[Boaz]

Xeon,

Wow! It's refreshing to find someone who is coming to The Lord of the Rings with little or no foreknowledge of the story. JDW and Marky are right on and they gave good, concise answers. I'd have given you the long winded answers that would have driven you away from Tolkien.

Let me just add on to the question about the "ghastly spectres"... their lives (their presence in the physical world) were tied to their rings, but their rings were tied to the existence of the One Ring. As long as the One Ring existed, the three Elven Rings and the nine Human rings were subservient to it. When the One Ring was destroyed, the works of the Elven rings (ie, their effect upon the physical world) seemed to begin to come undone. So, it seems as long as the One Ring existed, the Ringwraiths existed.

Best wishes in your quest.