Middle-earth

Artifact

The Morgul-blade

Also known as The Morgul-knife, The Witch-king Knife

A cursed knife of Minas Morgul whose broken fragment works its way toward a victim heart, turning a wound into a slow fading toward the wraith-world.

Tolkien’s textsSupported by the narratives published in Tolkien’s lifetime.
Type
Weapon
Forged by
The smiths of Minas Morgul, in the service of the Witch-king

Description

The Morgul-blade is the weapon of the Nazgul, and its power is not the cut but what the cut leaves behind. When the Witch-king stabs Frodo at Weathertop, the blade breaks and a sliver remains in the wound, working its way inward and pulling the victim toward the wraith-world and into the Ringwraiths control. The wound cannot be healed by ordinary means and defeats even Elrond and Gandalf until Frodo is carried across the Ford and into Rivendell. It is a precisely designed instrument of slow, terrorizing corruption, the opposite of a clean weapon.

Powers

  • Leaves a fragment that burrows toward the heart, turning the wound into a mortal, spreading chill.
  • Pulls the victim toward wraithdom and makes them vulnerable to the Nazgul.
  • Inflicts a lasting cold sickness that ordinary medicine cannot touch.

Limitations

  • The blade shatters when it strikes, so it can be used only once in that way.
  • The damage it does is slow and can be countered by strong Elvish healing and by the phial of Galadriel.

Line of owners

  1. 1

    The Witch-king of Angmar

    Third Age

    Used at the attack on Weathertop against Frodo.

  2. 2

    Frodo Baggins (as a wound)

    T.A. 3018

    Carries the fragment in his shoulder from Weathertop until it is removed at Rivendell.

Symbolism

Symbolism

The power of fear and slow corruption, and the way evil can work by patience rather than force. Frodo carries the mark of it long after the wound itself is treated.

Fate

The blade was broken at Weathertop; its surviving hilt and sheath remain as relics of the attack. The fragment in Frodo shoulder was found and removed at Rivendell.

Characters

In the histories

Sources

  • The Lord of the Rings · 1954–55

    Three volumes: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, The Return of the King.

  • The Silmarillion · 1977

    Posthumously edited. Contains the Ainulindalë, Valaquenta, Quenta Silmarillion, Akallabêth and Of the Rings of Power.

  • Unfinished Tales · 1980

    Expanded and alternative accounts of the First, Second and Third Ages.

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