Black Riders and the Ring

During last week's class (#109 if memory serves), we had a spirited argument about whether Frodo's reluctance to reveal the nature of his quest was due to the influence of the Ring or due to simple caution. This got me thinking about how the Ring acts on Frodo's will, and I wrote a long post about this on the general discussion board. One thing that I noticed as I was hunting through the text is that the presence of a black rider seems to have a dramatic influence on how the Ring behaves.

When the Ring influences Frodo at Bag End and in Bombadil's house, its mental influence is like rationalization ("...how rich and beautiful was its color, how perfect was its roundness", etc.). When the wraiths are present, the Ring feels to Frodo much more like an outside influence beating upon his will. This seems to be true whenever a wraith is present, regardless of whether or not that wraith is the Witch King. In fact, the Ring acts much like it does when Frodo gets close to Mordor, simply beating upon his will.

I think this shift might imply a lot about the relationship between Sauron and the Nine. They seem to carry a little bit of him with them, so their proximity acts much like Sauron's own proximity, albeit with reduced range.
 
Back
Top