Written by Mr. Mouseburger 30th Jun 2005
The Witchking orders his Nazgul to devour a mortally wounded Theoden (q.v.) when its path is blocked by a masked Rohir warrior, who refuses to let their king have such an undignified death. As the Nazgul lunges at the warrior, they sidestep and with two powerful blows, sever the head of the beast. This causes the Witchking to fall off his mount.
We then have a battle between this masked Rohir and the Witchking. To emphasise just how one-sided this battle is going to be, the Witchking unveils the biggest flail in cinematic history and, for added effect, he allows the ball to hit the floor with a resounding thump. This flail though is a cumbersome weapon, and the masked Rohir manages to dodge a few of the blows before finally being hit on the shield. The impact is so crushing that the Rohir crashes to the floor, arm broken and shield shattered to pieces.
It is at this point where the Witchking decides to have a quick gloat. "You fool," he cries, "no *man* can kill me" and he prepares to end this insolent curs life. However, the Witchking has made a critical error of semantics, for while he is distracted with the Rohir warrior, Merry, a young hobbit (i.e. not a man), sneaks up behind him and stabs him in the leg. This hurts like buggery, and the Witchking, roaring in pain, falls to his knees.
The witchking adopts the "i am a hard b***ard" pose
His error is compounded when the Rohir warrior removes their helmet to reveal Eowyn, a shieldmaiden. She cries, "I am no man" and stabs Witchy in the face with her sword. This kills the Witchking and, as his spirit leaves the armour for the choir invisible, it contorts.
A nice little twist of words, and I always love seeing a beautiful woman using a blade to dispatch evil, but let's be a little honest here.
He's the friggin' Witchking! The Nazgul! The baddest of all the bad! He delivers one or two pitifully executed blows that a ten-year-old child could deflect (even easier for a warrior princess), and ends up getting stabbed in the face after getting shanked by a sawed-off!
Again, he's the Witchking! He should not be able to feel pain! He should be MADE of pain! Such things as stab wounds in the leg should only tickle him in a non-too-unpleasant manner, not cripple and disable him long enough to receive death!
I know, I know, it was Tolkien that set this series of events in motion, but nonetheless. The Witchking should have slaughtered legions of men before meeting his end. Legions, I say.
While I agree this event is easily misunderstood due to its treatment in the movie, it is easily explained by Tolkien in Fellowship of the Ring and the appendicies to the trilogy. Eowyn's blade is very special and more importantly, she IS no ordinary shieldmaiden. The power of the blow was not an issue since the witch-king could only be killed by a female or non-human. Also left out of the movie was the devastation the WK wreaked upon the Fields of Pelennor prior to his final encounter, including causing the bravest warriors to flee in terror at the sight of him.
As far as Merry's "sawed-off" this blade is even more special than Eowyn's blade and Merry is NOT a man (Hobbit) Peter Jackson's decision (which he took diredctly from Tolkien's notes regarding the film's if ever made in the future) to leave out the character of Tom Bombadil and the ensuing incident where the hobbits are nearly killed by barrow-wights and grab 4 (I believe) ancient blades was crucial in fully explainang the death of the WK. Here is an excerpt from a "Merry Brandybuck's Biography" website regarding this part of the books.
Sword of Meriadoc Brandybuck
Merry's sword played a crucial role in the War of the Ring. The sword came from a barrow on the Barrow-downs that may have been the grave of the last prince of Cardolan, who was killed in battle against the forces of Angmar in 1409. The Hobbits were trapped in the barrow by a Barrow-wight and when Merry awoke from the Barrow-wight's spell, he had a memory of a Man who had fought the Witch-king of Angmar long ago.
Tom Bombadil rescued the Hobbits and gave them blades from the barrow. The swords had been made for the war against the Witch-king of Angmar by the Men of Westernesse. They were long, leaf-shaped daggers damasked with serpents in red and gold, and they had black sheaths of light metal set with fiery stones.
Merry used the sword in Moria and at Amon Hen, where he managed to cut off the hands and arms of several Orcs before he and Pippin were captured. He laid the sword on the lap of King Theoden of Rohan when he became his esquire. But the final and most important time that Merry used the sword was at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields. As Eowyn confronted the Witch-king and was nearly slain, Merry pierced the sinew of the Witch-king's knee, causing the Nazgul to stumble forward. Eowyn then thrust her sword between the Witch-king's crown and mantle and he was vanquished. Afterwards, the blade of Merry's sword disintegrated.
So passed the sword of the Barrow-downs, work of Westernesse. But glad would he have been to know its fate who wrought it slowly long ago in the North-kingdom when the Dunedain were young, and chief among their foes was the dread realm of Angmar and its sorcerer king. No other blade, not though mightier hands had wielded it, would have dealt that foe a wound so bitter, cleaving the undead flesh, breaking the spell that knit his unseen sinews to his will.
The Return of the King: "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields," p. 119-20
Thanks for the insightful post, lownote
OB
Thanks, lownote. I never knew that.
Weird, how a three-hour movie ultimately seems too short. ^_^
On a side note, I think that the Barrow-Downs sidequest might have been quite enthralling on the big screen. Maybe PJ should consider making another Lord of the Rings, this one showing everything we didn't see. It might make for some intense filmmaking if done correctly.
Another point to keep in mind is that the Nazgul are far from battle machines. Their main weapon, Tolkien says, is fear. They have little power over the fearless. And while Sauron "powers up" the WK for the battle of Pellenor, Jackson's idea that the Witch King could "break" Gandalf is a stretch.
"The Witchking orders his Nazgul to devour a mortally wounded Theoden..."
The Witchking IS the Nazgul. He orders his mount, a fell beast, to kill Theoden. That mistake irritates me. :p
I completely agree with you, so many people make this mistake, you never find out what the bat-snake-thing is called, as the word fell is used to mean "vile" and "evil".