Why did the Nazgûl drop Merry in Bree?

[Alcuin]

They were at Ferny’s house. Harry the Gatekeeper had seen all four hobbits, even though Ferny had not, and he had no doubt given the conspirators in the spy-ring a description of all four. In addition, Ferny and Harry had to recognize all the local inhabitants, and Merry was plainly not a Bree hobbit; indeed, Harry remarked that the Shire-hobbits and Bree-hobbits spoke with different accents. (Frodo noticed that Aragorn began speaking to him with a Bree accent, but as he relaxed his accent changed, probably to that of Rivendell or his Dúnedain kinsmen.)

Upon reflection, I think we have to agree that Merry was not mistaken for “just any old Bree hobbit.” And since hobbits are famously stay-at-home bodies, a strange hobbit at the last house – Ferny’s house –can only mean that one of the visitors of interest has wandered into the bad part of town.

Gordis suggested that the Ringwraiths might have dropped him because keeping him would interfere with their “quiet visit” to the Inn. I think it is probably because Nob was too far away for them to silence before he raised an alarm. Keeping Merry risked creating confusion enough for the Ringbearer to escape. It isn’t as if Merry or Frodo were going to tell the local authorities they were being chased by scary guys dressed in black all the way from the Shire: they were trying to be secretive, too. That meant that all the Nazgûl had to do was be certain that they knew when the Ringbearer left and where he went: just keep him in sight until

1. he left town and could be nabbed in the wild, or
2. the other seven could join them and they could arrange a proper attack in numbers sufficient to keep their quarry from escaping.

-|-

Separate question:

Bill Ferny’s house is the last in the east end of Bree along the Road. It is clearly the “bad part of town.” Is this a reference, perhaps even an unconscious one, to the East End of London? (No offence intended to any real East-enders here, please!)

-|-

Added in an edit: this post cross-posted with Gordis's last post and is not intended as a response to that. Carry on, and I'll respond as I am able to obtain time to prepare an answer.

[Gordis]

Originally Posted by Alcuin

Separate question:

Bill Ferny’s house is the last in the east end of Bree along the Road. It is clearly the “bad part of town.” Is this a reference, perhaps even an unconscious one, to the East End of London? (No offence intended to any real East-enders here, please!)

All things East are bad in ME. London is just a coincidence.

[Attalus]

The one problem remaining, for me, anyway, is how th ghostly Nazgul, who wore robes "to conceal their nothingness," could drag an unconscious Hobbit anywhere. I can testify that dragging an unconscious anything is very, very hard, and Merry must have weighed at leas 70 lb.

[Gordis]

Originally Posted by Attalus

The one problem remaining, for me, anyway, is how th ghostly Nazgul, who wore robes "to conceal their nothingness," could drag an unconscious Hobbit anywhere. I can testify that dragging an unconscious anything is very, very hard, and Merry must have weighed at leas 70 lb.

Oh, but nazgul were not bodiless ghosts. Robes only concealed their invisibility when dealing with mortals.
They had invisible but material bodies and weighted, I guess, exactly the same as living men of the same size and build. Remember the footprints they left in the dell by Weathertop?
They could wield swords, knock down doors, ride horses and beasts etc quite fine, even when unclad.

[Alcuin]

(Okay, a response.)

Originally Posted by Gordis

I think Chris had no right to edit the text anyway.

Copyright, and editorial discretion. In Treason of Isengard, he says that his father wanted the reference to Harry in the Pony removed, but it was not. RC has a little more detail. (Very little.) Personally, I don’t see it as significant. I put the comment in there to alert ’Mooters who might be unaware of it; it is not otherwise germane to the discussion at hand.

Originally Posted by Gordis

Why do you think the nazgul were waiting in Ferny's house while he was drinking in the Pony? Why then, if they had already learnt Bill's news, was one nazgul hanging outside the Inn?

He’s looking for the Ringbearer. Should he watch the mayor’s house instead?

Originally Posted by Gordis

I believe the three nazgul remained outside of Bree, not at Bill's. It would be much safer and less conspicuous. Then I don't believe that Bill had a stable large enough to stable three big black horses - and all that without neighbors noticing a thing. Note Bill's buddy the Southerner stayed at the Inn, his horse in the Pony's stable.

