Quote:
Originally Posted by obloquy
The Witch-King was never called Morgul.
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Well, yes and no...
As a matter of fact it is the name "Witch-King" which is rarely used in LOTR: only once in the text itself (and it refers to the Angmar period) and several times in the Appendices, most of the cases also refer to the Angmar period.
In other cases in LOTR he is called "The Morgul-lord" (Many meetings), "the Morgul-king" (the Stairs of Cirith Ungol) "Lord of Morgul"(App. A), and only once "King of Minas Morgul" (App. A.).
The sentence about Gothmog II looks like one of the occasions where the WK seems to be called simply "Morgul". (I believe that all the mentions of "legions of Morgul" in LOTR mean the "Witch-King's legions", not "the host of Minas Morgul", because the host of the Minas Morgul fortress constituted only about a third of the army assembled at the Pelennor).
There is another sentence in the "Hunt for the Ring" published in Reader's Companion, where the WK is called simply "Angmar".
As to the the WK' names I have my own little theory:
In Sindarin "King (Lord) of Morgul" would most likely sound as "
Aran Morgul". It sounds like a name given by enemies, yet flattering, one that he would accept and use. "
Lord of Black Magic!" A title more befitting Sauron himself, I would say. Not bad for he who had been a mere Man once...
And if we go a tad further and consider how "Aran Morgul" would translate into Westron by a person from the "good side" - what do we get?
The Witch-King! King of bad, Dark Sorcery = witchcraft.
Translate both parts of the name and you get the Witch-King, translate only the title and you get Lord/King of Morgul.
I believe the Nazgul Lord
never changed his name: Aran Morgul he had been in Angmar, Aran Morgul he remained in Minas Morgul, the city named after him. Likely the Minas Morgul fortress, the former Minas Ithil, took its new name from its new ruler, not the other way round: it may simply mean "Morgul's Tower."