without a barrow blade???

[The Barrow-Wight]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> The Sword of Elendil was forged anew by Elvish smiths, and on its blade was traced a device of seven stars set between the crescent Moon and the rayed Sun, and about them was written many runes; for Aragorn son of Arathorn was going to war upon the marches of Mordor. Very bright was that sword when it was made whole again; the light of the sun shone redly in it, and the light of the moon shone cold, and its edge was hard and keen. And Aragorn gave it a new name and called it Andúril, Flame of the West. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Why couldn't Aragorn's sword or the hobbit swords be as potent as those from the barrow? The smiths at Rivendell had several millenia of experience, and the swords Aragorn possessed could have been forged by the same smith that made the barrow-blades as far as anyone knows.<P>As for non-readers being in the dark, perhaps PJ will enlighten them after the Witch-Kings death with a short explanation given by Gandalf.<P>"<I>Only a blade such as Merry possessed, forged long ago by the smiths of Westernesse and kept by the line of Isildur for so many centuries, could have severed the sinews that held the Witch-King to his undead form. Thanks goodness Aragorn gave such weapons to the hobbits.</I>"