Piercing Voice

[Stormcrow]

The Darkening of Mirkwood gives the Ring-wraiths the ability to wail at their enemies to make a fearful enemy Weary. Do the Ring-wraiths ever do this in the book? I know they call to each other with chilling wails, but I don't remember them using this as a weapon. Isn't this just another Peter Jackson innovation?

[Jez]

.....flippityflippityflip.....

yes, they do and the first example is in A Shortcut to Mushrooms:

"They stopped suddenly. Frodo sprang to his feet. A long-drawn wail came down the wind, like the cry of some evil and lonely creature. It rose and fell, ended on a high piercing note. Even as they sat and stood, as if suddenly frozen, it was answered by another cry, fainter and further off, but no less chilling to the blood. There was then a silence, broken only by the sound of the wind in the leaves.

" And what do you think that was?" Pippin asked at last, trying to speak lightly, but quavering a little."

[Jez]

And then he realised he misread the question...

... flippityflippityflip....

[Jez]

... found it... The Siege of Gondor...

"The Nazgûl came again, and as their Dark Lord now grew and put forth his strength, so heir voices, which uttered only his will and his malice, were filled with evil and horror... Out of sight and shot they flew, and yet were ever present, and their deadly voices rent the air. More unbearable they become, not less, at each new cry. At length even the stout-hearted would fling themselves to the ground as the hidden menace passed over them, or they would stand, letting their weapons fall from nerveless hands while into their minds blackness came, and they thought no more of war, but only of hiding, and of death."

[Rubycon]

Your last citation would suggest, however, that the Nazgûl gained this ability as their dark lord gained enough power, so it would be probable that they would not have that power during the time they enter the Mirkwood.

[Mytholder]

It could be a power that they didn't use in their guise as Black Riders. Inhuman wails that shatter the souls of men might write 'The Nazgul are here' in signs that the Wise could read from the Sea to Hollin; not what you want when you're looking for Shire incognito.

[Glorelendil]

and as their Dark Lord now grew and put forth his strength, so their voices, which uttered only his will and his malice, were filled with evil and horror

So maybe circa 2950 the power is only effective at relatively short range, not from miles away?

[Stormcrow]

Good find, GB.

I see no reason to assume the wailing in the Shire and the voices at Gondor are any different. It's more potent at Gondor because the wraiths' Attribute levels have risen, increasing the difficulty of the fear test, and thus Piercing Voice affects more victims.

[Elmoth]

Or because in the first they are talking, and in the second instance they are using the full auto mode on their Shot of Death and Destruction (TM) wail.

[Glorelendil]

Maybe in both cases they're just communicating each other, and the soul-crushing effect on mortals is an unintended side effect.

Which suggests a not-very-flattering comparison between Nazgul and people who talk on their cell phones on commuter trains.