At nightfall, one nazgul slipped into Bree, using Harry Goatleaf's gate, and went to investigate. He saw the Inn was getting empty (no noise anymore from the common room) and continued through Bree to Ferny's house.
Only then did he learn the news, and Merry witnessed it. The third nazgul yet had to be found and dispatched to Andrath.

Okay. What’s the textual evidence for that? The textual evidence from the Marquette notes on the Ringwraiths (“Hunt for the Ring”) clearly says twice that two Ringwraiths fail to capture Merry, and then the (same two) Ringwraiths invade the Inn and fail to find any hobbits.

Where is your third Nazgûl at this point? Sneaking a swig from back of the beer-barrel? The Ringwraiths probably learned that four Shire-hobbits had passed through the West-gate soon after the event: in the draft in which Harry the Gatekeeper first appears, as soon as the hobbits pass, Harry tells a character named Ned to watch the gate and leaves. I think we have to assume he went to tell his new friends with the hiss that they were right: four hobbits did arrive. I also think that makes it a very safe bet that Harry cooperated by letting the Ringwraiths know that what they were looking for was in town.

Originally Posted by Gordis

Also I don't believe Merry overheard two nazgul talking between themselves. It just doesn't ring true. The nazgul either would have used Osanwe(most likely), or they would have spoken in the Black Tongue between themselves.
Yet Merry didn't describe the sounds they produced as repulsive or incomprehensible, he was simply said to be too far away to make out the words. I am pretty sure one of the guys by the hedge was a mortal, most likely Bill.

I think the Nazgûl was probably talking to Ferny, too. In fact, if it were not for the notes in the “Hunt for the Ring” MSS, I would suggest that the people picking up Merry were Ferny and the Nazgûl. But I don’t think it really matter who was on the other side of the hedge, or who the other lifting partner was, either. I started this separate thread because I was troubled by why they dropped Merry, clearly a valuable prisoner who could help them in their quest to capture the Ring. I’m satisfied that I have a reasonable answer to that now.

Let’s please discuss Nazgûl and ósanwe-kenta in another thread. But you know me: I like to have as much text to build a case as possible.

Originally Posted by Gordis

I agree, but immediately after he had learned the news - and that would be after Merry's incident, IMO.

Merry spent about 2 hours before following the nazgul; I believe the 3 hobbits also spent about 2 hours in the common room. Ferny barely had time to return home when the nazgul paid him a visit.

Harry did it. (He had to: the butler was on vacation.) Harry told them about the Shire-hobbits. The third Nazgûl left immediately for an appointment with the Dúnedain who waylaid him. (And he rode because he missed the 5:15 to Paddington via Andrath.)

Originally Posted by Gordis

it was dark: too dark to discern a face clearly, much less the clothes. Ferny's vision was not enhanced in the dark.

That probably doesn’t matter. Once Merry was overcome by Black Breath and lying on the ground, Ferny could likely have opened his mouth and examined his teeth if that’s what he needed to do to identify him.

Originally Posted by Gordis

I said he fainted, never said he was hit, did I?.

No. And I didn’t say you had. In fact, I wasn’t thinking about anything you’d said when I wrote it. Just a little confusion in the thread.

Originally Posted by Gordis

…at the time of Merry's incident all three [Nazgûl] were still around.

That’s not what the “Hunt for the Ring” MSS says.

Originally Posted by Gordis

Your interpretation means that the 3 hobbits … spent less than an hour in the common room. … All this should have taken more than an hour.

You’re right. I think the three Nazgûl learned quickly that there were four Shire-hobbits in Bree at the Pony. One left immediately to tell the Witch-king. One set out to reconnoiter, and the other probably set to watch the east end of town: the Ring-bearer was plainly headed to Rivendell, and that meant he had to leave by the South-gate. (Aside to ’Mooters who don’t already know or have been confused for years: The gate on the east side of Bree was called the “South-gate” because the Great East Road ran south at that point. Ferny’s house was the last before the gate.)

