"But no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund's daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him."

—Éowyn to the Witch-king^[1]

Undead is an encompassing term used to refer to dead beings who could still interact with the living, was used as an encompassing term.

Types

• Barrow-wights were evil spirits inhabiting the bones of deceased people, making them similar to the animate skeletons of other works. One such group inhabited the tombs of the Barrow-downs in Eriador and often possessed the grave-gifts of those entombed there.

• Wraiths are the spirits of people who were killed yet living on by some dark sorcery (necromancy or a Morgul-knife), or someone who died in darkness or serious dishonor. The Nazgûl were the most well-known Wraiths. Gorlim the Unhappy and the Dead Men of Dunharrow were considered to be Wraiths. Elves who defied the call of Mandos become Wraiths that had the ability to possess living things; most often they desired to steal the bodies of Men to become material again, but according to some, they also could possess anything alive.

• Phantoms are split between delusions and spirits such as fallen Maiar and therefore some of them may not be truly undead. Morgoth and Sauron used them for their treachery. It is said Saruman also used them. The dead faces in the Dead Marshes, Corpse-candles^[2] (Quenya: loikolíkuma),^[3] were said to be some type of phantoms.

• Lingerers were Elves whose bodies have been consumed by their fëa. To men, they were indistinguishable from Houseless spirits. These elven spirits were not really undead, because they were never dead to begin with.^[4]

In adaptations

The Games Workshop tabletop wargame mentions the Castellans of Dol Guldur, animate suits of armor possessed by the ghosts of people tortured to death in the fortress' dungeons, or who agreed to be bound to Sauron's will in exchange for learning sorcery from him.

The Lord of the Rings tabletop RPG Middle-earth Role Playing by Iron Crown includes skeletons and ghouls among certain other types.

The Return of the King tie-in licensed videogame featured the Army of the Dead being able to possess ossuaries to form skeletal soldiers. These are the majority of the enemies one fights in Dunharrow. The King of the Dead is the level boss; able to summon skeletal archers, warriors, and a powerful blast of wind able to spit stone.

The Lord of the Rings: The Card Game, by Fantasy Flight Games has many different types of Undead throughout the series. Nazgûl, Wraiths, Barrow-wights, and the Dead Men of Dunharrow are some common types of Undead found in the game. However, other types of Undead appear as well such as: Skeletons, Zombies (or more Draugr like zombies), Shades/Ghosts, Lichs (Undead necromancers).

Gallery

The Nazgûl where a special kind of Wraith, who were empowered by Sauron

References