The White Council

Re: Swords and their effectiveness

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: : : Unless we assume that Eowyn somehow got her hands on a Dunadan sword (VERY unlikely), I think that we have to assume that a "magic" sword was not necessary in fighting the Nazgul. It was more important that neither Merry nor Eowyn was a living man, thus fulfilling Arvedui's prophecy. That said, certainly certain swords were more effective against certain foes. Merry's sword was explicitly described as being more effective against the Nazgul than other blades. Conversely, the Dunadan blade carried by Sam was less effective than Sting (an Elven blade) against Shelob and her webs.

: : I heartily disagree. A 'magic' sword WAS necessary to defeat the Nazgul. Please read that section again and what Tolkien wrote about Merry's sword, or read my post below where I quote the passage. Regular weapons were useless against the Nazgul, else they would have all been destroyed at the ford when Frodo and company were trying to get to Rivendell. By that I mean that few choice shots with bows and arrows or a sword fight would have at least diminished their numbers.

: I'm familiar with the passage. I agree that Merry's sword was more effective than another would have been. Note that the passsage states "no other sword...could have dealt a blow SO BITTER..." The implication is that another sword could have dealt a blow, but that Merry's strike was more painful/damaging by virtue of the blade's provenance.

We may be splitting hairs on this one, but I've always read the passage as meaning that only THAT sword (or actually knife) was capable of inflicting any damage on the Nazgul. Normal weapons apparently had no effect on the ringwraiths. Of course there has been a long standing debate over who actually "done in" the Nazgul. Merry or Eowyn. I think we finally decided that both equally had a hand in the deed. Merry's sword broke the spell, and Eowyn was then able to penetrate the "unseen flesh" with her sword. But no matter how we look at at, the Nazgul was destroyed by some one other than "man".

: Where would Eowyn have obtained a "magic" blade? It would seem to me that any heirloom blades with special virtues would have been used by the Rohirrim who were invited to the party. Eowyn was not expected to be at the Pellenor, and presumably carried a "normal" blade.

But Tolkien goes to the trouble of writing about Merry's blade, and tells us nothing about Eowyn's blade. This infers that there was nothing special about Eowyn's blade that we needed to know, and attaches a great deal of importance to Merry's blade.

: PS I hate to use the term magic sword. It smacks of RPG's, but it is a convenient, if not altogether accurate description.

I also dislike using the word "magic", but its hard to find a word that means exactly what Tolkien was trying to describe. Tolkien himself (as you no doubt know) didn't like to use the word magic either. I usually put the word "magic" in quotes to infer that it I am not wholly satisfied that it is the correct word for what I want to say.