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01-05-2007, 07:30 PM | #1 |
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
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Why Did the Nazgul Wait at Crickhollow?
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.
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01-06-2007, 08:22 AM | #2 | |||
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Did they?
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Just a quick timeline:
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01-06-2007, 06:36 PM | #3 | |
Itinerant Songster
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Quote:
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. |
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01-06-2007, 07:32 PM | #4 | |
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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: Quote:
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...
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01-06-2007, 07:50 PM | #5 | ||
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
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Quote:
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. Quote:
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01-06-2007, 07:53 PM | #6 | |
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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:
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I also still think that there was a simultaneity to the attacks in Crickhollow and Bree, and that was part of their plan. |
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01-06-2007, 08:09 PM | #7 |
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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
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01-06-2007, 08:14 PM | #8 | |
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I just noticed that one of the black riders reveals that knife that showed up on Weathertop, which suggests that the Witch King was at Crickhollow instead of Bree. |
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01-07-2007, 02:26 AM | #9 | |||
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In Reader’s Companion, Hammond & Scull quote Tolkien’s notes on the attack on Crickhollow. These are archived at Marquette and are the source of the Unfinished Tales chapter “Hunt for the Ring”.
Khaműl led the Nazgűl operating inside the Shire. The Witch-king was at Andrath, the narrow defile through which the Greenway passed between the Barrow-downs and the South Downs, from whence he visited the Barrow-downs and stirred up the barrow-wights. When Frodo and his companions crossed the Brandywine River, Khaműl set one Nazgűl to watch the Brandywine Bridge, and sent two eastwards along the Great Road to report back to the Witch-king. Khaműl and the other Nazgűl from Dol Guldur (“his companion”) entered Buckland by the North Gate. Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
Last edited by Alcuin; 01-07-2007 at 02:53 AM. |
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01-07-2007, 08:56 AM | #10 | |||
Ghost Prince of Cardolan
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I think that much of the text in "A Knife in the Dark" suggests some passage of time between the arrival of the first Nazgul and the attack..
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
The text seems to indicate that the Nazgul came and stood by the house while the night went slowly on and the house and the quiet trees waited breathlessly. Again, the sense of time passing. Fatty had to run over a mile to the nearest house. His name suggests that he was not an accomplished long-distance runner, however fear and terror very likely put speed to his feet! But, once there, "It was some time" before anyone could figure out what he was saying. ONce they understood, they lost no more time in action. The Horn-call of Buckland sounded just as the Nazgul passed swiftly into the house. So the Nazgul, at the very least, waited the amount of time for a fat hobbit to run over a mile and in a highly excited state of mind finally communicate the danger to others. Thanks for all the great comments on this thread. Another interesting fact of the Crickhollow event...the Nazgul carring Frodo's cloak and dropping it on the step as they ran.
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01-07-2007, 12:16 PM | #11 |
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very good quote there Alcuin, I was not aware that these comments existed
so I guess the Nazgul did wait longer until they attacked instead of using spead perhaps an explanation for this is Khamul's great weakness We know he was second best in finding the ring after the Wk, but he was of the 9 the one who suffered most from sun light, so perhaps he sacrificed speed for stealth also because of his problem
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