Posted: March 09, 1999 at 19:15:26: by Michael Martinez
: As we seem to be on the topic of the ringwraiths, I'm intrigued
: to know about there origins. As it's stated a few of them were
: Black Numenoreans corrupted by Sauron. But what of the others
: I know Khamul of Dol Guldur is called the shadow of the east as
: he used to be a cheiftan from the eastmen but what of the
: others did tolkien ever state what there origins were.There were no Black Numenoreans at the time the Ringwraiths first appeared (around the year SA 2251, the beginning of Tar-Atanamir's reign). The division of the Numenoreans into the Faithful and the Kings Men began at about the same time that the Nazgul first appeared, but the three Numenorean would have to have been older, and probably were lords who had settled in Middle-earth. The Numenoreans began to make permanent havens from the year SA 1200 onward, but they began to "establish dominions on the coasts" in SA 1800 and that is when the Shadow first fell on Numenor. It may be that it was around this time (100 years after the War of the Elves and Sauron) when Sauron first gave the Nine Rings to Men. Technically, the Black Numenoreans were only those of the Kings Men who survived the Downfall of Numenor -- i.e., those Numenoreans south of Pelargir who had already settled in Middle-earth and were not, for whatever reasons, incorporated into Ar-Pharazon's armada.
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