Originally Posted by Gordis

Suppose that the nazgul indeed knew that Merry was one of the four Shire-Hobbits (not that I believe it). Well, what happens if he disappears? Most likely his friends would send men to look for him (Pony staff, maybe also some customers from the Inn, maybe the Ranger who was there). Bill's house would be suspicious, as Ferny had bad reputation. Likely it would be searched.
Anyway, the Shire hobbits would be unlikely to go to bed and sleep peacefully in their rooms before Merry is found. It was exactly what the nazgul wished to avoid. As it was, Merry told some vague tale, after which the hobbits went to bed, bolting the door, and but for Strider they would have slept in the rooms assigned to them.

I agree. That may be the error that bothers me: why pick him up at all? If they don’t do that, they don’t have to put him down again, do they?

Imagine this from the point of view of the Nazgûl Merry followed. We’ll call him “Frick”.

• (Outside the Pony and down the Road to Ferny’s) C’mere little hobbit, c’mere, c’mere. Come on…
• (To Ferny, who’s mumbling through the hedge) Is that one of them? What do you mean you don’t know? Wait a minute…
• (Merry faints from Black Breath. Ferny gets a good look at him, and maybe Harry does, too.)
• What to do? Let’s take him and find out what he knows. Yeah, the Ringbearer will stay up all night, but what about it? He’ll be happy to see us tonight: we’re his friends! Really! You can trust us!
• (Nob yells. He’s a good 20 yards away, maybe much more.) Oh, #@$! Drop him!
• (To Ferny and maybe Harry) Okay, no harm done. He’s not the one we really want, just one of his friends. They’re not going anywhere tonight without us knowing about it. Now, do you know what room these guys are in tonight? You do? GREAT!! Hey, Frack!
• Quiet, you clumsy Oliphant! You’ll wake the whole house! Ah, here we are… now, which of these is… (removes covers). Ach! (Quiet but long, intense discussion in Black Speech. Good bolsters ripped to tiny pieces.)
• Okay, let’s go in the stables and scare off the horses and ponies. At least we’ll slow them down tomorrow, and the Witch-king and the other two can get here. There’s nobody on the Road all the way to Weathertop. Hey! Horses! BOO!!!

Originally Posted by Gordis

Oh, but nazgul were not bodiless ghosts. Robes only concealed their invisibility when dealing with mortals...

FWIW, I concur.

[Attalus]

Originally Posted by Alcuin

FWIW, I concur.

I do, too, but I'm not happy about it.

[Gordis]

Originally Posted by Alcuin

Okay. What’s the textual evidence for that? The textual evidence from the Marquette notes on the Ringwraiths (“Hunt for the Ring”) clearly says twice that two Ringwraiths fail to capture Merry, and then the (same two) Ringwraiths invade the Inn and fail to find any hobbits.

Here is the quote RC p.166:

In Marquette MSS 4/2/36 (The Hunt for the Ring) it is said that the three Black Riders who had been sent to Weathertop and told to ride back along the Road
reached Bree at dusk [on 29 September], and soon learn from the Isengard spy of the events in the Inn, and guess the presence of the Ring. One is sent to the [Witch-king].... [He] is waylaid by Dúnedain and driven away does not reach [the Witch-king] until the next day.... [The other two] foiled in their attempt to capture Merry make plans for attack on the Inn at night..

So there were three nazgul who came from the East this very evening. They came through the gate closest to Ferny's. (But the horses, I believe, remained outside and likely one nazgul was guarding them). The mortal who told them the news was the Southerner, not Ferny. And it was the news of the events in the inn (Frodo disappearance that allowed to guess the presence of the ring) that the third nazgul hurried to carry to the WK, not simply the news of the four hobbits entering Bree.

I don't see the contradiction in the last quoted sentence. The two nazgul make plans for attack on the inn, the third gone by that time. It really doesn't imply that the third had been already gone during the attempt to capture Merry. But likely he was outside with the horses.

Harry did it. (He had to: the butler was on vacation.) Harry told them about the Shire-hobbits. The third Nazgûl left immediately for an appointment with the Dúnedain who waylaid him. (And he rode because he missed the 5:15 to Paddington via Andrath.)
I think the three Nazgûl learned quickly that there were four Shire-hobbits in Bree at the Pony. One left immediately to tell the Witch-king.

Nope - the quote tells us otherwise. He left after Frodo's Ring-trick. Maybe, btw, the three nazgul came to Bree much later than the hobbits and Merry spotted the nazgul during his first reconnaissance of Bree.

