Slaying of the Witch King... with a Noldoring dagger????? - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

Lord of Angmar · 10-25-2003, 08:56 AM

Ahh, where to begin with Knight of Gondor's post...?First of all, obviously the daggers would not be one inch or two inches long. That is ridiculously small even for a Swiss Army knife. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>(Which brings to mind the question of why the knives were so small for a Noldorian Elf to have, in battle no less)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Obviously, these knives would not be a Noldorin Elf's chief weapon in battle, just as the knife bestowed upon Aragorn by Celeborn was not used by Aragorn as a primary fighting tool. Also, again, the knives were of formidable enough size to inflict damage. <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>While powerful, the blade would not have enough length to give the Witchking enough of a wound to distract him.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>Although I still am not convinced which weapon will be used by Merry to pierce the sinews of the Witch King, it does not matter whether Merry can "distract him" or not. In the book, Merry's piercing of the Witch King was much less about distracting him or temporarily injuring him than it was about breaking the spell that kept the Witch King from being hurt. Let me switch away from this needless nitpicking and put forth what I think is a reasonable scenario about the daggers that Aragorn gives to the hobbits at Weathertop:Aragorn meets the four hobbits in Bree, who he has presumably been tracking or watching for hours or even days. After meeting the hobbits in Bree, he takes them out into the wilderness. There (perhaps even at Weathertop), he picks up a previously-hidden store of weapons, presumably laid down by fellow Rangers (or even Aragorn himself) with a general foreknowledge (information from Gandalf?) about what kind of situations might arise. Is that too far-fetched?Now, whether these weapons will be used in the slaying of the Witch King is anyone's guess. It would seem that the daggers of the Galadhrim bestowed upon Merry and Pippin would serve no other purpose if they were not used, but hopefully Peter Jackson would know that it would be a sore blow to the integrity of the film (at least in the eyes of many Tolkienites) if the dagger used by Merry to stab the Witch King did not have at least a similar history as the one in the book.

10-25-2003, 08:56 AM	#27
Lord of Angmar Tyrannus Incorporalis Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: the North Posts: 833	Ahh, where to begin with Knight of Gondor's post...?<P>First of all, obviously the daggers would not be one inch or two inches long. That is ridiculously small even for a Swiss Army knife.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>(Which brings to mind the question of why the knives were so small for a Noldorian Elf to have, in battle no less)<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Obviously, these knives would not be a Noldorin Elf's chief weapon in battle, just as the knife bestowed upon Aragorn by Celeborn was not used by Aragorn as a primary fighting tool. Also, again, the knives were of formidable enough size to inflict damage.<P> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>While powerful, the blade would not have enough length to give the Witchking enough of a wound to distract him.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Although I still am not convinced which weapon will be used by Merry to pierce the sinews of the Witch King, it does not matter whether Merry can "distract him" or not. In the book, Merry's piercing of the Witch King was much less about distracting him or temporarily injuring him than it was about breaking the spell that kept the Witch King from being hurt. <P>Let me switch away from this needless nitpicking and put forth what I think is a reasonable scenario about the daggers that Aragorn gives to the hobbits at Weathertop:<P>Aragorn meets the four hobbits in Bree, who he has presumably been tracking or watching for hours or even days. After meeting the hobbits in Bree, he takes them out into the wilderness. There (perhaps even at Weathertop), he picks up a previously-hidden store of weapons, presumably laid down by fellow Rangers (or even Aragorn himself) with a general foreknowledge (information from Gandalf?) about what kind of situations might arise. Is that too far-fetched?<P>Now, whether these weapons will be used in the slaying of the Witch King is anyone's guess. It would seem that the daggers of the Galadhrim bestowed upon Merry and Pippin would serve no other purpose if they were not used, but hopefully Peter Jackson would know that it would be a sore blow to the integrity of the film (at least in the eyes of many Tolkienites) if the dagger used by Merry to stab the Witch King did not have at least a similar history as the one in the book. __________________ ...where the instrument of intelligence is added to brute power and evil will, mankind is powerless in its own defence.