Gandalf the Grey was the wisest of the five Istari in Middle-Earth and the only one to follow through with their duties. The Istari are powerful beings sent to Middle-Earth to aid and advise the free folk in the battle against the dark lord Sauron. This master of darkness had an overwhelming army of Orcs and beasts at his disposal. Chief among his shadowy agents are the Nazgûl or Ringwraiths.
Cloaked in robes with faces invisible to the naked eye, these wraiths had been around since the second age of Man. They followed Sauron’s bidding without question, hunting the One Ring to bring back to their lord and striking down anyone who gets in their way. While Frodo and a few others in his fellowship run into the Nazgûl several times, the one character that never faces off against themone-on-one is the wizard Gandalf. Could Gandalf take on these shades of men or would they defeat him as they do every other opponent they come across?
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What are the Nazgûl?
Quite simply, the Nazgûl were shadows of former men. During the second age, Sauron gifted nine rings of power to mortal men in Middle-Earth. Three of these men were rumored to be Numenorean from the island of Numenor where Aragorn’s ancestors came from and one of them was an Easterling king. These men used the rings and the seeming immortality they granted to accrue great wealth and prestige. However, just as the One Ring gradually corrupted its wearer, the rings of power these men wore did the same.They quickly became Sauron’s chief instruments.
Over time, their bodies faded until they were completely invisible. Despite being invisible to the physical world, they could see the spiritual objects and creatures known as the Unseen while walking within the physical realm. Thus, they were able to see Frodo when he slipped on the One Ring before they stabbed him atop Weathertop.
Tolkein only named two of the nine Wringraiths: The Witch-King of Angmar, one of the Numenorians, and Khamul the Easterling. Of course, Witch-King of Angmar is a title and not a name, so only one of the Nazgûl truly has a name.
In the northern regions of the Misty Mountains is Angmar where the Witch-King ruled before his ring fully corrupted him. Before the story ofThe Lord of the Rings, he spent much of his time pitting the kingdoms of men in the north against each other. He even succeeded in conquering Minas Ithil, which he later renamed Minas Morgul, and ruled over it.
Khamul was the Witch-King’s second-in-command and former ruler over the Easterling city of Rhun. For much of his time before the War of the Ring, Khamul commanded the fortress ofDol Guldur just south of Mirkwood Forest.
Could a Nazgûl Defeat Gandalf?
Asking if a Nazgûl could defeat Gandalf isn’t an easy question to answer. Gandalf was one of the five wizards in Middle Earth and considered the wisest of them all. Not only that, but Gandalf had two distinct power levels. He existed as the grey wizard for a time when he was wise yet fearful, and then there was his reincarnation as the white wizard. His inner Maiar strength as the white wizard was significantly heightened in comparison to his grey abilities. Then there’s the consideration of the Nazgûl themselves, whose power waxes and wanes with Sauron’s power.
All that considered, it is unlikely that a Nazgûl, even theWitch-King of Angmar, could best Gandalf in a one-on-one battle. Fans debate over the number of Nazgûl the wizard takes on in the novel as it ranges between four and nine, but the books clearly state that Gandalf held his ground against Sauron’s chief agents. In the novelFellowship of the Ring,the chapter titled “The Council of Elrond” states:
But they closed round at night, and I was beseiged on the hill-top, in the old ring of Amon Sûl. I was hard put to it indeed: such light and flame cannot have been seen on Weathertop since the war-beacons of old.
That was before Eru, the God of theLord of the Ringsmythology, promoted Gandalf, unlocking the full potential of the Istari within him. There’s also the battle with the Balrog to consider. Gandalf stayed behind inMoria to fend off the Balrog, Durin’s Bane, giving the fellowship the chance to escape. Balrogs are lesser spirits known as Maiar, corrupted by Sauron’s master Morgoth. To defeat one is no easy feat and Gandalf did so in a battle that lasted for ten days.
When Gandalf’s soul was reborn in the form of Gandalf the White, his former limitations and vulnerabilities dissipated. He was no longer the reserved wizard that Gandalf the Grey was, instead exhibiting a more assertive demeanor. His powers were also at their height. Gandalf chased away aNazgûl and its Fell Beastas he rescued Faramir from certain death, showing that they were no match for the reincarnated Gandalf. There’s a lot of doubt amongst fans that the wizard could have bested the Witch-King due to the character’s own doubt. However, that could have been modesty or lingering doubt from his grey days.
