The White Council

Re: Do we know who made Merry's sword?

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: : [snip]

: : : : : The sword must have had some spell on it, whether put on by the Dunedain or not because I doubt that a shot to the shoulder (correct me if I'm wrong), with an uninchanted blade, would have killed a Nazgul, no matter how good the craftsmanship.

: : : : : What about Eowyn though: could any human female have done the job? or did it have to be Eowyn? Did she have a "magic sword" as well? Don't think so. What about an elf female. The whole thing is very fishy indeed, perhaps all that needed to be done was send an army of hobbits against the Nazgul and have em chop up the ringwraiths bit by tiny bit

: : : It was Merry's sword which was enchanted. We're just arguing about who enchanted it. Tolkien uses several paragraphs discussing the Merry's sword, and none on Eowyn's.

: : My point was merely to state that it doesn't take a magic sword to kill (or wound) a Nazgul. The barrow blades were inneffective on Weathertop and Eowyn didn't use an enchanted sword on the Pellenor fields. Sorry for any confusion.

: I must disagree. If the Nazgul could be killed by regular weapons, then why didn't the Elves just shoot them full of arrows when they tried to cross the river when Frodo was racing to Rivendell? Or when Legolas shot the steed out from under the Nazgul as it flew, why didn't the fall kill it? When Merry goes to find his sword after the demise of the Lord of the Nazgul he sees it writhe and wither and disappear. Tolkien then goes on to say: "So passed the sword of the Barrow-downs, work of Westernesse. But glad would he have been to know its fate who wrought it slowly long ago in the North-kingdom when the Dunedain were young, and chief among their foes was the dread realm of Angmar and its sorcerer king. No other blade, not though mightier hands had wielded it, would have dealt that foe a wound so bitter, cleaving the undead flesh, breaking the spell that knit his unseen sinews to his will."

: I argue that the blade Merry had was the only blade that could damage the Lord of the Nazgul. Note that it says "no other blade" which in my understanding of grammar means that it was the only one. Did Merry use his sword on Weathertop? If he did, did he manage to stick any one with it? The above quote also seems to infer that the spells on the blade were specifically for the Witch-king, and may not have affected the other wraiths. The previous debates on this subject have assumed that all the blades from the Barrow-downs were ensorcelled to be deadly against the ringwraiths, but that doesn't seem to be the case. Eowyn's sword realy didn't do anything. Her presence merely drew the Nazgul's attention so that Merry could get in the killing blow. By the time she struck all that remained was an empty cloak. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. :)

Why discuss it then????;-) Neithan Turambar