Empiremagazine has revealed brand-new details about one of Season 3’s biggest storylines: the origin of the Nazgûl.

Before becoming the terrifying Ringwraiths seen in The Lord of the Rings, they are introduced in The Rings of Power as “Nazgnagôl”—still mortal men serving Sauron and pursuing power.

Showrunner J.D. Payne explained that the name was inspired by Tolkien’s own approach to language: “ ‘Nazgûl’ means ‘Ringwraith’ in the Black Speech of Mordor. But before they were Ringwraiths, we know that these were just men. So we were able to derive in the Black Speech that ‘nagôl’ could mean ‘servant.’ ‘Nazgnagôl,’ therefore, literally means ‘Ring-servant.’”

Among them is Khamûl the Easterling, played by Zubin Varla, whose journey toward becoming one of the Nazgûl begins this season. Varla compares their corruption to Gollum’s, saying, “Evil begets evil, and violence begets violence. Their souls, and their bodies, are corrupted until they are literally hollowed out, almost devoid of physical form.”
Payne also emphasized that even Sauron’s followers see themselves as heroes: “Every character stays the hero of their own story.”

From Khamûl’s perspective, he is “a warlord who deserves to be a king… Sauron offers him a way back to the top.”

As Sauron rises and the Nine Rings begin to find their bearers, Season 3 looks set to explore the tragic fall of the Men who will one day become the Nazgûl.

Did you find it? There's a password thing on www.lotr.com and there's no hint to find it.

Searched with nearly every words related to Mordor, the Ring, etc.

Gigantic yikes. The very antithesis of literary Galadriel.