Wraiths: Difference between revisions

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''Wraith'' is a Scottish word meaning "ghost" (of uncertain origin; possibly from Gaelic, Irish ''arrach''  "specter, apparition").<ref>Douglas Harper, "[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=wraith wraith]" at [http://www.etymonline.com Online Etymology Dictionary] (accessed 26 December 2010)</ref>
''Wraith'' is a Scottish word meaning "ghost" (of uncertain origin; possibly from Gaelic, Irish ''arrach''  "specter, apparition").<ref>Douglas Harper, "[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=wraith wraith]" at [http://www.etymonline.com Online Etymology Dictionary] (accessed 26 December 2010)</ref>


==Other versions==
==Other versions of the legendarium==


In a draft for ''[[The Lord of the Rings Appendices]]'', the [[Paths of the Dead]] were said to have been guarded by the "''fell wraiths of the [[Oathbreakers|Forgotten Men]]''".{{PM|Aii}}, p. 267</ref>
In a draft for ''[[The Lord of the Rings Appendices]]'', the [[Paths of the Dead]] were said to have been guarded by the "''fell wraiths of the [[Oathbreakers|Forgotten Men]]''".<ref>{{PM|Aii}}, p. 267</ref>


==Portrayal in Adaptations==
==Portrayal in Adaptations==

Revision as of 09:48, 27 December 2010

"...It is a long tale..." — Aragorn
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Wraiths was a name for people having been transformed into undead beings.[1] The realm of the wraiths was called the Wraith-world.[2]

History

In the Elder Days, the wraith of Gorlim appeared in a dream of Beren.[3]

In the Third Age, it was rumoured that the wraith of Helm Hammerhand haunted the enemies of Rohan, killing those who felt fear.[4]

The most famous of the wraiths were the Ringwraiths, Men ensnared by Sauron's Nine Rings.[5] Some of the victims of the Ringwraiths, too, could be transformed into wraiths, albeit lesser and under their command (although no such being is known to have existed).[2] This nearly happened to Frodo Baggins, after having been stabbed by the Morgul blade of the Witch-king.[1]

Etymology and Names

In the Legendarium

The Black Speech/Sindarin word gûl was translated as "wraith(s)" in the Red Book of Westmarch.[5][6][7]

Real-world

Wraith is a Scottish word meaning "ghost" (of uncertain origin; possibly from Gaelic, Irish arrach "specter, apparition").[8]

Other versions of the legendarium

In a draft for The Lord of the Rings Appendices, the Paths of the Dead were said to have been guarded by the "fell wraiths of the Forgotten Men".[9]

Portrayal in Adaptations

1982-97: Middle-earth Role Playing:

The wraith Gaurithoth, an undead Númenórean lieutenant, serves the Witch-king and haunts a burial mound near the Blue Mountains.[10]

2002-5: The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game:

Wraiths are the most common of the three type of ghosts (the other being phantoms and wights). The wraith is without a physical, tangible form, and consists only of the soul of a person wishing to fulfil an evil goal after his or her death.[11]

References