Listening to the discussion about the “wailing” of the Nazgûl in episode 16 and I was reminded of the Irish keening (Caointeoireacht) tradition. It is very haunting. Old recordings of it can be found in this video. In this tradition, a funeral attendee (usually a woman) would sing a wailing song, with no accompaniment, at the graveside. The purpose was to voice the grief of all present, as well as sing the praises of the deceased. Often they were paid. It is probably not a stretch that similar traditions were still alive in rural England during Tolkien’s time.
Wailing or keening are noises widely held to be haunting and creepy-sounding. Noises associated with death. They are the sounds ghosts make, or bereft women at a graveside.
The hobbits comment that it is “not like any bird that I have heard in the shire,” and that it has words they can’t make out. This would also fit with a keening-like vocalization, as comparing it to birds suggests a musical quality to it, which Irish keening has.
The sound is described as “lonely” and seems to evoke in the hobbits what Corey interprets as pity. Taking the Nazgûls’ perspective for a moment, they are quite tragic figures. They live in a kind of hell—doomed to an eternal life of servitude as a result of their own greed and weakness. I am reminded of the Chandrian from the Kingkiller Chronicle—a group of 7 ghost-like villains who are doomed to eternal life with no sleep. These are circumstances one would certainly be inclined to wail about.
Wailing or keening are noises widely held to be haunting and creepy-sounding. Noises associated with death. They are the sounds ghosts make, or bereft women at a graveside.
The hobbits comment that it is “not like any bird that I have heard in the shire,” and that it has words they can’t make out. This would also fit with a keening-like vocalization, as comparing it to birds suggests a musical quality to it, which Irish keening has.
The sound is described as “lonely” and seems to evoke in the hobbits what Corey interprets as pity. Taking the Nazgûls’ perspective for a moment, they are quite tragic figures. They live in a kind of hell—doomed to an eternal life of servitude as a result of their own greed and weakness. I am reminded of the Chandrian from the Kingkiller Chronicle—a group of 7 ghost-like villains who are doomed to eternal life with no sleep. These are circumstances one would certainly be inclined to wail about.
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