The Barrow Cache, with speculation on the Reason for the WK sending

[Alfirin]

Originally Posted by PrinceOfTheHalflings

Yes, I would have said that if the WK knew that there were dangerous weapons in the Barrows then he should have ordered someone to clean out all weapons from the Barrows long before.

Even during the time of the War of the Ring there could have been agents allied to Sauron who could have done it, surely, just in case the WK had forgotten about the danger in the meantime.

Or even better, why not just send one of the Nazgul to guard the Barrows?

I've thought about that two and I did come up with a possilbe answer for that as well, but it is really really tenous and requires a few rather extreme assumptions, the main one being that while all of the Nazgul were completely enslaved to thier rings and (by extension Saurons will) they have not lost thier free will utterly that is they are not mere automotons, and when Sauron is not giving them specific orders they are allowed to use thier own methods, provided these do not contravene Saurons will or aims.
If one assumes that (and I admit it is assuming quite a lot) thene questions arise as to how loyal the Nazgul are to each other. We know the WK is the Lord of the Nazgul but whether this is by mutual acclaim by Sauron's pick (most of his titles seem to have come after he took ring, so we dont know if he was already a king or prince before taking it (he was probably already a sorceror of some sort, but that has nothing to do with one's blood) becuse he was the first, or just by being bigger and nastier than the others and being able to keep them all cowed. If they are all jockeying for favor in the eyes of their lord and trying to move up the ranks. If there is dissention in the ranks the WK might actually want a hidden cache of anti-nazgul weaponry just in case someone on thier side gets so out of control he has to be taken down (if the WK is vulnerable to them the other Nazgul and creature of the same ilk (say a morgul knifed individual with an unusally strong will) are probably uniquely suceptable to them) This may be why he might not want to send a fellow Nazgul to watch them he may not want them to know there's still a few of these things lying around (I would imagine that any barrow blades that were in other armories like Fornost's, likey were rounded up and destroyed whne the WK overran the city, as they were fairly public places where a lot of individuals might have had acess to the armory (or could break in).
. Not to mention that a Nazgul is still tecnically alive (as has been drummed into me on this site) and may still have some of basic needs of the living (like eating and sleeping) and the Downs aren't exatly the most fertile area especially for a long term hunker down (remember , if we are talking about guarding, we are taking about a posting that was for the long haul perhaps for centuries) , As for a non-Nazgul "solid" contingent, who could you really trust. We know orcs really aren't neccarily trustworthy at least in the absence of a commanding authority, many might have kept weapons behing the WK's back if for no other reason that they were far better weapons that the strandard issue ones, givne how much they hated the Nazgul if they had known the secret (there would have DEFINITELY been some unreported "swag" Men have the same problem plus if (as someone speculated) the men under the WK command were partially decended from the men of Carn Dum they might have balked at diggin up their kins resting places. The wights which the WK may have summoned hinself (and possibly therefore really did have completely in is own, personal thrall) may have literally been the only forces the WK could trust, to sit on the wepons until time removed the threat (the Downs always sounded pretty wet to me, maybe he was hoping the water would eventually rust the weapons into nothingness.)

There is a second even, more tenuos reason why the WK might have wanted a supply of Barrow weapons. What if they were needed to make other things. What if a Morgul blade (which they say is hard to make) began it life as a ensorceled Barrow blade, one that the WK through hard and dark sorcery twisted the spell on and corrupted to his will. t makes a kind of sense, to wound the WK a barrow blade must (unlike a normal blade) trancend the divide between this side and the "other side" I can easily see such a spell if corrupted become waht the morgul knife does send a person from this side to the other (I have always had a pet theory that the Morgul attack on Frodo was done hastily and was in fact botched, (a bad shot, with the broken blade then lost in the scuffle) that a morgul knife isnt supposed to break off in a non mortal wound, but is in fact, when done correctly meant to admister an instateosly fatal wound, (through the heart say) and cause immediate wrathification with the knife still intact for another use. see new thread) If you've ever seen the somewhat old cartoon Conan the Adventurer think of the barrow blades like star metal, in its natural state is the msot dangerous thing to the bad guys but it can be "corrupted" by them into somthing that is thier greatest asset.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Alfirin

We know the WK is the Lord of the Nazgul but whether this is by mutual acclaim by Sauron's pick (most of his titles seem to have come after he took ring, so we dont know if he was already a king or prince before taking it (he was probably already a sorceror of some sort, but that has nothing to do with one's blood) becuse he was the first, or just by being bigger and nastier than the others and being able to keep them all cowed.

The WK was placed in charge by Sauron because he had the most power and command ability. The other Nazgûl would have obeyed his orders without question, since his orders would have been entirely in line with Sauron's wishes. No disunity would be seen in the ranks of the Nazgûl.

A great king and sorcerer he was of old, and now he wields a deadly fear.

FOTR The Council of Elrond

The Witch-king, their leader, is more powerful in all ways than the others.

Letters (# 210)

Originally Posted by Alfirin

(I)t makes a kind of sense, to wound the WK a barrow blade must (unlike a normal blade) trancend the divide between this side and the "other side"

I've never had the idea that the Barrow-blades were the only means of harming the Nazgûl; they simply did more damage due to the nature of the spells placed on them. After all, it wasn't Merry who delivered the death blow to the Morgul-lord; Éowyn did so, with an ordinary sword.

[Alfirin]

Originally Posted by Inziladun

I've never had the idea that the Barrow-blades were the only means of harming the Nazgûl; they simply did more damage due to the nature of the spells placed on them. After all, it wasn't Merry who delivered the death blow to the Morgul-lord; Éowyn did so, with an ordinary sword.

This is true but of course, Eowyn circunvented the "invicibility" spell of the WK by not being a "living man". A Barrow blade just might give some advantage particulary if you arent fortunate to be a woman, non-human or dead (actually that's interesting, sinc ethey aren't "living men" I wonder if the Dead Men of Dunharrow had they been there could have also killed the WK). I'm just wondering if a normal man, armed with a normal unenchated sword could cause any real damage. Merry may not have actually struck the fatal blow but it is possible he struck the critical one since a big part of Eowyn being able to slay the WK was the fact that he was mometarily distracted by Merry's strike.