Another detail to note: Sauron sent the Lord of the Nazgûl, to fight the Northern Dúnedain, located in Arnor (to the North of Middle Earth). He founded the kingdom of Angmar and named himself 'The Witch-King of Angmar'. He gathered men and orcs to him and attacked the Northern Dúnedain, who got the Elves to help them.
The warriors who fell in that conflict were buried in the barrows, which were not evil places until the Witch-King sent evil spirits to occupy them. The long and the short of it is that the weapons that were buried with them were specifically forged (and enchanted, or at least it was intimated) to battle the forces of Angmar and even the Witch-King himself. That is why that blade in particular is anathema to the Witch-King.
I've seen debates where people argue for that reason that Merry's blow was what actually killed the Witch-King, and Éowyn merely gave the coup-de-grace. (After all, isn't a Hobbit not a man, either?) Regardless, it's a nice example of the level of intricacy Tolkien regularly employed.
You want to lose yourself in a very well organized and comprehensive Tolkien-Lore repository, google 'Encyclopedia of Arda'.
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