<P> On their return to Mordor, the Nazgûl were remounted on great winged beasts . The Witch - king returned to Minas Morgul to prepare the assault upon Gondor . His forces attacked Faramir's Rangers in the Battle of Osgiliath and drove them back across the Anduin . </P> <P> The Witch - king soon led large numbers of Orcs, Haradrim, and Easterlings to besiege Minas Tirith in the Battle of the Pelennor Fields . After the gates of the city were broken, he rode to enter the city but was prevented from entering by Gandalf . </P> <P> Recalled to the battle by the unexpected advance of the Rohirrim, the Witch - king attacked Théoden, who had outrun his own riders . Snowmane, Théoden's horse, was struck by a dart and fell upon Théoden . As the Witch - king approached him for the kill, Éowyn, the king's niece, barred his way . She decapitated his mount, and the Witch - king replied with a powerful blow from his mace, breaking her arm and her shield . As he prepared to finish her off, the hobbit Meriadoc Brandybuck stabbed the back of the Witch - king's knee with a Dúnedain dagger which bore enchantments deadly to the Witch - king . Éowyn then thrust her sword into the void between the Witch - king's crown and torso . Her sword shattered but the Witch - king's clothing fell to the ground and he vanished with a wailing cry . </P> <P> This fulfilled the prophecy of Glorfindel, for the Witch - king fell not by "the hand of man", but by a woman and a hobbit . </P>

Who killed the witch king in the book