An Unexpected Party

[Elessar's Socks]

I think the Witch-king thought it'd be easier to wait, but if he commanded the Nazgul to seize the Ring at all costs, and endure some discomfort from the flames--they're immortal, after all--the Ring would've been theirs. It's not even necessary to defeat Aragorn; just keep him distracted long enough for one of them to do the dirty work (are jump-tackles too undignified for Nazgul?).

Just to be clear, I'm not arguing that Tolkien should've written things differently. Characters make mistakes (and I got a kick out of Sauron's especially). It's just that... well, I this was more of a miscalculation on the Witch-king's part, rather than a case of the Nazgul being forcefully driven off.

Final point: Even if they took the Ring, keeping it might've been harder than they thought.

[MR. Lurtzy]

The fire may have made them too weak to attack at that time. I think the WK thought that the hobbits were disorganized and he would easily be able to regroup with the other nazgul and then grab the ring. He prolly didn't think that frodo would be taken to rivendell where he couldn't enter.

[menace64]

The fire may have made them too weak to attack at that time. I think the WK thought that the hobbits were disorganized and he would easily be able to regroup with the other nazgul and then grab the ring. He prolly didn't think that frodo would be taken to rivendell where he couldn't enter.

The Witch-king could have entered Rivendell at any time, but chose not to. What all of you are missing is the character of the Witch-king. He is (or was) a man, a coward of a man seeking glory and power through unearthly means (the rings). That kind of character carries over into the ragged form seen in Lord of the Rings. The Witch-king is not "Sauron, but weaker." He is not without fear. All the Nazgul fear many things, such as fire and being seen by many eyes. Hence, they avoid fire and dare not enter cities except at the greatest of need.

TheJord is right. The Shire is a long ways away from Mordor and the Nazgul's overprotective mother. They have no allies, no sanctuary, and no way of calling for help if help is needed. The Nazgul had to be extra-cautious, using all the time they had available to them in order to get the job done. Plus, they had no idea that Hobbits were resistant to both the Ring's corruptive power and the evil instilled into their blades. As far as they knew, Hobbits were as susceptible to their power as any other being (if not more susceptible).

SoP brought up another good point. Tolkien made language a tangible object in Lord of the Rings. Words are weapons and defense. Frodo screaming 'O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!' in the Witch-king's face hurt all the Nazgul pretty bad. And then being confronted by the descendant of Elendil forced them off.

[Elessar's Socks]

In that case, the Hobbits would only need to march to Rivendell with heroic chants of "O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!" to remain untouched. They were able to do battle with Gandalf on Weathertop where there was plenty of light and flame, so I think the Nazgul could withstand a bit of fire long enough to take the Ring. The Witch-king isn't "Sauron, but weaker"--but neither does he and the rest of the Nine count among the weakest of Sauron's forces.

Whether they underestimated the Hobbits--that I'm not debating, because I think that's plain to see.

[sickofpalantirs]

maybe words only work once...But wouldn't you be a little frightened if a hobbit had resisted the most evil thing, and could still shout O elbereth gilthoniel at you...and then you have a bunch of madmen/hobbits wielding torches in your face
there should be a book called: how sauron could've won the war of the ring

[Mythdracon]

Yeah, lots of my friends who haven't read the books wondered how in the movies Sauron could LOSE the battles, despite having so many. I agree that the Host of the Dead at Pelennor cheapened things, though I guess for the movie's time it was an explainable decision. I wanted to see the scariness of the black orb where they got summoned though. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

[sickofpalantirs]

kinda...but I don't remember it being really scary....the stone of erech right?

[Gil-Estel]

it wasn't scary indeed. And it is hard to visualize the terror of the army riding behind Aragorn. Hitchcock would have given Jackson some good advise about how to do it.

[menace64]

I would have suggested less green and more 'realistic'-looking corpses. No phasing from skin-to-bone effects. Just skeletons.

[Elessar's Socks]

Did the Dead even speak in the books? I think it would've left a better impression on me if the most was unintelligible whispers. Oh, and maybe the luxury of that swirly-leaves effect preceding them like on the East Road.

[Mythdracon]

I dunno--while in the books it wasn't *scary* per se, it was at least gloomy and serious, which is more than I can say for the Dead of the movies, who remind me more of Pirates of the Caribbean's skellies.