Morgul Blade: The Darkening of Mirkwood

[doctheweasel]

Plus I think that giving Khamul a Morgul Blade will simply be overkill. He's already a opponent behind the abilities and powers of most PCs and many NPCs roaming the Wilderlands. As far as I can tell only Radagast and, possibly, Thranduil might be able to face him in direct combat.

As per Darkening, the three that are sent are crazy tough, but it's possible for a party to fight one off (not kill, or permanently defeat, of course). The book states that they aren't at their full strength, as their lord is still regaining his power. By the time of the Fellowship of the Ring, they will be much stronger.

That said, they cause a world of pain before even bringing a weapon to bear, and even a party that defeats one will likely be permanently affected.

[DavetheLost]

"They tried to pierce your heart with a Morgul-knife which remains in the wound." - Gandalf, "Many Meetings"

That is to say a "black magic" or "sorcerous" knife. Their purpose was to bring Frodo under their dominion as a lesser wraith.

Gandalf's use of "a" rather than "the" suggests that the knife which wounded Frodo was not a unique artifact. It is unclear whether such knives were carried by all the Nine, only the Witch King, or various agents of Sauron on special missions. I personally favor the last interpretation, they were potent magical artifacts and were only brought out for use in special circumstances.

As such the absense of Morgul-knives from Mirkwood at the time of Darkening is not surprising.

[Glorelendil]

Gandalf's use of "a" rather than "the" suggests that the knife which wounded Frodo was not a unique artifact.

So Gandalf has been reading Loremaster materials?

[Stormcrow]

I would like to point out that the phrase Morgul-blade, with or without a hyphen, does not appear in The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien used the phrase Morgul-knife once. Morgul-blade is, so far as I can tell, a term invented by the movies.

The Witch-king's knife was not unique, but that doesn't mean all the Nazgûl carry one.

[Scafloc]

I've been following the discussions on these forums for years and I have to say, this is a strange topic to argue about. If no one knows for sure, isn't it up to individual loremasters to decide whether or not all nazgul carry morgul-knives, blades and forks(!) in their game?

[Rich H]

I've been following the discussions on these forums for years and I have to say, this is a strange topic to argue about. If no one knows for sure, isn't it up to individual loremasters to decide whether or not all nazgul carry morgul-knives, blades and forks(!) in their game?

Get 2 geeks around a table discussing something and we'll come up with 3 opinions! It's at once the curse and blessing of these kind of things. I still think the discussion is interesting and, although you may find it somewhat trivial, I do think it could be used to great effect in a campaign. Consider if such weapons could be attributed to a particular wielder then you could use that within an adventure to uncover an agent or secret/important piece of information. This may not be applicable to these particular knives but it may prompt other ideas...

[beckett]

I've been following the discussions on these forums for years and I have to say, this is a strange topic to argue about. If no one knows for sure, isn't it up to individual loremasters to decide whether or not all nazgul carry morgul-knives, blades and forks(!) in their game?

Get 2 geeks around a table discussing something and we'll come up with 3 opinions! It's at once the curse and blessing of these kind of things. I still think the discussion is interesting and, although you may find it somewhat trivial, I do think it could be used to great effect in a campaign. Consider if such weapons could be attributed to a particular wielder then you could use that within an adventure to uncover an agent or secret/important piece of information. This may not be applicable to these particular knives but it may prompt other ideas...

Exactly, Rich!

I'm not sure if The Encyclopedia of Arda is accurate but if you look up Morgul-knives there it does not explicitly say that only the Witch-king wielded such a blade. It is listed as:

Morgul-knives
Weapons of the Nazgûl

And the text is as follows:

"The cursed knives used by the Nazgûl had strange and terrible properties, and the wounds they dealt could do far more than injure their victims. If a Ringwraith were able to pierce the heart of a mortal with his knife, that mortal would become enslaved, and transform over time into a lesser wraith. The enchanted blade of a Morgul-knife would fade away into the air if it was taken from its owner, but the evil magics inscribed on its hilt would still retain some of their power."

[Scafloc]

I do believe I was misunderstood. I follow this discussion with interest, since most discussions on these forums seem to contain, if not several, than at least one nugget of inspiration. My point was simply that whether or not the nazgûl carry morgul-weapons (I suppose) should be left free for everyone to decide within their own campaign. It is strange to me, that this trivial matter resulted in patting-on-the-head exchanges. That's all.
I for one, have not decided how to do yet. Morgul-knives are powerful items indeed, and If I use them it will be sparingly.

[Hermes Serpent]

Scafloc, a most interesting thing that I note is your username nod to Poul Andersen.

[Rich H]

My point was simply that whether or not the nazgûl carry morgul-weapons (I suppose) should be left free for everyone to decide within their own campaign. It is strange to me, that this trivial matter resulted in patting-on-the-head exchanges. That's all.

I don't think people were necessarily disagreeing with that, but some were more than suggesting that Tolkien stated there were multiple blades when in fact that doesn't appear to be the case. I think that's where the disagreement came from - people asserting their belief/opinion as something Tolkien stated rather than something made up by ICE/MERP!