Welcome to Know Your LotRO Lore, a new weekly column here at Massively showcasing the lore of J.R.R. Tolkien's world as it intersects with Turbine's Lord of the Rings Online.
Chasing the four Hobbits through The Shire, Bree-land and eventually confronted on Weathertop for the first time, the Black Riders are a source of impending fear for all. Why are they there? Who sent them? What are they?
They are the Nazgûl, the Ringwraiths, the Úlairi, the Black Riders or the Nine. They are undead Kings of Man who have been transformed by the curses of the Rings of Power to serve under Sauron's command. They do his bidding, and they are his most terrible servants.
As was discussed in last week's Know Your LotRO Lore, this week's installment will be a continuation of the Ring Lore study and focus on the Nazgûl. We will detail the origins of these wraiths and how they're depicted in Lord of the Rings Online. Follow along through the link below to begin the journey into the world of the Black Riders.
Reader Comments (4)
Posted: Dec 9th 2008 4:14PM Mr Angry said
Quality LOTRO content from Massively recently I must say, nice to get loads of articles.
If anyone has not given this game a shot yet, I urge you to try it out.
If anyone has not given this game a shot yet, I urge you to try it out.
Posted: Dec 9th 2008 6:14PM (Unverified) said
I love this column, keep 'em coming! :-D
Posted: Dec 9th 2008 6:16PM Jesspiper said
Another great article. LOL, imo Turbine has an unfair advantage over any other MMO dev team with their possession of Tolkien's lore. Nothing else can compare really. AoC's Hyborea comes close, but that's about it.
That being said Turbine could have gone the easy rode and just have players ride the side-lines of the LoTR story parallel to the Fellowship. Thankfully, and to their credit Turbine has sent us off the beaten track to never before seen (only mentioned) places of Middle Earth for our OWN story.
I had no problems with the concept of taking on a Nazgul in the book quests. I confess I missed the part about us destroying him. I thought he was just banished? I thought we just sent him to the rest of his kind when they got smoked by the river?
In any case if he was indeed destroyed that is a bit dissapointing, since I thought they were bound to the ring like Sauron.
Great article!
That being said Turbine could have gone the easy rode and just have players ride the side-lines of the LoTR story parallel to the Fellowship. Thankfully, and to their credit Turbine has sent us off the beaten track to never before seen (only mentioned) places of Middle Earth for our OWN story.
I had no problems with the concept of taking on a Nazgul in the book quests. I confess I missed the part about us destroying him. I thought he was just banished? I thought we just sent him to the rest of his kind when they got smoked by the river?
In any case if he was indeed destroyed that is a bit dissapointing, since I thought they were bound to the ring like Sauron.
Great article!
Posted: Dec 9th 2008 7:37PM Softserve said
Yeah, the Nazgul being banished was kind of my understanding too. I just played the book the other day and I swear that some NPC afterward stated he basically got sent back to Mordor.
It was fun fighting one, but I guess we always have to remember that the only reason he was beatable was because he was severely weakened beforehand lol.
Reply
It was fun fighting one, but I guess we always have to remember that the only reason he was beatable was because he was severely weakened beforehand lol.







