Evil spirits inhabiting the burial mounds of the Barrow-downs in Eriador. Originally the barrows were the resting places of the Dunedain and their ancestors, but the Barrow-downs were abandoned when the Dunedain were stricken by the Great Plague of 1636. The Witch-king then sent evil spirits from Angmar and Rhudaur to occupy the barrows. The Barrow-downs became a place of fear and even Hobbits had heard of their sinister reputation. 