the lord of the rings - Who were the Nazgul before they became wraiths?

I recall reading somewhere of the history of the nine riders, but I cannot remember where it was. (It seems perhaps they were from northern kingdoms?)

The leader of the Nine was the Witch King of Angmar, but what were the names of the others, and where did they come from?

Answer

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. ... The Nazgûl were they, the Ringwraiths, the Enemy's most terrible servants; darkness went with them, and they cried with the voices of death.

From the Silmarillion.

Only one is explicitly named, in a foot-note in Unfinished Tales:

it may be noted that in a rejected version of the present passage there was only one Nazgûl in Dol Guldur (not named as Khamûl, but referred to as "the Second Chief (the Black Easterling)") ... Of Khamûl it is said here that he was the most ready of all the Nazgûl after the Black Captain himself, to perceive the presence of the Ring, but also the one whose power was most confused and diminished by daylight.

Not much more is provided on the rest, beyond that it was rumoured that three were Numenorean in addition to the one confirmed Easterling:

Yet Sauron was ever guileful, and it is said that among those whom he ensnared with the Nine Rings three were great lords of Númenórean race.

Also from the Silmarillion. This makes sense given the Ringwraiths first appeared in SA 2251 (Appendix B, Lord of the Rings) and Numenor was the pre-eminent civilization of Man at that time.

Comments

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