[The Saucepan Man]

I believe that men and hobbits are completely different races.

From the Prologue to LotR, Concerning Hobbits:

It is plain indeed that in spite of later estrangement Hobbits are relatives of ours; far nearer to us than Elves, or even than Dwarves ... But what exactly our relationship is can no longer be discovered.

This speaks to me of common ancestry, and the argument put forward by tom bombariffic (based upon there being no reference to any Hobbit Awakening in the Silmarillion) is often used to support the view that Hobbits were descended from the first Men that awoke in Middle-earth.

Yes, there are other threads on this. I would give the links, but my Search function is unfortunately not working at the moment (something to do with AOL, I think). [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]

Anyway, I said that it might be stretching it a bit to regard Merry as a man and therefore unable to "break" the prophecy. The point is that it is Eowyn revealing herself as a woman, not Merry's presence (which the Witch King is almost entirely oblivious to), that concerns the Witch King.

In regards to the prophecy, Glorfindel prophesied that the witch king would not die at the hands of a man, not that he could not die in such a way

Quite right. Just as the phantom said. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

The prophecy is nevertheless relevant because, since Glorfindel had foreseen that the Witch King would not be destroyed at the hands of a man, he was never going to be destroyed at the hands of a man. Armed with that knowledge, the Witch King was fearless in battle with men, but that same knowledge caused him "sudden doubt" when Eowyn revealed herself to him as a woman. And Merry's amazement at this turn of events allowed him to conquer his paralysing fear and to start to crawl to one side. He is able to do so because the Dark Captain "in doubt and malice intent upon the woman before him, heeded him no more than a worm in the mud".

So the Witch King's doubt, triggered by the "breaking" of the prophecy, contributes to Merry being able to position himself so as to be in a position to stab the Lord of the Nazgul with the Barrow blade, which in turn allows Eowyn to finish him off.

Hmm, typing that out brings it home to me just how ingenious Tolkien was, bringing all these threads together in that one key dramatic moment. [img]smilies/cool.gif[/img]