In an Empire exclusive previewing The Rings of Power Season 3, showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay have revealed that the series will introduce pre-wraith versions of the Nine, calling them the “Nazgnagol.” The full cover story runs in Empire’s September 2026 issue, on sale July 30. Season 3 premieres on Prime Video on November 11, 2026.
The term is explained as a Black Speech compound: “nazg” (ring) plus “nagol” (servant), yielding “Nazgnagol,” meaning “Ring-servant.” Payne told Empire: “He led with language. Language became a scaffold on which the myth would hang… The word ‘Nazgul’ 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 ‘nagol’ could mean ‘servant.'”
Empire Exclusive: A proto-Ringwraith on horseback in The Rings of Power Season 3. Image credit: Empire Magazine / Amazon Prime Video.
The word “nagol” and the compound “Nazgnagol” do not appear anywhere in J.R.R. Tolkien’s writings, published Black Speech vocabulary, or his linguistic notes. Tolkien scholars and fans of his constructed languages will find no source for these forms in any of his texts. This is a coinage by Payne and McKay, presented as a derivation from Tolkien’s work.
The timeline framing is also a significant departure from Tolkien’s Second Age chronology. According to Appendix B of The Lord of the Rings, Sauron seized the Nine Rings from the Elves during the War of the Elves and Sauron, around S.A. 1697. He then distributed them to mortal men, who wore the rings for centuries as their bodies and wills slowly faded. The Nazgul did not appear as spectral Ringwraiths in Middle-earth until approximately S.A. 2251, more than 500 years after the rings changed hands. The show is compressing that multi-century arc of corruption into a single dramatic season.
One of the Nine depicted in Season 3 is Khamul the Easterling, played by Zubin Varla. Varla described the arc of these characters: “In a sense, they go on the same journey as Gollum. 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 offered Khamul’s internal perspective on his fall: “From Khamul’s point of view, he is a warlord who deserves to be a king, whose power has been usurped by a dark wizard. Sauron offers him a way back to the top.”
Empire Exclusive: A pre-wraith Ring-bearer in human form in The Rings of Power Season 3. Image credit: Empire Magazine / Amazon Prime Video.
Of course, the invention of “Nazgnagol” is another instance of the showrunners creating new lore and terminology for the Amazon series, compressing centuries of Second Age history into a condensed television timeline, and departing even further from Tolkien’s original story.
