with the times. Either that, or be left behind.

[@CC-rg3tc]

I hear that the next LOTR monster that MorZoo is going to cover will be the Wars of the Rohirrim animated movie.

[@erasercut]

Poignant analysis as always. And very glad to see Odell referenced, that is a fantastic book!

[@gayarbugio952]

genuinuely really excited ive been loving this series so far

[@mykal4779]

If you haven't already seen it, I think Andor is also an incredible show with heavy themes on the banality of evil. Maybe my favorite show I've ever seen, and I am not a Star Wars fan. Highly recommend.

[@etevenatkowicz9745]

Coming back for like my fourth viewing of this video. There are hours and hours of videos about the monsters of LOTR but very few of them actually engage with the material like this.

[@joeyfromschool]

excellent analysis, I can’t wait for your video on the Ring!

[@SpirusOfH]

I'm constantly surprised at the relative low viewership on these videos compared to the quality of the content. I'm very selective about choosing bell-notification for channels, but I always anticipate your releases and find myself exited to watch the videos when I find the time. If you keep up your work, I'm certain that word will spread and your inevitable growth boost is soon to come. I will say though, investing in a decent microphone will definitely assist in attracting new audiences who are accustomed to a certain quality from video essays (beyond the writing which is obviously high quality, but some people may be turned off before they have a chance to realise this)

[@Ab.Stat.]

just finished the video and i have goosebumps. Bravo!

[@Mercymorn99]

babe wake up new Morbid Zoo video just dropped

[@VolatileChemical]

Interesting also that the Nazgul only resulted from the human bearers of Sauron's rings of power, not from any of the Elves or Dwarf kings he gave rings to. Those other beings had mixed results from the rings, some aided and some cursed, but only men ended up transformed into these beasts that exist only to serve Sauron and the One Ring, even though they supposedly ruled all the other rings. The corruption of the Nazgul is a uniquely human curse. They're the only ring-bearing creatures who are the same species as the reader, and yet by the time we encounter them they've long ceased to be human, and indeed seem far, far less human than any dwarf, elf or hobbit.

[@123sheaman]

Oh, helllll yeah. Seing that this is happening is the best news i've heard in quite some time