Nazgûl Eyes

[Alcuin]

The confrontation between Éowyn and the Witch King is one of my favorites scenes in the Lord of the Rings, as likely for many of you. In the past day or so, I noticed something I’d not before.

In the confrontation on Weathertop with Frodo, Aragorn, and the hobbits, there is no mention of any “gleam” in the Lord of the Nazgûl’s eyes. Only Frodo can see their eyes, and only when he puts on the Ring. Otherwise, they are all specifically said to be invisible to mortal sight.

Aragorn probably knew more about them than any other Man, being instructed not only by Elrond, his foster-father, but also by records and tales left by his ancestors, the Northern Dúnedain, who fought a series of wars against the Witch King of Angmar before their kingdom succumbed to him. Aragorn described the Nazgûl as if blind in human terms, seeing only things that “cast shadows” into the netherworld in which they were trapped. To reinforce this idea, when Sam put on the Ring high in the cleft at the top of Cirith Ungol, he saw the orcs passing by as hazy shadow-figures.

Yet when Gandalf confronts the Nazgûl Lord in the Gate of Minas Tirith, Pippin can see the Ringwraith’s eyes in the emptiness between his shoulders and his iron crown. And when the Witch King fights with Éowyn, both Éowyn and Merry can see his eyes, which gleam just before he tries to smash her head – and Merry stabs him.

The Witch King’s eyes are clearly a prominent feature in an otherwise (apparently) featureless creature. But there’s no mention of his eyes on the road to Rivendell – except for Frodo, first when he wears the Ring on Weathertop, then later at the Bruinen when he can see them because he himself is slipping in the wraith world. Even as the Ringwraith leads his army out of Minas Morgul, his eyes are unseen while Frodo, Sam and Gollum hide from him.

So I’d like to pose a question:

Do you suppose the Witch King’s eyes were only visible during the attack on Minas Tirith?

There might be some reasons to think so.

• Let’s assume Aragorn is right: the Nazgûl can’t see well – at least, they can’t see things in the normal world, the world of the living, very well.
• Let’s assume Sauron “beefed up” his Captain of Despair”, the Witch King, with “extra demonic power” (I believe that’s the phrase Tolkien used in Letters to describe the Witch King’s intensified strength) for the attack on Minas Tirith.
• How successful do you suppose a blind or half-blind military commander would be?

I propose that Sauron arranged for the Lord of the Nazgûl “peek out” from the wraith world to see the normal world in order to execute his attack on the city. That, I suggest, is the reason his eyes could be seen then, but not before; and why none of the other Ringwraiths’ eyes could be seen.

What says the Entmoot? (My apologies: I can’t stay to discuss it myself: I have to work. But I hope this sparks a merry debate!)

[Valandil]

Lot's of interesting ideas Alcuin. Thank you!

Nice reminder that JRRT mentions the "beefing up" in a letter. I vividly remember the concept from the movie, and didn't recall if it had any basis in Tolkien's writings. So overall - yes, I think what you say is very plausible.

Otherwise, from a literary standpoint - the eyes probably make that moment more dramatic, and also give Eowyn a nice target.

Interesting thought about the limitations of blind military leadership. Good reason for why the Third Age was not known as "The Age of th Nazgul". We often think of the Nazgul as being very powerful - but they also have their limits. Perhaps they were most to be feared by Frodo - as a ring-bearer. It put him in the position of trying to operate on "their turf" - where they were much stronger.

[Rían]

Interesting - I'll have to think about it...

[Earniel]

Interesting point.

Considering the Ringwraiths weren't bumping into doors and walls left and right throughout the books, they had to have some way of seeing, even if only by say, echo-location. Possibly their other senses are hightened enough to compensate. They could perceive the blood of the living at all times, I seem to recall. And the first time we 'meet' them in the books, they snuffle as if trying to smell the Hobbits.

Or perhaps everything real casts a shadow into the shadow world which the Ringwraiths can then see in some way. Frodo and Sam spent only a short time in the netherworld, so it would have looked very peculiar and strange for them. The Ringwraiths have spent millennia in it, so by that time they may have become very astute in descyphering the shadows around them and seeing more than vague shadows.

So I dare say the Nazgûl are only blind in the way they don't see the same way as us or don't use their eyes the same way as us. (Maybe that's why they're always in black, if you can't see colours how can you pick clothes with matching colours and avoid looking like an idiot that can't dress himself? Even evil has standards, you know.)

As for the specific instance of the Witch-king's visible eyes, yes, I do think they would only have been visible at the battle of Minas Tirith. It could be that this was part of Sauron's upgrade of the Witch-king, or perhaps the Witch-king himself, as most powerful of the the Ringwraiths, had some control of what he physically manifested. If I try to determine what I would find scarier: an empty harness with a iron crown, or an empty harness with an iron crown and floating eyes in between, I think I might go for the latter. Whether he saw anything through them is another matter.

[Lefty Scaevola]

Maybe he was just wearing a a cool pair of magic shades, or something else cosmetic, to look more impressive while doing the army commander bit.

[Alcuin]

I have foolishly kept up with the thread in its beginning, and I’m too sick this evening to work.

In Fellowship of the Ring, “Knife in the Dark”, Merry and Aragorn discuss the vision impairment of the Nazgûl:

“Can the Riders see?” asked Merry. “I mean, they seem usually to have used their noses rather than their eyes, smelling for us, … at least in the daylight. But … now you talk of being seen...”

