Why Did the Nazgul Wait at Crickhollow?

[luthien-elvenprincess]

While re-reading the chapter "A Knife in the Dark", I am puzzled about the three Nazgul's patience at Crickhollow. Why did they stand outside the house all night, waiting until just before dawn to break into the house to attack? Why didn't they storm the house right when they first met together at the gate?
The Nazgul attacks at Crickhollow and Bree appear to have happened simultaneously. But what advantage was gained by waiting. Wouldn't it have been better if the three Nazgul at Crickhollow had struck as soon as they met up there and then hurried to Bree to help out there?

I would appreciate other's thought on this matter.

[The Might]

As he stared out into the gloom, a black shadow moved under the trees; the gate seemed to open of its own accord and close again without a sound. Terror seized him. He shrank back, and for a moment he stood trembling in the hall. Then he shut and locked the door.

The night deepened. There came the soft sound of horses led with stealth along the lane. Outside the gate they stopped, and three black figures entered, like shades of night creeping across the ground. One went to the door, one to the corner of the house on either side; and there they stood, still as the shadows of stones, while night went slowly on. The house and the quiet trees seemed to be waiting breathlessly.
There was a faint stir in the leaves, and a cock crowed far away. The cold hour before dawn was passing. The figure by the door moved. In the dark without moon or stars a drawn blade gleamed, as if a chill light had been unsheathed. There was a blow, soft but heavy, and the door shuddered.

Fatty Bolger had not been idle. As soon as he saw the dark shapes creep from the garden, he knew that he must run for it, or perish. And run he did, out of the back door, through the garden, and over the fields. When he reached the nearest house, more than a mile away, he collapsed on the doorstep. "No, no no!" he was crying "no, not me! I haven't got it!"

Ok, so I guess that the "while night went slowly on" part suggests they waited. I disagree.
Just a quick timeline:

• Fatty Bolger sees something move outside and the gate open
• The three shadows open the gate and enter and surround the house
• Fatty immediately makes a run for it and calls for help

Now I don't know how quickly a hobbit runs a mile, but this is the time that passed from the moment the shadows entered to the moment the alarm was raised. Considering how afraid Fatty was I expect he ran that mile pretty fast.

[littlemanpoet]

There was a faint stir in the leaves, and a cock crowed far away. The cold hour before dawn was passing. The figure by the door moved. In the dark without moon or stars a drawn blade gleamed, as if a chill light had been unsheathed. There was a blow, soft but heavy, and the door shuddered.

It was the hour before dawn that the black riders entered the house, regardless of when Fatty Bolger's escape happened. Though I would find it almost as puzzling that they did not hear him flee out the other door, except that elsewhere we learn that the black riders' senses are compromised by their state of existence.

Perhaps there was a plan amongst all the black riders to strike simultaneously. Perhaps the three black riders at Crickhollow did not "smell" the Ring, and were uncertain because of it. Perhaps they were suffering from overconfidence and wanted their prey to experience the terrors of the night before they attacked. These are all conjectures, but I'm not sure a more definitive answer can be had.

[The Might]

You raise a very good question there littlemanpoet, why didn't the Nazgul follow him...this puzzles me indeed

I mean, even if they perhaps waited a bit to really make him feel fear it makes no sense to let him run away, especially if they suspected that he might have the Ring.
But as the Nazgul themselves say:

Let the little people blow! Sauron would deal with them later.

They probably expected someone to run and raise the alarm, what they did not expect is that the house was going to be empty.

But this raises another question, if they didn't follow Fatty because they noticed he doesn't have the Ring, why did they attack the house in the first place?
Were they really so overconfident that they were blinded by this and unable to notice the Ring was no longer in the Shire?

We see them usually as very capable and useful servants, but here they clearly failed...

[Holbytlass]

Originally Posted by The Might

But this raises another question, if they didn't follow Fatty because they noticed he doesn't have the Ring, why did they attack the house in the first place?
Were they really so overconfident that they were blinded by this and unable to notice the Ring was no longer in the Shire?

We see them usually as very capable and useful servants, but here they clearly failed...

They do "feel" the ring but the feel doesn't seem to be powerful.
They don't feel that the ring isn't in the CrickHollow house.
They don't feel that the ring is right under them when the hobbits hide under the tree (please forgive me for this example if this only happened in the movie, I can't remember)
They don't feel that the ring isn't in the room where they attack in Prancing Pony and yet don't feel that the ring is still in the Prancing Pony.

Fatty Bolger had not been idle. As soon as he saw the dark shapes creep from the garden, he knew that he must run for it, or perish. And run he did, out of the back door, through the garden, and over the fields. When he reached the nearest house, more than a mile away, he collapsed on the doorstep. "No, no no!" he was crying "no, not me! I haven't got it!"

I always envision the yard and gardens surrounded by the gate very large, in fact the home is on a bit of hill. So it is feasible to me that Fatty looked out and saw the shadow at the gate, locked the front door, escaped by the back door quietly and once beyond the back fence ran like heck.

[littlemanpoet]

A little further on in the chapter (A Knife in the Dark), immediately following your quote regarding the hobbits blowing their horns, we have this:

Meanwhile they had another errand: they knew now that the house was empty and the Ring had gone.

Therefore, up until they had broken into the house, they were not sure if the Ring was in the house or not. If they weren't sure of this, then it is likely that they weren't sure of many other things, such as Fatty escaping.

I also still think that there was a simultaneity to the attacks in Crickhollow and Bree, and that was part of their plan.

[The Might]

I guess that is true, and they weren't as good as I thought they were
And the fact that they attacked at Bree and Crickhollow probably proves they were not yet completely sure where the Ring was at the time

I also remembered that Khamul was also very close to the Ring once when he talked to the Gaffer, but he also didn't feel its presence, even though we know that he was, after the WK himself, the second best