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Old 08-21-2011, 08:52 AM   #1
Alfirin
Shade of Carn Dûm
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 435
Alfirin has been trapped in the Barrow!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Estelyn Telcontar View Post
That's a fascinating comparison, Inzil! The W-K is definitely "talking down" to Éowyn, or rather Dernhelm at that point, considering "him" a foe far beneath himself. (At first I thought there was additional derision due to her gender, but it hadn't been revealed yet at that point. And come to think of it, the W-K's derision probably stopped when he learned that she was a woman, due to uncertainty and fear.) And I think your assessment of the situation between him and Gandalf is spot on - the Nazgûl Lord knew who the wizard was and realized that he was of a higher nature. I don't think the W-K was afraid, though - he seems to be too confident that his master's power is greater than that of Gandalf.
Another point, as far as I am concern, that he is "talking down" to Eowyn, the fact that he starts referring to himself in the third person, distancing himself. Note that, in his speech to Gandalf, he says "This is my Hour" but when he is talking to Eowyn he decied to do it in the third person removed. He says "Come not between the Nazgul and his prey" instead of "come not between me and my prey" "He will not slay", instead of "I will not slay". He makes an object lesson out of what should be a personal matter (Eowyn is keeping him from his kill, not every Nazgul from thier kill) Another point of "down talking" might be that "In thy turn" tag line. Given where she is standing, Eowyn's "turn" is as like as not next anyway, unless she decided to simply run away (Given the WK's nature, I can easily imagine that, had Eowyn betrayed her ideals and ran away in fear from the battle, The Nazgul might very well decided not to slay her at all, since the idea of her living her whole life in fear and disgrace would have probably amused him.) Adding on the "in thy turn" bit, in my opinion, that not only does he not feel any reservations about slaying her, but that she is of so little importance he does not even feel it neccecary to make any haste; she is such a little worm he can take his leisure.
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