The Witch-King of Angmar, also known as the Lord of the Nazgûl, was the leader of the Nazgûl (Ringwraiths) and Sauron's second-in-command during the Second and Third Ages of Middle-earth. His precise identity is unknown, but he could be one of three noble lords of Númenor, who were corrupted by one of the Nine Rings of Power and thus became the undying wraiths at the servitude of Sauron. After Sauron's defeat by the Last Alliance, the Witch-King eventually reappeared in the Third Age's 14th Century to establish the evil realm of Angmar, where he gained his infamous epithet and ruled for almost 7 centuries until the three successor states of Arnor were finally conquered. The Witch-King returned to Mordor to facilitate his master's return to power, then took Gondor's city of Minas Ithil and refortified it as Minas Morgul, and snuffed out the line of the Kings of Gondor. He led Sauron's armies in the War of the Ring, stabbed Frodo Baggins on Weathertop during the first months of the hobbit's venture out of the Shire to Rivendell, and at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, he broke the Great Gate of Minas Tirith and killed King Théoden of Rohan before meeting his own doom. Chief lieutenant and greatest servant of the Dark Lord for over 4 millennia of Middle-earth history, he was a mighty leader and an undying sorcerer of incomparable fear and dread. In his hour of triumph at Pelennor, however, he was killed by Éowyn, shieldmaiden of Rohan and niece of King Théoden with the help of the hobbit, Meriadoc "Merry" Brandybuck near the end of the War of the Ring.