The Early Work of the Nine Rings

[Valandil]

From the portion in 'Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age':

Men proved easier to ensnare. Those who used the Nine Rings became mighty in their day, kings, sorcerers and warriors of old. They obtained glory and great wealth, yet it turned to their undoing. They had, as it seemed, unending life, yet life became unendurable to them. They could walk, if they would, unseen by all eyes in this world beneath the sun, and they could see things in worlds invisible to mortal men; but too often they beheld only the phantoms and delusions of Sauron. And, one by one, sooner or later, according to their native strength and to the good or evil of their wills in the beginning, they fell under the thralldom of the ring that they bore and under the domination of the One, which was Sauron's....

Now, another discussion got my mind going on some of this and I thought I'd share and solicit other opinions:

1. What do you think the powers were like that were granted to those nine men in the earliest years?
2. What do you think their kingdoms were like throughout their reigns?
3. In what order do you think they became transformed into wraiths?
4. What do you think determined the 'Pecking Order' of the Nine... ?? Why were some more powerful as Nazguls than others?

Here are some partial answers I myself would give:

1. I only just noticed about how they could be invisible at will. I take it then that they didn't necessarily become invisible when wearing their rings. This may spark controversy, because there are some HoMe sections about a person's spirit, etc - but I have wondered at times if the One Ring made people invisible only because Isildur had commanded it to make him invisible when he put it on at the Gladden Fields. It was then sort of 'stuck' in that mode of causing invisibility. Subsequent wearers either didn't have the will to reverse that or it never occured to them that they could. Isildur could have known about the abilities granted to the Nine some 1500 years before - and might have been unconcerned about using the One himself, because 'Sauron was dead... (right?)'

2. We can only speculate, but things were probably great at first, then fell into ruin. However, that may have taken centuries. The Nine probably outlived their direct heirs... and as they turned more and more evil may have intentionally eliminated them. Early on, probably nine rival but somewhat aligned countries, rising to prominence over the other Men of Middle-earth... but then fading and falling... leaving chaos in their wake.

3. There are two traits which seem to determine how readily each ringbearer became a wraith: native strength and the good or evil in their wills. I take it that those who were stronger and those who were good would resist longer. So... the first to succumb would be the weaker ones who were already inclined to evil (they were partly there... evil-wise, and had less resistance to being dominated), next either those who were stronger and evil or weaker and had tried to do good... last of all, those who were strong-minded but of good intentions.

4. Somewhat twisted version of when they became wraiths. I suggest that those who were strong and who had been originally inclined toward evil would have made the strongest wraiths... probably the Witch-King and Khamul fell into this category. Next would be those who were weaker-willed, but had been inclined to evil. Third would be those who were weaker-willed, but had been initially inclined to do good... what they had become would cut against their grain. Weakest of all might have been those last to fall... those who were strong-minded and who had been inclined to do good. For... their own ring, and Sauron and his One, would have totally broken them... they might weakly follow commands - and sure - in so doing would have still had the power of a ring-wraith, but could probably do absolutely nothing on their own.

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