Following a Battle in Episode 6, What Does Nampat Mean on 'The Rings of Power?'

Spoiler alert: The following article contains spoilers for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Episode 6 on Prime Video.

The sixth episode of the first season of Rings of Power showed us where all of the money that Amazon spent on this series went. As Adar and his orc children prepared for battle, he delivers a memorable speech in which he rallies them, reminding them that they need to fight for their right to exist.

After the speech is concluded, the orcs begin to chant "Nampat!" which clearly means something to them but may have left the average viewer confused. "Nampat" is a phrase derived from Black Speech, which is designed to be the unifying language of all servants of Mordor, including the orcs. According to the X-Ray feature on Prime Video, the phrase means "death," which makes sense given that it's essentially a battle cry.

Other Tolkien obsessives had speculated that "Nampat" might be derived from the Elven language Quenya, and could therefore mean something closer to "sieze" or "take back." That meaning would also fit, although "death" is certainly a more ominous definition for a chant that is designed to strike fear in the hearts of those who hear it.

“Udûn” may have been the strongest episode of The Rings of Power yet, in part because of how much it seemed to up the stakes for the entire series. Not only did we see the climactic battle between the orcs and the men of the Southlands, but we also got a better sense of what Adar's grand plan ultimately is. He may have found himself temporarily captured, but he was not as defeated as he seemed to be.

In fact, after the armies of Numenor rode in to save the day, we saw that Adar had sent Waldrig off with the key to unleash a great flood that ultimately resulted in the eruption of a volcano that will devastate all of the Southlands. When we cut back to the shed where Adar is being kept after the volcano erupts, he's nowhere to be seen. He may have lost the battle, but it seems that his ultimate goal was achieved.

Although no one has called it that yet, it seems clear that the volcano that just erupted is Mount Doom, and the lands that this battle was fought on are going to become Mordor. Galadriel rallied the Numenorians with the goal of saving the Southlands, but it seems as though she failed.

Now, Mount Doom has been created, and we know that eventually that volcano will be instrumental to the forging of the one ring. All of that is still to come in the world of the show, but this eruption fundamentally ups the ante and proves that The Rings of Power is going to keep the stakes high for all of its central characters.