Morgul-knife

The Morgul-knife is a short blade that belonged to the Witch-king of Angmar. It can poison its victims and sometimes turn them into a wraith. The Witch-King of Angmar used the Morgul-knife to stab Frodo Baggins at Weathertop.​

The Morgul-knife is a long knife and a blade in one. It can poison its victims. Elrond explained that if the knife breaks off and leaves a shard in the wound, the rest of the Morgul-knife will disintegrate and turn into dust. Meanwhile, the shard that broke off will work its way through the heart of the victim. If the edge is in the target's body long enough, he will turn into a wraith. It was noted that Kingsfoil or Arthelas, a healing herb, can help slow down the poisonous effects that the Morgul-knife causes. It is also effective against the Black Breath of the Nazgûls. [1] However, a victim struck by the Morgul-knife still requires total healing to avoid death. It is unknown if the Morgul-knife is a unique weapon as JRR Tolkien only mentioned it as being used by the Witch-King of Angmar. However, it is noted that Elrond referred to the knife as "a Morgul-knife," which could have implied that it was a type of weapon and that there may be more than one in Middle-earth.​

The Morgul-knife's origins were not discussed by JRR Tolkien. It was only known to be used in the late Third Age when the Witch-King stabbed Frodo with it. When the Nazgûls tracked the Hobbits to the ancient watchtower named Weathertop, the Witch-King was able to sense the One Ring and stabbed Frodo using the Morgul-knife. The knife's blade melted soon after, which meant that a shard broke off and stayed in the injuries of Frodo.

This blade started to work its way to Frodo's heart, rendering him weak and unconscious. Aragorn was able to scare off the Nazgûls. Seeing the state that Frodo was in, they made arrangements to send Frodo to Rivendell right away before he turned into a wraith. Elrond has successfully eliminated the splinter and rectified Frodo's wound. But the effect of the Morgul-knife still remained. Every year, though, on the same day, Frodo would become very sick. It was only when he left Middle-Earth to go to Valinor that he could get a cure.​

In this Peter Jackson film, Radagast the Brown is attacked by a shade of the Witch-king of Angmar while the wizard was exploring Dol Guldur. Radagast was able to fight off the shade and take the weapon. Radagast then gives the blade to Gandalf as proof. Gandalf shows the Morgul-knife to the White Council and convinces them to attack Dol Guldur. However, Saruman overrules him since Gandalf could not prove that it is indeed the Morgul-knife of the Witch-King. Galadriel then shares that the Morgul-knife was buried with the Witch-King by the men of the north. Elrond confirms that the tomb in the High Fells of Rhudaur was sealed by Elven magic. [2]​

In this Peter Jackson movie, Kili was wounded by a Nazgûl that made him very sick. Tauriel was able to save him with the help of the Athelas herb and Elven healing. It was the same sickness, treatment, and cure that an altercation with a Morgul-knife requires. However, what wounded Kili was a Morgul-arrow. [3]​

In this video game from EA, the Mordor faction gives the player access to a Nazgûl hero with the Morgul blade ability. The ability allows a targhandyet to be stunned. When the target is killed while using the ability, the target turns into a wraith. The wraith can then be controlled by the player that owns the Nazgûl character. [4]​

In this expansion game, the character Captain Carthaen was stabbed by Morgomir with a Morgul-knife. He became known as Karsh the Whisperer (Angmar Heroes) after the Dark Plague Ritual. Carthaen became a wraith that haunted the Witch-king's enemies across the Northern lands of Middle-earth. His spirit becomes free when Elrond of Rivendell stabs him with the Noldorin sword. The body of Karsh was destroyed, and the spirit of Carthaen was able to rest in Valar. [5]​

In this video game, the Ranger Amidir gets stabbed by a Morgul-knife. This occurs when the epic quest, Man and Hobbit, starts. The player has to gather Kingsfoil so that Strider can cure him. However, when the player reencounters him in the game, Amidir's appearance has changed because he was starting to transform into a wraith. This caused Amidir to run away from his companions. The player reencounters him a third time. In this encounter, Amidir is now under the enemy's control as a fully transformed wraith. The player has to defeat him. [6]​