Swordsmen battle

[Iron_Twister]

Never bothered with the show as it further bastardized the series from original and they had Duncan kill Connor ( who had pretty much gave up.)

Plus immortals showing powers that were not shown in original movie ( Like freaking portals.)

Yeah, don't blame ya. The Source is what really killed the show’s continuity if Endgame didn't do it.

...And to think I had to see it on TV by chance to really understood its absolute awfulness.

[Sharpandpointies]

Oh yeah the First Age men and the descendents of the Edain are superhuman by real world standards (though not exactly captain America)

I was just pointing he's probably not part Elf, or in any case reaaaaly miniscule fraction of part elf even if we go by Elros passing on some elf genes despite dying a man

Pretty much this.

Elros' 'I Used To Be An Elf' thing meant he was rather more than normal for a human (especially since 'Used to be an elf' also includes 'Did I mention there is Maia in my heritage a few generations back?'). But it's not like D&D, where half-elves are part elves. The Choice means 'You're an elf...or not'. Period.

[Güicho]

Reminds me it's actually Eowyn who defeats an enemy literally no one else in Middle Earth could have touched, the Lord of the Nazgûl Witch King pretty much Sauron’s second in command. She brazenly faces hims, laughs at him, and makes him afraid for a being who up until then thought he was immortal. LOL! Then decapitates the Fellbeast, and stabs him in the freakin face. LOL
If we are going to have a LOTR character can we add her to the fray?

[The Chou Lives]

Eowyn got guts and some skill. But reason she won was Merry back stabbed Witch Kong with that anti Nazgul blade. Which allowed the killing hit.

[Güicho]

...back stabbed

Well behind the knee, although it does break the spell), she'd already decapitated the Fellbeast it is Eowyn brazenly killing it, and challenging the Lord of the Nazgûl that has all his attention, that inspire and allows the unnoticed Hobbit to strike, who would have otherwise never come close, except for her. Then she kills it.
I guess it's a duo strike they should count together .

[Sharpandpointies]

Éowyn is a trained fighter, and certainly very good at what she does -- killing the Fell Beast, as an example, and doing just fine in a pitched battle -- but the Witch-King is basically kicking her rear all over the place before Merry steps in.

[Güicho]

the Witch-King is basically kicking her rear all over the place before Merry steps in.

Not really, he never laid a hand on her, sure her sheild an arm are broken, it's "the last of her strength", but the witch-king (as indicated Merry distracts him) never lays a hand on her, and she strikes, killing it. .

Suddenly the great beast beat its hideous wings, and the wind of them was foul. Again it leaped into the air, and then swiftly fell down upon Eowyn, shrieking, striking with beak and claw.

Still she did not blench: maiden of the Rohirrim, child of kings, slender but as a steel-blade, fair but terrible. A swift stroke she dealt, skilled and deadly. The outstretched neck she clove asunder, and the hewn head fell like a stone. Backward she sprang as the huge shape crashed to ruin, vast wings outspread, crumpled on the earth; and with its fall the shadow passed away. A light fell about her, and her hair shone in the sunrise.

Out of the wreck rose the Black Rider, tall and threatening, towering above her. With a cry of hatred that stung the very ears like venom he let fall his mace. Her shield was shivered in many pieces, and her arm was broken; she stumbled to her knees. He bent over her like a cloud, and his eyes glittered; he raised his mace to kill.

But suddenly he too stumbled forward with a cry of bitter pain, and his stroke went wide, driving into the ground. Merry’s sword had stabbed him from behind, shearing through the black mantle, and passing up beneath the hauberk had pierced the sinew behind his mighty knee.

'Eowyn! Eowyn!’ cried Merry. Then tottering, struggling up, with her last strength she drove her sword between crown and mantle, as the great shoulders bowed before her. The sword broke sparkling into many shards. The crown rolled away with a clang.

[Sharpandpointies]

He hits her with his mace, smack on the shield. Her shield smashes to pieces. She falls to her knees. He raises the mace to kill her. Merry stabs the WK.

It's right there in the quote. Her shield arm wasn't broken when the beast fell on her (and it didn't, she jumped away from it), he HIT her shield, it shatters, she goes down.

[Sharpandpointies]

Also note that the ONE hit he lays on her shield (that shatter it and sends her to her knees) leaves her as such a wreck that she is 'tottering' and striking out 'with her last strength' after Merry saves her. She then falls down, and that's that for her.

I'd say that's quite convincingly 'Witch-king was kicking her rear before Merry stepped in'.

[Sharpandpointies]

Seeing as there's an edit, I'm just going to go through this step by step.

Suddenly the great beast beat its hideous wings, and the wind of them was foul. Again it leaped into the air, and then swiftly fell down upon Eowyn, shrieking, striking with beak and claw.

It 'falls down' upon her...from the AIR, striking with beak and claw. There's no sign that it's sitting on her or anything. It's leaping up, and then coming down to attack her 'with beak and claw', not a giant body-drop.

