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Here are my thoughts on the Nazgul:For being the Dark Lord's most terrible servants, they're surprisingly fragile. As are their mounts. For example, Legolas downed a Fellbeast with a single arrow along the Anduin. And Eowyn slew one with impressive ease on the Pelenor. And though these are certainly not mean achievements, they do imply that the winged mounts of the Nazgul are not as durable as they might appear.(Aside: Peter Jackson's depiction of the beast's decapitation by Eowyn includes a memorable "wobble wobble" sound that I contend is one of the greatest artistic decisions of his career)The Ring Wraiths themselves did not often engage in physical combat. And when they did, 6 were unable to best the unassisted Grey Wizard on Amon Sul. And Strider fended off 5 of them at the same location, 3 days later (though they were admittedly content to retreat and await the effects of Mr. Baggins's wound).Additionally, the shieldmaiden of Rohan famously managed to survive an exchange of blows with the Greatest of the Nine, ultimately ending what must poorly be described as his "life". Although she was carried away from the scene with a shattered arm, one would think a wraith's mace would have deposited a more immediately fatal injury.It does seem then that the potency of their powers is in the poisoning of hearts and minds, and not in the delivery of physical damage. And although JRR publically detested allegory, it is understandable to assume that the inspiration for these creatures was derived from The Professor's experiences in the trenches of the Great War. Correlation has been observed between his written descriptions of the sounds of the Nazgul riding their Fellbeasts and the sounds of incoming German artillery, both of which drove soldiers insane with fear. JRR himself witnessed men cower, throw down their weapons, and flee with abandon when the Big Bertha shells were heard tumbling through the air overhead; or when canisters of poison gas came screaming into their lines. And though physical damage did not always follow, the psychological devastation was debatably more dreadful than even death. Similar descriptions are seen in Tolkien's depictions of the Ring Wraiths.If the terrors of war were in fact the inspiration for the Nazgul, then they truly were evil and horrific creatures whose presence alone could strip a man of his sanity, and whose weapons could drag him into their own shadowy world of living death. And the ability to heal and restore the soul of someone who was touched by the weapons of such an enemy is nothing short of Magical.