I still think people are being way too literal, analysing what the prophesy meant and whether Eowyn and Merry 'counted' as Men. Tolkien was a sophisticated literary historian, and knew all about mythic and literary prophesies: they are supposed to mislead people. Oedipus fled his 'parents' in horror, straight to his real parents; 'Birnham Wood', didn't really come to Dunsinane, but did so in effect to scupper Macbeth's confidence (a story Tolkien refers to in his letters); Henry IV knew he would die in Jerusalem ('What room is this?' 'The Jerusalem chamber, my lord'), and so on. Glorfindel was given an insight (from the Valar?) which it is likely he himself didn't understand. Only when Merry and Eowyn lay on a pile of empty clothes did people know what it had all meant. Like all good solid prophesies, it led the subject to his ruin.
|