Rachel Port
Well-Known Member
All this talk about scouts, and our own journey back to Weathertop, led my mind back further to Merry's adventure in Bree. We never accounted for the Nazgul's presence across from the Prancing Pony, and as I remember it, we assumed that Bill Ferny and the Southerner were telling him about Frodo's disappearing act in the inn when Merry is drawn after him.
I would propose a different reading. Bill Ferny and the Southerner told the Nazgul soon after leaving the Pony, which would have been perhaps an hour earlier - Merry waited about an hour before his walk, and it's likely that Frodo's song must have been happening around the same time, so Ferny et al probably left not long after Merry. I imagine the Nazgul is waiting for a report, having already learned from Harry that the hobbits had arrived. While Merry was walking around, they give their report, and the Nazgul, having a location for the hobbits, scouts out the inn so he can bring a ful report to the Witch King. He is probably just finishing that when Merry returns, sees him and is drown after him. When he is noticed, he is attacked and Nob finds Ferny and the Southerner about to bring him into Ferny's house after the Nazgul has gone to deliver his report. Who knows? The Nazgul might decide to attack the inn with fear, much as they did at Crickhollow. They don't, and send the humans to kidnap the hobbits instead but the plan would need higher authority.
I would propose a different reading. Bill Ferny and the Southerner told the Nazgul soon after leaving the Pony, which would have been perhaps an hour earlier - Merry waited about an hour before his walk, and it's likely that Frodo's song must have been happening around the same time, so Ferny et al probably left not long after Merry. I imagine the Nazgul is waiting for a report, having already learned from Harry that the hobbits had arrived. While Merry was walking around, they give their report, and the Nazgul, having a location for the hobbits, scouts out the inn so he can bring a ful report to the Witch King. He is probably just finishing that when Merry returns, sees him and is drown after him. When he is noticed, he is attacked and Nob finds Ferny and the Southerner about to bring him into Ferny's house after the Nazgul has gone to deliver his report. Who knows? The Nazgul might decide to attack the inn with fear, much as they did at Crickhollow. They don't, and send the humans to kidnap the hobbits instead but the plan would need higher authority.