Flammifer
Well-Known Member
Looking at the map, and referencing dates in Appendix B, there are many problems of time and space around the travels of the Nazgul in their search for the Shire.
Key Dates:
Could they have headed all the way back up to the Gladden Fields to check those out before returning back to the Gap of Rohan?
Might they have engaged in a hunt for Gollum? Appendix B says (in the only entry for August 3018), “All trace of Gollum is lost. It is thought that at about this time, being hunted both by the Elves and Sauron’s servants, he took refuge in Moria; but when he had at last discovered the way to the West-gate he could not get out.” Were the Nazgul part of the hunt for Gollum? Did this take priority over the search for the Shire? Was it not until about the end of August that the Nazgul gave up on the hunt for Gollum somewhere near the gates of Moria, and then headed for the Gap of Rohan, taking more or less 18 days to get there?
As first time readers, going through Gandalf’s report to the Council of Elrond, all of our interpretations that we discussed in class are perfectly reasonable. It sounds likely that Gandalf did detect rumors of Black Riders from the refugees. It seems reasonable that the Nazgul were already in Eriador when Gandalf arrived at Orthanc. It is a natural assumption that the Ringwraiths take so long to find The Shire because they have to search through all of Eriador.
However, when we reach Appendix B, we have to question all those assumptions which we have held since we read the Council of Elrond.
Either Appendix B is incorrect, or our assumptions about the travels of the Nazgul are very wrong!
Given how much time and effort JRRT devoted to the Appendices, I doubt that Appendix B is wrong. So, what were the Nazgul up to in the time between June and mid-September 3018?
Speculations:
Reading Appendix B must cause one to question all the reasonable assumptions which one had about the quest of the Nazgul for the Ring when reading Gandalf’s account during the Council for the first time. There appear a number of critical problems with time and space. I am sure there are other possible speculations on how to resolve these problems, but I think one must doubt the assumptions made when reading for the first time.
Key Dates:
- 29 June – Radagast informs Gandalf, “The Nine are abroad again. They have crossed the River secretly and are moving westward”. We don’t know exactly when the Nazgul crossed the River. I suspect on 21 June, after the attack on Osgiliath, but it could have been somewhat earlier.
- 18 September – "The Black Riders cross the fords of Isen".
- It takes the Nazgul at least 82 days, and probably 90 days or longer to travel from crossing the Anduin to transiting the Gap of Rohan at the Fords of Isen?
Could they have headed all the way back up to the Gladden Fields to check those out before returning back to the Gap of Rohan?
Might they have engaged in a hunt for Gollum? Appendix B says (in the only entry for August 3018), “All trace of Gollum is lost. It is thought that at about this time, being hunted both by the Elves and Sauron’s servants, he took refuge in Moria; but when he had at last discovered the way to the West-gate he could not get out.” Were the Nazgul part of the hunt for Gollum? Did this take priority over the search for the Shire? Was it not until about the end of August that the Nazgul gave up on the hunt for Gollum somewhere near the gates of Moria, and then headed for the Gap of Rohan, taking more or less 18 days to get there?
- If the Nazgul don’t cross the Fords of Isen until September 18 (The same day that Gandalf escapes from Orthanc), then they cannot have been in Eriador, causing “fear of which they would not speak,” among the ‘fugitives from the South’ whom Gandalf met at the Southern borders of The Shire back in late June. Was that ‘fear’ engendered by Saruman’s evil in breeding Uruk-hai, mis-interpreted by Gandalf’s own fears as caused by the Ringwraiths?
- 22 September - The Black Riders reach Sarn Ford.
- 23 September – Four Riders enter the Shire before dawn. One comes to Hobbiton at nightfall.
- 30 September – Black Riders raid Crickhollow and the Inn at Bree in the early hours.
- Once the Nazgul cross the Fords of Isen they do not spend much time searching for the Shire. They are flying! They reach the Shire four days after crossing the Isen. Amazingly, this is the same speed as Gandalf will make on Shadowfax just six days later. Those horses the Nazgul are riding are really fast!
- Given that the Nazgul travel from the Gap to the Shire at break-neck speed, with no searching along the way, have the Riders known where the Shire was all along? Or, do they get (somehow) intelligence from Saruman as they pass by Isengard (I cannot imagine he would give this willingly)?
As first time readers, going through Gandalf’s report to the Council of Elrond, all of our interpretations that we discussed in class are perfectly reasonable. It sounds likely that Gandalf did detect rumors of Black Riders from the refugees. It seems reasonable that the Nazgul were already in Eriador when Gandalf arrived at Orthanc. It is a natural assumption that the Ringwraiths take so long to find The Shire because they have to search through all of Eriador.
However, when we reach Appendix B, we have to question all those assumptions which we have held since we read the Council of Elrond.
Either Appendix B is incorrect, or our assumptions about the travels of the Nazgul are very wrong!
Given how much time and effort JRRT devoted to the Appendices, I doubt that Appendix B is wrong. So, what were the Nazgul up to in the time between June and mid-September 3018?
Speculations:
- I guess that the Witch King had a pretty good idea of where The Shire was all along. He lived in Eriador from 1300, when he established himself in Angmar, until 1975, when he was defeated in the Battle of Fornost, and vanished from the North. The Witch King ruled in Eriador, and campaigned over most of it for 675 years. He knew it well. In 1601, “many Periannath migrate from Bree, and are granted land beyond Baranduin by Argeleb II”. So, strange, short, people lived in The Shire for 374 years while the Witch King was a power in Eriador. I think it likely he had a shrewd idea of exactly where to look for Hobbits! No wonder the Nine could gallop straight there from the Fords of Isen in four days, once they decided to go there. Now, there is a problem in Radagast's comment to Gandalf that, “wherever they go the Riders ask for news of a land called Shire”? Why would the Nine be asking if they already had a good idea? Well, possibly for confirmation (a lot can change in 1,042 years), but (perhaps as likely) they were not asking. This was a lie to Radagast from Saruman designed to draw Gandalf into Saruman’s trap.
- I speculate that the Nine did not cross the Anduin with the immediate mission of trying to find The Shire and The Ring. There were about three months between crossing the Anduin and crossing the Fords of Isen. There is no reason (even if trying to maintain stealth) that it should take so long. I think the Nine were probably joined in the hunt for Gollum during this time. Why might the Nazgul have been hunting for Gollum? Perhaps because Sauron wanted to know the answer to two questions: “What did you tell the Elves?” and, more importantly (if Sauron’s spies had detected the interrogation by Gandalf) “What did you tell Gandalf?” and “What did Gandalf say? What did he do? Where did he go?” Sauron wants to know whether the existence of The Ring is still a secret from those powerful enough to possibly wield it, or not.
Reading Appendix B must cause one to question all the reasonable assumptions which one had about the quest of the Nazgul for the Ring when reading Gandalf’s account during the Council for the first time. There appear a number of critical problems with time and space. I am sure there are other possible speculations on how to resolve these problems, but I think one must doubt the assumptions made when reading for the first time.
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