What Is the Meaning of the Word “Nampat” in The Rings of Power? (& What Song It Is)

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We already know that the Orcs of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power all follow a lord that they call father or Adar. The goal of Adar and these Orcs is to obtain the sword hilt that Arondir and the rest of the Southlanders possess because he believes that it is the key that he needs to create a world for the Orcs. As such, he leads the Orcs that chant “Nampat” as they are headed for war. But what is the meaning behind the word “Nampat” in The Rings of Power?

“Nampat” is a word from the Black Speech, which Morgoth, Sauron, and the Orcs speak. Neither the books nor The Rings of Power ever explained what this word means, but it could be related to binding or unbinding because, in the Black Speech, the word “pat” is related to binding.

The Black Speech has always been something that the characters of Tolkien’s writings never fully understood as this was a language that Morgoth used to speak to his Orcs. In that regard, it is difficult to truly tell what Nampat means as it has never been seen in any of Tolkien’s writings before. So, with that said, let’s look at anything we know about the word Nampat so that we can guess what it could mean.

What Is The Meaning Of The Word Nampat In The Rings Of Power?

From what we’ve seen since the introduction of the character in episode 4, Adar is the leader of the remaining Orcs in Middle-Earth and was leading them to war against the Southlanders. Meanwhile, it was in episode 3 that Galadriel found out the meaning behind the marks left behind by Sauron as it was a shape that was similar to the map of the Southlands.

Of course, Adar also revealed that his ultimate goal was to lead the Orcs and reshape the world so that he could give them the home they never had. We saw this in episode 6 when he told Galadriel that the Orcs all had names and identities. And as Adar was leading these Orcs, the one thing that they could be heard chanting was the word “Nampat,” which they chant in unison when they are on their way to battle.

We’ve heard a lot of different battle cries and chants before, but this seems to be the first time we have ever heard of the word “Nampat” being used as a chant for war by anyone. So, what is the meaning of the word “Nampat?”

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Considering that the Orcs speak their native language called the Black Speech, which was invented by Morgoth, Nampat should be a word that comes from the very same Black Speech that they are known to speak whenever they are communicating with one another. However, the problem is that we have never heard of this word or have even seen it in any of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit movies or in JRR Tolkien’s writings.

But there is a good chance that the word could mean something related to “binding” and “unbinding” because there were a few people who were able to research the possible meaning of the word.

In the Black Speech, the word “pat” could mean something related to binding. As you can see above, “Krimpatul” means “bind them,” and that means that “pat” could be related to binding. And while we don’t know what the “nam” in Nampat means, we can make a few assumptions based on what we’ve seen from The Rings of Power.

As mentioned, Adar longs to have a home for the Orcs, as he himself told Galadriel that they are not slaves but are actually beings with their own free will and identities. In fact, all of the different Orcs under his command have names. He was even sad to see one of his Orcs dying because he is a father figure that truly cares for his own people. 

That is why Adar wanted to create a world for his Orcs as they longed to have their own home. He wanted the Orcs to be free in their own realm instead of wandering Middle-Earth, always keeping themselves away from the sun. And this is probably where the word “Nampat” comes in.

It could be possible that Nampat could be related to something similar to unbinding, as that is what Adar and the Orcs seek to do. Adar himself admitted that he “killed” Sauron because he felt the pain that his children felt when they were dying due to his experiments and sorceries. He wanted his orcs to be free instead of being treated as slaves that the dark lord could easily use for his own gain. As such, he seeks to “unbind” them from the shackles of the world as the Orcs are not slaves that should be driven out of Middle-Earth by the Elves and the Men or to be used by Sauron for his rise to power and quest for world domination.

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In a way, Adar and the Orcs are humanized by The Rings of Power, as all of the other incarnations of JRR Tolkien’s writings have always described them to be dark creatures that know nothing but death and destruction. And by chanting the “Nampat” word as their battle cry, they are basically chanting for their own freedom as they march into battle.

What Song Is Nampat From?

On top of the fact that the Orcs chant Nampat, it is also being played in the background as a song that was composed specifically for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. It is an original song by composer Ben McCreary, who was the one in charge of scoring the entire series.

Like some of the other songs that McCreary composed for The Rings of Power, Nampat is a word that comes from one of the original languages created by JRR Tolkien himself. However, as mentioned, this is a word that is still quite enigmatic to us as its meaning was neither explained nor was ever seen or heard in any of the other works related to Tolkien’s writings.

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