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Éowyn killed the Witch - king of Angmar inThe Lord of the Rings : The Return of the King , but the movie leaves out some important detail about how she did it when the Witch - king is more - or - less resistant to deadly weapons . play by Miranda Otto , Éowyn is introduced inThe Two Towersas a citizen of Rohan and the niece of King Theoden . With sexism even more pop than facial hair in Middle - terra firma , the battleground is view as no place for a cleaning lady , but Éowyn harbour a burn desire to protect her mother country against the oncoming force ofthe Great Eye of Mordor , Sauron , rather than taking shelter and waiting lazily by . Along with Merry , now separated from the rest of the Fellowship and his Hobbit pals , Éowyn disguise herself and secretly joins the Battle of the Pelennor Fields outside of Minas Tirith .
In one ofThe return key of the King ’s most famous scenery , the Witch - king arrogantly proclaims that no man can stamp out him , to which Éowyn respond with her iconic " I am no man ! " stock and readily slays him . Jackson ’s movie play up Éowyn ’s muliebrity as the cause of her triumph , but there ’s much more going on here . Strangely enough , the Witch - king ’s fatal weaknessisn’ttwo X chromosome . The death of the Witch - king is really more a squad effort between Éowyn and Rohan ’s residentFellowship hobbit , Merry . In the thirdLord of the Ringsfilm , Éowyn is being hold by the Witch - king of Angmar , but is relinquish when her hirsute - footed booster sneaks up behind the principal Ringwraith and knife him in the leg . The blade radiate brightly and is then destroyed , as all arm are when used on the Nazgûl . But an ordinary sword should n’t institute the Witch - world-beater to his knees . Here ’s why the Witch - male monarch died inReturn of the Kingafter Éowyn followed up on Merry ’s sneaker blast .
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Merry’s Sword Is Key To The Witch-King’s Death
Although altered in the movies , Merry ’s sword in the books is far from ordinary . The hobbit carry an ancient tumulus - blade that was crafted by men when Middle - ground was engage in war against Sauron ’s forces at Angbad . The weapon is quite literally designed to be used against dark conjuration , and was collapse to Merry by the mysteriousmysterious Tom Bombadil , who was notoriously hack from theLord of the Ringsmovie trilogy . When Merry cuts the Witch - B. B. King , his blow is " die the go that knit [ the Witch - king ’s ] unseen sinews to his will , " which could be construe as launch the baddie up to Éowyn ’s finish strike straight through the hood . Since Merry receives his sword from Aragorn or else of Bombadil in the movie adaptation , its significance is lost . Moreover , the weapon Merry is given in the first moving picture is n’t returned after he and Pippin are enamour by orcs . The leaf blade he wields during the Battle of the Pelennor Fields in Jackson ’s trilogy is a replacement , but still has the same wizard outcome , create somewhat of a plot of land gob .
The Witch - king ’s boastthat no man can defeat him comes from the elf Glorfindel , who foretold " not by the mitt of man shall he fall . " However , this line was always more of a emblematical prognostication than literal confirmation that world physically could n’t slay the Witch - world-beater . Éowyn and Merry ’s victory live up to Glorfindel ’s anticipation , but their gender and species were n’t the decide factors in bringing down the Ringwraith , it was a unequaled alignment of fated circumstances , which as Glorfindel predicted , did n’t involve a man .
Some might contend that Merry ’s purpose in the Witch - queen ’s demise dilutes the feminist messageThe Lord of the Ringssends with Éowyn ’s big moment , but all things considered , the full floor stool Éowyn ’s arc evenmorepowerful . Rather than being able-bodied todefeat the beldame - kingsimply because she ’s a char , anyoneon the battlefield could have felled the enemy under the right-hand circumstances , but it was Éowyn whose braveness and speciality held out , make her victory all the more resplendent .
How Rings Of Power Builds On Éowyn’s Legacy
Deep Tolkien - lore triviality aside , Éowyn killing the Witch - king was a huge minute for woman in the illusion literary genre . Fantasy , specially epic high - phantasy like Jackson ’s trilogy , has been shamed of placing womanhood in the " damsel - in - distress " role for aeon , andThe Lord of the Ringsturned the trope right on its head with this particular slaying . Her character is now one of many women , such as Arya Stark inGame of Thrones , who have found themselves to be more than subject on the field . Éowyn ’s impingement can be felt in subsequentLord of the Ringsprojects too , as she clearly urge on some ofThe Rings of Power ’s strongest distaff character , include Galadriel .
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Morfydd Clark ’s Galadrielis now the one direct the camp through the trials and tribulation of Middle Earth , carry on Éowyn ’s bequest of Middle - earth ’s women moderate by example when it comes to front insuperable evil . It ’s doubtful Galadriel ’s exploits inRings of Poweror Tauriel ’s creation toThe Hobbitmythos would ’ve been possible without Éowyn first paving the way . It was sincerely a groundbreaking consequence of feminism within the fantasy genre . Éowyn ’s slaughtering of the Witch - king inThe Lord of the Rings : The Return of the Kingsmashed sex stereotypes and usher in a Modern era for female Hero .
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