Black Breath

The Black Breath, also called the Black Shadow, is a deadly affliction in The Lord of the Rings caused by the presence and power of the Nazgûl, the Ringwraiths of Sauron. Those who come under the shadow of the Ringwraiths, especially in battle or close proximity, may be overcome by a creeping despair and cold that drags them down into unconsciousness, dark dreams, and ultimately death. It is one of the chief weapons of terror wielded by Sauron's most fearsome servants.

The affliction is not a wound of the body but of the spirit, brought on by the dread that the Nazgûl inspire, and it cannot be cured by ordinary leechcraft.

Description

A person struck by the Black Breath falls into a grey faintness, growing cold and slipping into a deathlike sleep haunted by darkness and despair. Left untreated, the victim sinks deeper into the shadow and dies. The healers of Gondor knew of the affliction and feared it, for their arts could do little against it. Only one of great virtue could draw a sufferer back, and in the lore of Gondor it was held that the hands of the rightful king could heal what others could not.

In the narrative

The Black Breath strikes several characters in The Return of the King after the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. Éowyn, who slew the Lord of the Nazgûl, the Witch-king of Angmar, and Merry, who aided her, both fall under the shadow, as does Faramir, who had earlier been overcome while retreating before the enemy.

In the Houses of Healing in Minas Tirith, Aragorn uses the herb athelas and his own virtue as the returning king to recall all three from the brink of death. His success against the Black Breath is taken by the people as a token that the true king has come again.

Significance

The Black Breath embodies the spiritual dread that the Nazgûl spread before them, making them a menace to the heart and soul as much as to the body. Its cure by Aragorn ties directly to the prophecy that the hands of the king are the hands of a healer, marking one of the quiet turning points by which Aragorn's rightful kingship is revealed.