immortality
If we are to rely on
Tolkien's own words, the
Ringwraiths were neither living nor dead, neither material nor immaterial and neither in this world nor in that of the Unseen. They were all the time somewhere "in between", dwelling in a semi-material body which could be seen only by
spirits like themselves or like the
Ainur(
Sauron could see their true appearance, seemingly, even when He did not wear
the Ring, unlike
Frodo) and interacting with the natural world in a strange manner.
According to the description made by
Gandalf to Frodo, the
Nazgûl did not perceive the world as earthly
creatures do:
1. Their eyesight was very poor in daylight, but rather satisfactory at night, somehow like an owl's, but they did not see "images" of things as we do; rather each thing watched created an "image" of itself directly into the mind of the
Ringwraith:
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
- LOTR I,11 A
Knife in the Dark
2. They could feel things even if they could not see them:
Senses, too, there are other than sight or smell. We can feel their presence - it troubled our hearts as we came here, and before we saw them; they feel ours more keenly
- LOTR I,11 A Knife in the Dark
3. Another quote, more explicit, about their perception:
If the Ring overcomes you, you yourself become permanently invisible - and it is a horrible cold feeling. Everything becomes very faint like grey ghost pictures against the black background in which you live; but you can smell more clearly than you can hear or see. You have no power however like a Ring of making other things invisible: you are a ringwraith. You can wear clothes.....But you are under the command of
the Lord of the Rings
- The Return of the Shadow - Of
Gollum and the Ring
4. Yet another:
became not only invisible to all in this world, if they wished, but could see both the world under the sun and the other side in which invisible things move
The picture we get from here is that of demon-like beings. Like demons, the Nazgûl are able to capture themselves the "soul"/will of a living being:
They tried to pierce your heart with a Morgul-kife which remains in the wound. If they had succeeded, you would have become like they are, only weaker and under their command. You would have become a wraith under the dominion of the
Dark Lord
- 1 LOTR II,1 Many Meetings.
OK, that's enough.
The perception of a Ringwraith was not directly on topic, but it could cast some light on the true nature of those beings, and also shatter some idiotic myths like "they could not see"(then, how did they fight, for Sauron's sake!?).
These half-material, half-spiritual beings were therefore a sort of demons. But a special kind, since they had once been
Men. They had not been separated entirely from their bodies, because in this form they could not handle
objects, so they would have been unable to fight for Sauron, which had originally been the purpose of creating them. But they could be "dematerialized" like they disappeared from their cloaks when stabbed. This is an Ainur-like ability, gained via their Rings.
Could the Rings make these "volatile" bodies immortal? Apparently they did not act on the bodies themselves. Gollum haf wielded
the One Ring, stronger than
the Nine, for 500 years, and yet he did not become a wraith. But his body got deformed, as the Ring had amplified the will of survival; and this will of survival had kept his body together, slowing his biological decay and prolonging his life. His mind controlled his body. Since he was not adapted for underground life, yet he could not dare to live under the Sun, his will, focused through the Ring, had modified his body in order to allow better chances of survival.
Since the Nazgûl lived in different conditions, their Rings had modified them in different ways. Their bodies had become invulnerable to common
weapons, and to aging, until some enchanted
weapon couldhave broken the original spell. Their senses also evolved. Their spirits/fear were also trapped by the Rings' power. They had "lost their will" in the sense that they still had personal initiative(they were not witless robots) but they were entirely devoted to Sauron and able only to do things in his benefit.
What happens when a trapped spirit is released, by death? Spirits of all beings are immortal,
Elves and Men and
Dwarves and Ainur and so on. Elves go to
Halls of Mandos and expect a new life; Dwarves go also to the Halls of Mandos and remain there until the end of time, since
Eru did not have a plan for them originally. Men pass through the
halls to a place only known by Eru. And
Orcs and spirits under the Shadow, what do they do? If Orcs were genetically-engineered Elves, as Tolkien had left to understand, do they also go to the Halls of Mandos, and bring Sauron's evilness inside
the Blessed Realm itself? What do corrupted Ainur do? Did
Saruman get back to
Valinor?
No.
Saruman's spirit, which headed west, was pushed back by a wind and thrown somewhere in a remote place of the world. The same thng happened to the "diminished" Sauron, after the One Ring got destroyed.
Apparently, corrupted spirits, like
evil Ainur, or Nazgûl, or even Orcs, in the hypothesis of their death(breaking of the material body) are not allowed to return, unless they regret their deeds, and answer to the summons of the
Valar, like Sauron was asked by
Eonwe to do after the
War of Wrath. As he refused, he was not brought in by force - simply left to wander in
Arda.
This seems to be the fate of the Ringwraiths themselves: unable to live further, unable to return to Valinor, unable to gain new bodies, are left to wander the Arda until the end of time, like some ghosts, devoid of all power and keeping just thier grief. A horrible fate, the fate of a tormented spirit with no place to rest, forever wanderer, the fate which Elves themselves feared more than anything(see
Elrond's speech to
Arwen in the FOTR film). Could a greater punishment for their deeds ever be?
~Best regards,
Nautilus
So bodies they must have had all right.
