During the flight from The Shire to Rivendell, the four hobbits who later become members of the fellowship of the ring go through several perilous lands. They manage to survive the Barrow-downs, where evil creatures dwell in the dark, The Old Forest, where even the moving trees are their enemies and attempt to lead them astray, and Weathertop, where Frodo is stabbed by a Ringwraith with a dagger.
This is not just any dagger though, there is something very specific about a Morgul blade that makes it so dangerous. A Morgul blade comes from the ancient realm of Angmar, where the dark lord Sauron went to regain his strength after he was defeated in the Battle of the Last Alliance. Once he was powerful enough to wage the war of the ring, he sent out his servants the Ring-wraiths and the Witch-king, who had previously been the one to seize Amon Sul,the watchtower that became the ruins of Weathertop. The Numenoreans fled their watch, taking the Palantiri seeing stone with them so that it wouldn’t fall into the hands of the enemy, but many lost their lives before they were able to escape, and almost everything left in the land (including the blade) was shrouded in a foul magic.
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The problem with a Morgul blade is that it isn’t like a typical sword that pierces the body and then creates an open wound, it is designed to break upon entrance, leaving a shard in the fissure of the enemy. This shard slowly works its way inwards, destined for the heart of the person who has been knifed, and the shard itself contains a poison that slowly seeps into the rest of the body. This is why Frodo begins to lose the feeling in his arm and is tormented by pain in the wound long after the quest is fulfilled until he makes the difficult decision to go to the Undying Lands.
Once the shard has reached the victim’s heart, he becomes a wraith too, passing out of his physical body and into the shadow realm. Aragorn is only able to save Frodo from this unbearable fate because he is skilled in thehealing arts of the Athelas flower. He also becomes too weak to move, and is carried for the 17 day remainder of the journey on the back ofBill The Pony, the horse from Bree who has become a loyal companion to the four hobbits.
But when Aragorn tries to pick the blade up, hoping to take it to Elrond in order to help the healers better treat Frodo’s ailments, it vanishes, turning to dust in his hands. Once the blade has fulfilled its evil purpose, it burns away, just as Merry’s sword does when he stabs the Witch King with it to protect Eowyn at the battle of Pelennor fields.
It is important to note that Merry’s sword is very different from a Morgul weapon, for the true-hearted and brave companions cannot wield such an evil object, or it would turn them evil too. There are countless examples of this throughout Tolkien’s works, the most obvious of which is of course the One Ring of power, which is kept ona chain around Frodo’s neckto prevent its malice seeping into him. Good characters cannot use the powerful objects without unleashing havoc, despite their best intentions, which is whyFaramir does what Boromir could not, and lets Frodo and the ring go when he has them in his grasp. It is only because of this courageous decision, to put the good of all before the pride of his father and his kingdom, that Frodo and Sam are able to make their way into the heart of Mordor and destroy the ring once and for all.
There are many other poisoned wounds in the Tolkien world, including the arrow that is shot at Kili in The Hobbit films, the arrow fired in Osgiliath that results in Faramir being sent to thehouses of healing, where he meets Eowyn, who also suffers from a toxin of sorts known as the Black Breath. Luckily these injuries are not as severe as a Morgul wound, and are all cured with time and perseverance.
Frodo’s wound is very rare and is recorded as such in the history of important events in Middle Earth, in the red book of Westmarch. What actually happens to the Morgul weapons during the Fourth Age of peace, once Sauron and the Witch-king have been defeated, is not known. But it is believed that some of the survivors of the opposing armies are forced back up into the north kingdom in the fourth age, and patrolled to ensure they cause no further mischief to the reunited kingdoms of Gondor and Rohan.
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