I gruppens sammanslutning säger Tom Bombadill hobbitshistorierna i de närliggande länderna, säger han:
"... Gold was piled on the biers of dead kings and queens; and mounds covered them, and the stone doors were shut; and the grass grew over all. Sheep walked for a while biting the grass, but soon the hills were empty again. A shadow came out of dark places far away, and the bones were stirred in the mounds. Barrow-wights walked in the hollow places with a clink of rings on cold fingers, and gold chains in the wind."
Vad är skuggan som kom ut ur mörka platser och orsakade barrow-wights att vakna? Vissa webbplatser pekar på Witch King of Angmar, men jag ville veta om det finns några kanonkällor till det. Jag hade alltid det intryck att barrow-wights är en helt separat ondska och har ingenting att göra med Mordor. Precis som Balrog och Shelob antog jag att de var en annan källa till ondska i mitten av jorden.
När vaknade vaggarna först och vem vågade dem?
Barrowdowns var resterna av Kingdom of Cardolan. Historien om dess höst och bebodens invånare finns i Bilaga A:
A great host came out of Angmar in 1409, and crossing the river entered Cardolan and surrounded Weathertop. The Dúnedain were defeated and Arveleg was slain. The Tower of Amon Sûl was burned and razed; but the palantír was saved and carried back in retreat to Fornost, Rhudaur was occupied by evil Men subject to Angmar, and the Dúnedain that remained there were slain or fled west Cardolan was ravaged. Araphor son of Arveleg was not yet full-grown, but he was valiant, and with aid from Círdan he repelled the enemy from Fornost and the North Downs. A remnant of the faithful among the Dúnedain of Cardolan also held out in Tyrn Gorthad (the Barrowdowns), or took refuge in the Forest behind.
...
In the days of Argeleb II [1670-1743] the plague came into Eriador from the Southeast, and most of the people of Cardolan perished, especially in Minhiriath. The Hobbits and all other peoples suffered greatly, but the plague lessened as it passed northwards, and the northern parts of Arthedain were little affected. It was at this time that an end came of the Dúnedain of Cardolan, and evil spirits out of Angmar and Rhudaur entered into the deserted mounds and dwelt there.
Rhudaur var bara ett vassalstat i Angmar, så det är kanon att de onda andarna definitivt kom från Häxariket Angmar. Vakten var i själva verket gjord av dessa onda andar - de var skuggan långt ifrån och rörde sig (befinna sig) redan i högen.
Det förklaras inte om de skickades specifikt av häxkongen eller kom av egen vilja, men jag tror att det är ett rimligt antagande att häxkongen skulle ha varit inblandad, särskilt vid denna tidpunkt och gav den strategiska fördelen med effektivt förhindra ytterligare avveckling av en av kungarna i Dunedain.
Från LOTR Wikia :
These hills were the burial mounds that were made in the First Age of the Sun for the Kings of Men. For many ages the Barrow-downs were sacred and revered, until out of the Witch-Kingdom of Angmar many terrible and tortured spirits fled across Middle-earth, desperately searching to hide from the ravening light of the Sun.
Eftersom Konungariket Angmar förstördes av Eärnur i TA 1975, kan vi anta att de är relativt "nya" (inte äldre än Angmar-fondation, i TA 1300).
En annan webbplats verkar bekräfta vagans uppenbarelse under kriget mellan rester av Arnor riket och Angmar:
Evil spirits sent to dwell in the Barrow-downs by the Witch-king of Angmar during his wars with the remnant of Arnor, and who remained there long after the realm of Angmar itself had vanished from the world.
Redigera: Mer information från en verifierbar källa med referenser till faktiska bokpassager
The Barrow-wights were evil spirits, although their true nature is unknown; it is not known if they were perverted Maiar (Úmaiar) or spirits of Orcs, fallen Avari, or evil Men.
The Witch-king of Angmar sent them to the Barrow-downs, in order to prevent a resurrection of the destroyed Dúnedain kingdom of Cardolan. The spirits stirred the dead bones in the mounds and haunted them.
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