Still she did not blench: maiden of the Rohirrim, child of kings, slender but as a steel-blade, fair but terrible. A swift stroke she dealt, skilled and deadly. The outstretched neck she clove asunder, and the hewn head fell like a stone. Backward she sprang as the huge shape crashed to ruin, vast wings outspread, crumpled on the earth; and with its fall the shadow passed away. A light fell about her, and her hair shone in the sunrise.

She cuts its head off and springs away as it falls to its ruin. There's no mention of injuries, damage, broken shield, nothing.

Out of the wreck rose the Black Rider, tall and threatening, towering above her. With a cry of hatred that stung the very ears like venom he let fall his mace.

To 'let fall' his mace is to swing it down upon her, unless someone wants to argue he's dropping it, and then (with no mention of him picking it up, and no reason for him to drop it in the first place) he suddenly has it in his hand again later.

Her shield was shivered in many pieces, and her arm was broken; she stumbled to her knees. He bent over her like a cloud, and his eyes glittered; he raised his mace to kill.

Her shield was shivered and arm broken because he HIT the shield with his mace, and she stumbles to her knees.

But suddenly he too stumbled forward with a cry of bitter pain, and his stroke went wide, driving into the ground. Merry’s sword had stabbed him from behind, shearing through the black mantle, and passing up beneath the hauberk had pierced the sinew behind his mighty knee.

Merry shanks him.

'Eowyn! Eowyn!’ cried Merry. Then tottering, struggling up, with her last strength she drove her sword between crown and mantle, as the great shoulders bowed before her. The sword broke sparkling into many shards. The crown rolled away with a clang.

Absolutely wrecked from that single hit, Éowyn manages to barely stab the sorely injured (spells going poof!) WK in the face, finishing him off.

[Güicho]

I concur it was a duo, her inspiring and allowing Merry to strike while she brazenly faces and and kills the beast, was instrumental.

Absolutely wrecked from that single hit,

"Absolutely? No, she still had more strength
If the wreck was already "absolute" She wouldn't have - "her last strength" with which "she drove her sword between crown and mantle"

Point was with or without Merry she's certainly got enough courage, strength, and skill to at least join the lads on this tenuous list.

[wjowski]

I would argue that Eowyn would have as much business on this list as Aragorn just for facing the Witch King and killing the fell beast, even if I agree with Sharp about taking out the WK itself.

[Sharpandpointies]

I concur her inspiring and allowing Merry to strike while she brazenly faces and and kills the beast, was instrumental.

But not the stuff about the Witch-King actually smashing her shield to pieces (and busting her arm and driving her down to the ground) and having her at his mercy before Merry shanks him?

"Absolutely? No, she still had more.
If the wreck was already "absolute" She wouldn't have - "her last strength" with which "she drove her sword between crown and mantle"

Okay, if that's the only objection, I'll amend. That one hit on her shield that shatters it (and her arm) quite nearly wrecks her, to the point where after she makes her single attack while literally tottering on her feet, she goes down, unconscious. To the point where Éomer shows up and takes her for dead.

She was basically dead in the water at that point, with enough left in the tank for one shot and one shot only. And only got that shot in because Merry shanked the WK.

I mean...no shame, here. She decapitates a bloody giant pteranodon with one shot while it's attacking her, something the average warrior would be in no way capable of pulling off. She's clearly a heroic swordswoman. She's just outclassed by the WK himself, much like nearly every single other character in the series. ^_^

[Hiromi]

Eowyn's feat was only being in the right place at the right time, that prophecy bit gets misconstrued all the time, had Merry not stabbed the Witch King in it's knee she would have been as powerless to hurt it as anyone else as, the book specifically says that Merry's sword was made specifically to fight the Witch King and his stabbing it removed various enchantments that had made it more or less invulnerable, also has the added effect of stunning him. Basically anyone with a sword could have stabbed him in the face at that point, Eowyn just happened to be that anyone. The actual slaying of the Witch King wasn't a combat feat of any importance, she has other ones but this one isn't one of them.

[Sharpandpointies]

Eowyn's feat was only being in the right place at the right time, that prophecy bit gets misconstrued all the time, had Merry not stabbed the Witch King in it's knee she would have been as powerless to hurt it as anyone else as, the book specifically says that Merry's sword was made specifically to fight the Witch King and his stabbing it removed various enchantments that had made it more or less invulnerable, also has the added effect of stunning him. Basically anyone with a sword could have stabbed him in the face at that point, Eowyn just happened to be that anyone. The actual slaying of the Witch King wasn't a combat feat of any importance, she has other ones but this one isn't one of them.

Pretty much. Indeed, there's hints that the stabbing of the Witch-king with the Barrows Blade was basically a death knell for him, and he would have fallen apart anyway. It's interesting to see how far the Númenoreans have fallen; basically Lord of the Rings is akin to a post-apocalypse, with a mostly barren land having areas of civilization that are nothing but shadows of what they used to be, or are new, crude towns (think Bree).

I mean, we have these bloody DAGGERS made for the nobles of Arnor that were basically forged with the quasi-magical art to kill off/cripple the Witch-King. There's nothing like that in the (fallen) human civilizations of the later 3rd Age.

Digression over.

It's the killing of the Fell Beast that's really the important thing, here, with regards to demonstrating Éowyn's ability.