[A]nswered Strider[,] “…[T]he black horses can see, and the Riders can use men and other creatures as spies... They themselves do not see the world of light as we do, but our shapes cast shadows in their minds, which only the noon sun destroys; and in the dark they perceive many signs and forms that are hidden from us: then they are most to be feared. And at all times they smell the blood of living things, desiring and hating it. Senses, too, there are other than sight or smell. We can feel their presence – it troubled our hearts, as soon as we came here, and before we saw them; they feel ours more keenly. Also,” …, “the Ring draws them.”

Later, in “Flight to the Ford”, as Frodo came closer and closer to slipping into the wraith-world,

[D]uring the day things about [Frodo] faded to shadows of ghostly grey. He almost welcomed the coming of night, for then the world seemed less pale and empty.

This was, at best, how things appeared to the Ringwraiths, too, who had crossed over the barrier to the “other side” more than four thousand years earlier. After the flood stormed down the Bruinen, sweeping away the Riders and their horses,

With his last failing senses Frodo heard cries, and it seemed to him that he saw, beyond the Riders that hesitated on the shore, a shining figure of white light; and behind it ran small shadowy forms waving flames, that flared red in the grey mist that was falling over the world.

He is so nearly overcome that his own vision is failing. As Gandalf tells him in “Many Meetings”,

“You were beginning to fade. … A few more hours and you would have been beyond our aid.”

And

“You were in gravest peril while you wore the Ring, for then you were half in the wraith-world yourself, and they might have seized you. You could see them, and they could see you.”

Describing Glorfindel, whom Frodo could see, Gandalf says,

“[T]he Elven-wise, lords of the Eldar from beyond the furthest seas[,] … do not fear the Ringwraiths, for those who have dwelt in the Blessed Realm live at once in both worlds, … both the Seen and the Unseen”

In Two Towers, “The Choices of Master Samwise”, when Sam puts on the Ring to hide from the approaching orcs,

The world changed... At once he was aware that hearing was sharpened while sight was dimmed, but otherwise than in Shelob's lair. All things about him now were not dark but vague; while he himself was there in a grey hazy world, alone, like a small black solid rock and the Ring, weighing down his left hand, was like an orb of hot gold. He did not feel invisible at all, but horribly and uniquely visible; and he knew that somewhere an Eye was searching for him.
…[T]he Orcs … marched up like a phantom company, grey distorted figures in a mist, only dreams of fear with pale flames in their hands.

Personally, I take the “pale flames” to be swords; others may have other interpretations: torches, for instance.

I cite these to say this: We know the Ringwraiths couldn’t see well. (Khamûl was the worst; perhaps he was already deep in evil even before receiving a Ring of Power.) We can safely assume no Ringwraith saw better than Sam or Frodo could in these instances, perhaps not even that well.

It’s hazardous to stray from the texts. Once in Entmoot, I surmised that Éowyn might have reminded the Witch-king of the Númenórean “girl he left behind”. I will dare to surmise again.

Think about the blindfold we use for a game like Blind-man’s Bluff. I envision (pardon the pun) the Lord of the Nazgûl using just such a cloth, but with a twist – instead of blinding his sight, it enabled him to see into the world of the living, a suitably perverse twist on the notion of a blindfold. All that would be seen in the “real world” would be his eyes.

Here is a detail of a fine depiction of Donatello the Ninja Turtle to make plain the point, though I imagine that more of the Witch-king’s face appeared between and around his eyes.

[Rían]

Originally Posted by Eärniel

So I dare say the Nazgûl are only blind in the way they don't see the same way as us or don't use their eyes the same way as us. (Maybe that's why they're always in black, if you can't see colours how can you pick clothes with matching colours and avoid looking like an idiot that can't dress himself? Even evil has standards, you know.)

I love the Moot!

Maybe just as Sauron was slowly "pulling himself together" from when he first got disembodied, in the same way the Nazgûl, who are tied into Sauron, were gaining more abilities?

[Olmer]

So I dare say the Nazgûl are only blind in the way they don't see the same way as us or don't use their eyes the same way as us. (Maybe that's why they're always in black, if you can't see colours how can you pick clothes with matching colours and avoid looking like an idiot that can't dress himself? Even evil has standards, you know.)

They still have their own outfits under black capes.
I think you are right about them seeing in a different way. They put a blind eye on Frodo and Co. because they did not want to find the Ring for Sauron. So, they put on a big show of looking and not seeing. Otherwise nothing indicates that they are without eyes. Probably they can't tolerate bright light ( as Gollum) an shielding the eyes with the pulled down hoods.

Aragorn probably knew more about them than any other Man

But still it is Aragorn's hearsay. Neither Aragorn, Elrond or Gandalf are really know at what extend the abilities of Ringwraiths change. They have just an educated guess.
But the history of Witch-King of Angmar suggest that he was able to rule by himself a successful kingdom, making a smart strategic and political decisions without Sauron's guidance. I would contribute it to an enhanced ability to see things with own eyes. Besides, as Alcuin said, how successful will be a blind military commander?

[Earniel]

Originally Posted by Olmer

They still have their own outfits under black capes.

Yeah but those are either, like, a millenium out of style, or otherwise invisible for everybody outside the shadow world. Not exactly the pinacle of fashion, right?

[Serenoli]

Hmm... just because they can't see well in the material world might not mean they don't have eyes? Or perhaps the Witch King is extra special and has eyes - only no one noticed them in book one.

And maybe - maybe his eyes only 'gleam' when he temporarily focuses them on the corporeal world. It seems he does this just before he is about to clobber someone with a sword, so that would be a time when accuracy is more important - whereas in the thick of battle or while flying around menacingly, he might just rely on the shadows in the spirit world as a good enough guide?

[Lefty Scaevola]

Originally Posted by Olmer

how successful will be a blind military commander?

Ask King John of Bohemia, KIA 1346.