Frodo's defiance of the Nazgul at the Ford of Bruinen

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I came years late to the Exploring the Lord of the Rings podcast and am furiously trying to catch up, listening now to its 97th session. Please forgive the rehash of ancient podcast history, but you answered a question at the outset of that session regarding whether Frodo's defiance of the Nazgul at the Ford of Bruinen grew from the Ring's hold over him and the attendant desire to protect it from seizure by others, and your response to that question begged some additional discussion.

In considering your listener's question, you concluded that Frodo's invocation of Elbereth and Luthien suggested that Frodo's defiance seemed incompatible with an overwhelming/irrational desire to possess and protect the Ring (which I will refer to generally as Ring-lust). I have a slightly different reading based both upon Tolkien's description of Frodo's emotional state just prior to his invocation of Elbereth and Luthien and upon Frodo's declaration immediately before being stricken dumb by the Witch King.

Frodo declares that, "By Elbereth and Luthien the Fair, you shall have neither the Ring nor me!" (emphasis added). Although I certainly agree that E&L would not be the figures to invoke for protection of the Ring, totally discounting Ring-lust as a source of his defiance at the Ford seems to give insufficient regard to Frodo's desire for self-preservation.

Rewinding a few paragraphs, Tolkien states that "[h]atred again stirred in [Frodo]..." after he perceives the Nazgul commanding him to stop (hatred is itself a decidedly un-Elberethian concept, but the emotion and invocation co-exist in this passage). The strength of his emotion clearly derives in part from the recognition that the Nazgul have all but overcome his will ("he had no longer the strength to refuse"), but terror would be a much more natural response to the prospect of being carted off to Mordor by Sauron's most powerful, and undead, lieutenants. There are numerous examples in both The Hobbit and LOTR that anger and hatred are the immediate reflexive emotions engendered in each of the Ringbearers of any significant duration (i.e., excluding Bombadil, Gandalf and Sam) by the prospect of being dispossessed of the Ring. Thus, is it not reasonable to assume that Frodo's attempted defiance of the Nazgul in this scene is driven in not-insignificant part by Ring-lust?

I would suggest that Frodo's invocation of Elbereth and Luthien arises from his desire for self-preservation and his recognition that he is on a knife's edge between living on one hand, and death/undeath on the other. The small parts of Frodo's consciousness and will that remain intact at this point cling to Elbereth and Luthien as the only two points of good and purity that remain cognizable to him. They stand in opposition to the hatred that is welling in him (an emotion largely alien to Frodo and one that he might reasonably desire to be cleansed of, recognizing that its origin is Ring-lust).

So in sum, I don't read Frodo's invocation of Elbereth and Luthien as being at odds to Ring-lust. Rather, it seems to me to be an acknowledgment of it and possibly a desire to be free of it, and at a more basic level it is also an illustration of Frodo's competing desires to protect the Ring and to protect himself.

 

[Anthony Lawther]

The difficulty I have with your explanation is that the 'Ring-lust' generally presents a promise of being a supreme power (e.g Gollum the Great or Samwise ruling a garden swollen to a realm), rather than encouraging an appeal to higher powers, and doesn't seem to amplify the bearer's sense of self-preservation; If it did it might have encouraged Isildur to avoid swimming with the Ring on (duh!), and might have convinced Gollum to move further from the gaping pit filled with magma before dancing with glee.

I don't think anyone is suggesting that Frodo is immune to the 'Ring-lust' at the Ford; quite the opposite, if he was immune at this point he might toss the Ring at them and tell them to keep it.

I think there are many factors at play here, and the Morgul blade and its effects shouldn't be discounted. Setting the Ring to one side for the moment, I think one of the effects of the Morgul blade on a less resistant person would lead to them coming when called at this stage.

It seems to me that the invocation of Elbereth and Luthien doesn't seem in keeping with Ring-induced temptations or urgings, but is intended to counter some of the effects of the Morgul blade. In fact, his first defiant act is in keeping with the purpose of the Ring: ordering the Nine (amongst others)

‘Go back!’ he cried. ‘Go back to the Land of Mordor, and follow me no more!’ His voice sounded thin and shrill in his own ears. The Riders halted, but Frodo had not the power of Bombadil. His enemies laughed at him with a harsh and chilling laughter. ‘Come back! Come back!’ they called. ‘To Mordor we will take you!’

‘Go back!’ he whispered.

‘The Ring! The Ring!’ they cried with deadly voices; and immediately their leader urged his horse forward into the water, followed closely by two others.

‘By Elbereth and Luthien the Fair,’ said Frodo with a last effort, lifting up his sword, ‘you shall have neither the Ring nor me!’

So to sum up, I think Frodo's invocation of Elbereth and Luthien is a last resort counter to the call of the Nazgul in reaction to failing to make use of the Ring for its primary purpose.