Morgul Blade: The Darkening of Mirkwood

[beckett]

I question using MERP as a source. The source is Tolkien, not an out of print RPG that danced around and strayed from the source material as often as not.

This thread is about the omission of the Morgul blade from the Darkening of Mirkwood and any potential fan created info on those weapons in relation to TOR, not MERP.

[Hermes Serpent]

If it's not canon we're (well me at least) aren't interested YM-eMV.

[Beran]

A little confused here. Are you saying ICE didn't have to jump through the sames hoops when they were producing MERP?

Personally, I would say they were not included because they are too deadly. Correct me if I am wrong, but if a person is stabbed with a morgul blade do they not become wraiths?

[Boneguard]

Yes, I know, but I don't think it was clear from the text whether ALL Nazgul carried them, or just the Witch King.

Every Nazgul carries a Morgul-knife. It's part of their standard equipment.

Source?

The Standard equipment might be overboard, but it's my understanding/reading of the attack on Weathertop chapter that every Nazgul had one.

[Hermes Serpent]

This is the section of FotR that covers the use of the Morgul blade.
"There were five tall figures: two standing on the lip of
the dell, three advancing. In their white faces burned keen and merciless eyes; under their mantles were
long grey robes; upon their grey hairs were helms of silver; in their haggard hands were swords of steel.
Their eyes fell on him and pierced him, as they rushed towards him. Desperate, he drew his own sword,
and it seemed to him that it flickered red, as if it was a firebrand. Two of the figures halted. The third was
taller than the others: his hair was long and gleaming and on his helm was a crown. In one hand he held a
long sword, and in the other a knife; both the knife and the hand that held it glowed with a pale light."

and
""And more deadly to Frodo was this!" He stooped again and lifted up a long thin knife. There was a
cold gleam in it. As Strider raised it they saw that near the end its edge was notched and the point was
broken off. But even as he held it up in the growing light, they gazed in astonishment, for the blade
seemed to melt, and vanished like a smoke in the air, leaving only the hilt in Strider's hand."

The first paragraph only mentions one Ringwraith with a Morgul blade but all the Ringwraiths have a steel sword. The implication is that the knife is a special weapon and not 'standard issue' for Ringwraiths.

Have you any proof in the Professor's work that shows any Ringwraith carrying a Morgul blade except the King?

[Hermes Serpent]

A little confused here. Are you saying ICE didn't have to jump through the sames hoops when they were producing MERP?

Personally, I would say they were not included because they are too deadly. Correct me if I am wrong, but if a person is stabbed with a morgul blade do they not become wraiths?

ICE had pretty much a free reign without much oversight from M-e E. Check out any history of ICE/MERP to see how that caught up with them when they got into financial difficulties.

AFAICT the Tolkien Estate wasn't actively seeking out IP infringements probably because it was too hard in the early days of the Internet. IIRC only when someone emailed something to a M-e E lawyer did some of the IP issues come to light that would later come back to bite M-e E.

I know that the lawyers now use search engines for everything. I believe that a common Anglo-Saxon name was claimed as ICE/MERP IP because the lawyer didn't know that it was a common name and believed it to be something thought up by the ICE folks.

[Elmoth]

I always read that passage the same, that it was a special weapon and not a common item that all ringwraiths use for cleaning their nails. Makes a morgul blade something special to fear. I like it better that way.

[Melkor]

I always read that passage the same, that it was a special weapon and not a common item that all ringwraiths use for cleaning their nails. Makes a morgul blade something special to fear. I like it better that way.

I think the same but with a different point of view, all the nazguls have one

[Hermes Serpent]

Melkor, it says one Ringwraith, the King, has a blade. In black and white. You may believe that each wraith has a Morgul blade, but it doesn't make it so.

Nowhere else (and I've searched all three volumes plus the appendices for another reference) does it mention Ringwraiths with a Morgul blade. There is one mention of someone receiving a Morgul wound in one of the much earlier wars though.

[beckett]

Melkor, it says one Ringwraith, the King, has a blade. In black and white. You may believe that each wraith has a Morgul blade, but it doesn't make it so.

Nowhere else (and I've searched all three volumes plus the appendices for another reference) does it mention Ringwraiths with a Morgul blade. There is one mention of someone receiving a Morgul wound in one of the much earlier wars though.

This makes sense. If only the Witch-King had a Morgul blade than that explains the blades absence from the Darkening of Mirkwood. I guess I was under the impression that the Lieutenant of Dol Guldur was the Witch-King.

Also, someone mentioned the blade would be too overpowering. I disagree. If a player got stabbed by one, it would make for a dramatic plot-hook. Perhaps they have to set aside their current quest and get their companion to Lord Elrond to save his life from the poison/black magic of the blade.