ForthDauntless3
Member
During our discussion of Frodo's struggle with Old Man Willow, we commented that he had a partial success. He overcame the sleep song, but he then succumbed to the tree's desire that Frodo should bathe his feet in the Withywindle.
When Frodo strove with the Witch-King at the Ford, he had a similar experience. He realized that he was being commanded to stop, and he could have then fought that compulsion and fled. Instead, he drew his sword in anger. It seems likely that this action was perfectly in keeping with the Witch-King's backup plan. If anything, attacking the Nazgul would have been even worse than simply stopping, because he would have been nearly instantly surrounded.
On my first reading, this defiance seemed admirable, but in fact it was quite foolish and would have ended very badly if Frodo was able to act on his impulse.
When Frodo strove with the Witch-King at the Ford, he had a similar experience. He realized that he was being commanded to stop, and he could have then fought that compulsion and fled. Instead, he drew his sword in anger. It seems likely that this action was perfectly in keeping with the Witch-King's backup plan. If anything, attacking the Nazgul would have been even worse than simply stopping, because he would have been nearly instantly surrounded.
On my first reading, this defiance seemed admirable, but in fact it was quite foolish and would have ended very badly if Frodo was able to act on his impulse.