[doug*platypus]

<B>10,000 Members !!!</B><P>Congrats, Barrowdowns, you're obviously doing <I>something</I> right! <P>You're right to frown, Queen Vic, the movie can't make his death as clear as it is in the book. There is a paragraph or two devoted to Merry's Barrowblade (hmm... Barrowblade... that would make a <B>nice</B> nick!) and how it was "wound about with spells for the destruction of Morgul". Likewise the Nazgûl were afraid of Frodo's blade on Weathertop (book again, I'm afraid). These weapons had been made by the Dúnedain, and 'enchanted' (for wont of a better word) to destroy such things as the Nazgûl.<P>There is a heavy implication that Merry's blade has a major part to play in killing the Witch-King, but still it is Éowyn's stabbing him in the head that finishes the job. In the movie, the origin of Merry's sword is unclear, although they were handled (i.e. thrown about) as being very common by Strider. So, Éowyn's sword-stroke was what killed Witchy (remember when Aragorn attacked them, he slashed at their cloaks and set them on fire but did not pierce them). The Witch-King's remark that no man could kill him refers to a prophecy made that "not by the hand of man will he fall". This doesn't say that he <I>couldn't</I> be killed by a man, but it does mean that he <I>wouldn't</I> be, since in Tolkien's world prophecies always ring true.<P>In the TTT movie, Gollum says "no, you cannot kill them" which you might say is a bit inconsistent. But after all, what would Gollum (especially movieGollum) know? Sorry I've been so longwinded... one of those days.