Skip to main content

the lord of the rings - Why does the leader of the Ringwraiths call himself the Witch-king?


I have never read The Lord of the Rings so it might be explained in there but it always seemed odd to me that he called himself the Witch King. Can anyone explain the origin of this title?



Answer



He doesn't.



Nowhere in LotR is it said that he calls himself the Witch-king; the only statement regarding the origin of the name is the following from the Appendices:



The lord of that land was known as the Witch-king



This can be seen as slightly ambiguous: who knew him as the Witch-king? But it's nonetheless clear that this was a name that was given to him by others.


Knowing this it still seems reasonable to ask why he was called this, and I believe that we can begin with two valid interpretations: one is a king of witches, the other is a king who is a witch. I can't find anything in Tolkien to suggest which one (if any) of these is intended, so perhaps it would be better to look at the definition (and particularly the origin) of the word "witch" for some more insight.


Here I'm using http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/witch but any dictionary should be sufficient.



Middle English wicche, from Old English wicca, masculine, wizard & wicce, feminine, witch; akin to Middle High German wicken to bewitch, Old English wigle divination, and perhaps to Old High German wīh holy




It seems quite clear here that "witch", in origin, is derived from both the masculine and feminine OE words, and is related to a gender-neutral word in German/etc, but has only become primarily feminine recently. Tolkien, of course, would have been well aware of all of this.


Going further (and taking a cue from the other origins above), we can see that there are only two usages of the word "witch" in the Silmarillion; one in reference to Morwen:



...they whispered among themselves, saying that she was perilous, and a witch skilled in magic...



And the other in reference to Morgoth:



Hurin Thalion, Morgoth hath bewitched thee...



The latter one is, I believe, extremely relevant here and offers a third interpretation of the name "Witch-king", i.e. "king of witchery", and this interpretation seems most likely to have been Tolkien's actual intention.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

How do Pokemon trainers collect their winnings?

According to Bulbapedia , Prize money is the money that a Trainer pays out at the end of a battle. So we know that the money comes directly from the trainer that just lost, and not some third-party committee or sponsor. But how is this done? It can be easy seeing the random trainers who challenge you along the way wanting to wager and then, after admitting defeat, sticking to their word and handing over their hard-earned pokebucks. Then there are the likes of Team Rocket and Giovanni, who also give money once they lose. This doesn't seem like something people in a criminal organization would willingly do. From this it appears that trainers have no say in whether or not they cough up the dough after losing, but I can't find anything on how exactly the funds are transferred from loser to winner. So how do Pokemon trainers receive their winnings?
Post a Comment
Read more