Nazgûl Eyes

[Alcuin]

The confrontation between Éowyn and the Witch King is one of my favorites scenes in the Lord of the Rings, as likely for many of you. In the past day or so, I noticed something I’d not before.

In the confrontation on Weathertop with Frodo, Aragorn, and the hobbits, there is no mention of any “gleam” in the Lord of the Nazgûl’s eyes. Only Frodo can see their eyes, and only when he puts on the Ring. Otherwise, they are all specifically said to be invisible to mortal sight.

Aragorn probably knew more about them than any other Man, being instructed not only by Elrond, his foster-father, but also by records and tales left by his ancestors, the Northern Dúnedain, who fought a series of wars against the Witch King of Angmar before their kingdom succumbed to him. Aragorn described the Nazgûl as if blind in human terms, seeing only things that “cast shadows” into the netherworld in which they were trapped. To reinforce this idea, when Sam put on the Ring high in the cleft at the top of Cirith Ungol, he saw the orcs passing by as hazy shadow-figures.

Yet when Gandalf confronts the Nazgûl Lord in the Gate of Minas Tirith, Pippin can see the Ringwraith’s eyes in the emptiness between his shoulders and his iron crown. And when the Witch King fights with Éowyn, both Éowyn and Merry can see his eyes, which gleam just before he tries to smash her head – and Merry stabs him.

The Witch King’s eyes are clearly a prominent feature in an otherwise (apparently) featureless creature. But there’s no mention of his eyes on the road to Rivendell – except for Frodo, first when he wears the Ring on Weathertop, then later at the Bruinen when he can see them because he himself is slipping in the wraith world. Even as the Ringwraith leads his army out of Minas Morgul, his eyes are unseen while Frodo, Sam and Gollum hide from him.

So I’d like to pose a question:

Do you suppose the Witch King’s eyes were only visible during the attack on Minas Tirith?

There might be some reasons to think so.

• Let’s assume Aragorn is right: the Nazgûl can’t see well – at least, they can’t see things in the normal world, the world of the living, very well.
• Let’s assume Sauron “beefed up” his Captain of Despair”, the Witch King, with “extra demonic power” (I believe that’s the phrase Tolkien used in Letters to describe the Witch King’s intensified strength) for the attack on Minas Tirith.
• How successful do you suppose a blind or half-blind military commander would be?

I propose that Sauron arranged for the Lord of the Nazgûl “peek out” from the wraith world to see the normal world in order to execute his attack on the city. That, I suggest, is the reason his eyes could be seen then, but not before; and why none of the other Ringwraiths’ eyes could be seen.

What says the Entmoot? (My apologies: I can’t stay to discuss it myself: I have to work. But I hope this sparks a merry debate!)