Barrow-wight

Barrow-wights are wraith-like creatures in J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-earth, based on Old Norse beliefs such as Draugr or vÇ£ttr (wights). Barrow refers to the burial mounds they inhabited and wight is a Middle English word for "living being" or "creature", especially "living human being". It does not necessarily mean "spirit" or "ghost"; it is cognate to modern German "Wicht", meaning small mythical creatures (also "Wichtelmännchen", "wight-manikin"). Tolkien borrowed this concept from Norse mythology, see e.g. Waking of Angantyr and Hrómundar saga Gripssonar. The name Barrow-wight itself was first recorded in 1869 in the Eiríkr Magnússon and William Morris translation of Grettis saga, which features a fight with such a creature. In Norway, farmers of the 19th century were still concerned about "vetter" (wights) around old Viking barrows, when these were first excavated.
Tolkien's main work featuring Barrow-wights is The Lord of the Rings, where they are neighbours of the character Tom Bombadil. However Barrow-wights (together with Bombadil) originated in Tolkien's writings well before The Lord of the Rings and independently of his Middle-earth legendarium: namely in the first version of his poem The Adventures of Tom Bombadil, which was published in the Oxford Magazine for 15 February 1934.
Barrow-wights are absent in .
Middle-earth narrative
Evil spirits (perverted Maiar or possibly spirits of Orcs, fallen Avari, or evil Men) were sent to the Barrow-downs by the Witch-king of Angmar in order to prevent the restoration of the destroyed Dúnedain kingdom of Cardolan.
They animated the dead bones of the Dúnedain, as well as older bones of Edain from the First Age, which still were buried there.
After leaving Tom Bombadil, Frodo Baggins and company were trapped in the Barrow-downs, and nearly brutally killed by a barrow-wight. It was mentioned in The Lord of the Rings Appendix A that Frodo was trapped in the cairn of the last prince of Cardolan; Merry's exclamation on waking from his trance suggests this. Frodo cut off the wight's hand; then, when the wight extinguished the dim light in the cavern where the company was imprisoned, Frodo called for Tom Bombadil, who expelled the wight from the barrow.
Other versions within Tolkien's legendarium
Due to his inspiration from Hrómundar saga Gripssonar, during the writing of The Lord of the Rings (see The History of The Lord of the Rings) Tolkien at first foresaw a link between the wights and the Ringwraiths, initially describing the Black Riders as horsed wights, but the suggestion that they were the same kind of creatures was dropped in the published work. In the final work there remained a link between them: the wights were now spirits sent by the Witch-king of Angmar.

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