The Nine Ringwraiths: How Kings Fell to Sauron | Silmarillion

In the Second Age, Sauron disguised as Annatar distributed nine Rings of Power to the mightiest kings and sorcerers of Men, including three Númenórean lords and Khamûl the Easterling. These rings promised immortality, wealth, and supernatural power - gifts that seemed irresistible to rulers at the height of their ambition. But over 554 years, the Nine were gradually corrupted, their identities erased as they transformed into the Nazgûl - Ringwraiths neither living nor dead, enslaved extensions of Sauron's will. For nearly 4,000 years they terrorized Middle-earth, with the Witch-king destroying Arnor's kingdoms and ending Gondor's royal line. Yet providence prepared their defeat through unlikely means: Éowyn and Merry fulfilled Glorfindel's ancient prophecy at Pelennor Fields using a barrow-blade forged sixteen centuries earlier specifically to fight Angmar, while hobbits destroyed the One Ring and ended the remaining eight Nazgûl's five-thousand-year enslavement.