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   to himself", the Witch-king fled, until "fear of Sauron, and the forces   
   of Sauron's will" drove him back to the hunt. (/Unfinished Tales/   
   indicates that all versions of "The Hunt for the Ring" were written   
   between the publication of FotR and the completion of RotK, so this   
   passage does reflect Tolkien's belief while writing the story.)   
      
      Evidence for much of this can be found in the text itself.  After   
   remarking that Frodo's sword had not harmed the Witch King, Aragorn   
   says, "More deadly to [the Witch King] was the name of Elbereth." This   
   idea is clearer in an early draft: in /The Return of the Shadow/ ("At   
   Rivendell"), a fragment includes Gandalf saying, "Not to mention   
   courage - and also swords and a strange and ancient name. Later on I   
   must be told about that curious sword of yours, and how you knew the   
   name of Elbereth."  (Presumably Gandalf is discussing this very   
   question.)  However, the name was probably not a major factor on its   
   own: in the final text it is Aragorn who comments on "Elbereth", but he   
   did not attempt to use it during the attack himself.   
      
      As discussed in question III.C.2, the danger to the Nazgul from the   
   barrow blades can also be guessed from the text, though it is by no   
   means clear.  The description of the attack on Weathertop is consistent   
   with the idea that they fear such weapons: after Frodo put on the Ring,   
   three of the wraiths   
      
      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... sprang forward and bore down on Frodo.   
      
   All of the wraiths seem to have left immediately after the Witch King   
   stabbed Frodo.  As Frodo was seeing into the "wraith world" with the   
   Ring on, some read the description of his sword flickering red as an   
   indication that its magical power was directly visible there. Later, as   
   half-faded Frodo faces the Nazgul at the Ford, he draws his sword "with   
   a red flash".  This evidence is not entirely convincing on its own, but   
   in light of Tolkien's writings in "The Hunt for the Ring" it appears to   
   be quite solid.   
   -------   
      
   4. Who killed the Witch-king, Merry or Eowyn?   
      
      Most agree that Eowyn's stroke was the immediate cause of the   
   Witch-king's death: she certainly struck /something/, and his death cry   
   and disappearance followed immediately after her blow.  The primary   
   debate is whether Merry's role was simply to provide a distraction, or   
   whether his sword (taken from the Barrow Downs) was necessary to break   
   some "spell of protection" that would otherwise have guarded the   
   Witch-king from harm.   
      
      Question III.C.2 discusses the magical nature of the hobbits' barrow   
   blades and their effect on the Nazgul.  In the context of Merry's   
   encounter with the Witch King in "The Battle of the Pelennor Fields",   
   the crucial statement is that   
      
      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.   
      
   (See question III.C.2 for a related quote and further discussion.)   
   Most read this quote as a direct statement that Merry's sword was   
   especially harmful to the Nazgul, which is confirmed in other writings   
   (as discussed in the earlier question).  It is less clear what "spell"   
   is being broken: some read this as a poetic description of a   
   (nonmagical) collapse due to (possibly magical) great pain, while   
   others take it to mean that the Nazgul had only indirect, magical   
   control over their physical bodies.  Based in part on this quote, some   
   go even farther and suggest that the Witch King was immune to physical   
   weapons before being hit by the barrow blade.  No clear answer is   
   known.   
      
      It is worth taking particular note of the quote from portions of   
   "The Hunt for the Ring" first published in Hammond and Scull's   
   /Reader's Companion/ (and discussed in questions III.C.2 and III.C.3),   
   indicating that a wound from a barrow blade "would have been as deadly   
   to [the Witch-king] as the Mordor-knife [sic] to Frodo (as was proved   
   in the end)".  The parenthetical remark must refer to Merry's blow, and   
   could be read in a wide variety of ways.  It might mean that Merry's   
   blow was indeed the "deadly" one, or that it would have proven deadly   
   within hours or days if Eowyn had not made the point moot, or simply   
   that it provided a deadly distraction.   
   -------   
      
   5. Did Frodo and the other mortals who passed over the Sea eventually   
       die?   
      
   [This updates question V.C.1 of the Tolkien LessFAQ.]   
      
      While he seems to have been initially unsure, Tolkien eventually   
   made it clear that mortals who sailed to the West would remain mortal.   
   In Letter #154, he explains this:   
      
      ...the mythical idea underlying is that for mortals, since their   
      'kind' cannot be changed for ever, this is strictly only a temporary   
      reward: a healing and redress of suffering.	They cannot abide for   
      ever, and though they cannot return to mortal earth, they can and   
      will 'die' - of free will, and leave the world.   
      
   He makes a similar comment in Letter #246, saying that   
      
      Frodo was sent or allowed to pass over Sea to heal him - if that   
      could be done, /before he died/.  He would have eventually to 'pass   
      away': no mortal could, or can, abide for ever on earth, or within   
      Time.   
      
      An interesting addendum to these statements can be found in the   
   appendix to the "Athrabeth Finrod ah Andreth" in /Morgoth's Ring/.   
   After explaining that the spirits of dead mortals go to the halls of   
   Mandos, and that only Mandos and Manwe know where they go "after the   
   time of recollection in those silent halls", Tolkien makes the   
   following comment on Frodo:   
      
      The sojourn of Frodo in Eressea - then on to Mandos? - was only an   
      extended form of this.  Frodo would eventually leave the world   
      (desiring to do so).  So that the sailing in ship was equivalent to   
      death.   
      
   This leads to the fascinating (if uncertain) suggestion that Frodo and   
   the other mortals who went West may have gone to Mandos while still   
   physically alive.   
   -------   
      
   6. Did Sam follow Frodo into the West?   
      
      While LotR strongly implies that Sam eventually sailed West, it   
   never says so explicitly.  In "The Grey Havens", Frodo says to Sam,   
   "Your time may come."  Appendix B says that in S.Y. 1482, Sam was last   
   seen by Elanor in the Tower Hills, and that "the tradition [was] handed   
   down from Elanor that Samwise passed the Towers, and went to the Grey   
   Havens, and passed over Sea".  However, Letter #154 makes Tolkien's   
   intent clear.  In it, he writes that   
      
      certain 'mortals'... may pass with the Elves to Elvenhome.  Thus   
      Frodo ... and Bilbo, and eventually Sam.   
      
   Whether Frodo was still alive when Sam reached Elvenhome is uncertain,   
   but it does seem possible: in the same letter, Tolkien says that   
   mortals in the West "can and will 'die' - of free will", so Frodo may   
   have waited to pass on until Sam arrived.   
   -------   
      
   7. What is known about the Blue Wizards?   
      
   [This supplements question V.E.2 of the Tolkien FAQ.]   
      
      The Tolkien FAQ discusses most of what is known about the other two   
   Istari (out of five).  As explained there, the essay on the Istari in   
   /Unfinished Tales/ tells us that their names in Valinor were Alatar and   
   Pallando, and that they went into the east of Middle-earth and did not   
   return.  In that essay and in Letter #211, Tolkien suggests that they   
      
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