One set out to reconnoiter, and the other probably set to watch the east end of town: the Ring-bearer was plainly headed to Rivendell, and that meant he had to leave by the South-gate.

I agree: one to reconnoiter, one by Bill's house, one outside the South Gate with horses.

I agree. That may be the error that bothers me: why pick him up at all? If they don’t do that, they don’t have to put him down again, do they?

At the time the nazgul met Merry he has not yet heard about the Ring in the Pony, so he was eager for news. He lost interest in Merry once he got to Bill's hedge and spoke with the Southerner. But as the Hobbit was already lured,and had probably overheard something, they decided to dispose of him. But Nob came...

[*]Okay, let’s go in the stables and scare off the horses and ponies. At least we’ll slow them down tomorrow, and the Witch-king and the other two can get here. There’s nobody on the Road all the way to Weathertop. Hey! Horses! BOO!!!

Nope: they had to sent Bill and Harry to quietly lead the horses and ponies out of Bree. Harry had to open the Gate. Had the nazgul said BOO in the stables, the horses would have stampeded all over the town.

[Alcuin]

Originally Posted by Gordis

Here is the quote RC p.166:

So there were three nazgul who came from the East this very evening. They came through the gate closest to Ferny's. (But the horses, I believe, remained outside and likely one nazgul was guarding them). The mortal who told them the news was the Southerner, not Ferny. And that was the news of the events of the inn (Frodo disappearance that allowed to guess the presence of the ring) that the third nazgul hurried to carry to the WK, not simply the news of the four hobbits entering Bree.

I don't see the contradiction in the last quoted sentence. The two nazgul make plans for attack on the inn, the third gone by that time. It really doesn't imply that the third had been already gone during the attempt to capture Merry. But likely he was outside with the horses.

I can’t imagine that the Nazgûl would wait to get a message to the Witch-king. As soon as they knew, the messenger had to leave. Anything else was a waste of time, and possibly quite dangerous: even doing all the right things – and frankly, I think their actions show considerable competence – the Dúnedain along the Greenway prevented the message from getting through in a timely fashion. He didn’t hang around to guard the horses: he got on his and left as soon as he knew the Ringbearer had been located.

Otherwise, I won’t disagree.

(I’ll comment again on my perception of their competence toward the end of this post. That should prove a more convenient place for anyone to tear into me about my opinion.)

Originally Posted by Gordis

the three nazgul came to Bree much later than the hobbits and Merry spotted the nazgul during his first reconnaissance of Bree.

No, the Nazgûl beat the hobbits to Bree. FotR, “Prancing Pony”:

It was dark, and white stars were shining, when Frodo and his companions came at last to the Greenway-crossing and drew near the village. They came to the West-gate and found it shut…

Originally Posted by Gordis

At the time the nazgul met Merry he has not yet heard about the Ring in the Pony, so he was eager for news. He lost interest in Merry once he got to Bill's hedge and spoke with the Southerner.

Bill Ferny and the Isengarder (a Dunlending, perhaps with a dollop of orc-blood in him) left together right after Frodo reappeared following his “accident”. All the old editions before 2004 say that’s when Harry left, too. So either the Nazgûl already know about Frodo’s escapade, or the person on the other side of the hedge is the second Nazgûl.

Originally Posted by Gordis

they had to sent Bill and Harry to quietly lead the horses and ponies out of Bree. Harry had to open the Gate. Had the nazgul said BOO in the stables, the horses would have stampeded all over the town.

Fair enough. Good observation.

(Gordis, you might check my quotes of your post: I did not use the edited version, but grabbed the unedited one. If I missed anything you changed or corrected, let me know, and I'll go back, too.)

I’m going to post this, and then address the competence of the Nazgûl. I hope that doesn’t create a problem for anyone.

[The Dread Pirate Roberts]

Originally Posted by Gordis:
the three nazgul came to Bree much later than the hobbits and Merry spotted the nazgul during his first reconnaissance of Bree.

Could you explain how the quote you provide shows that the Nazgul beat the hobbits to Bree? I'm not following.

[Gordis]

Originally Posted by The Dread Pirate Roberts

Could you explain how the quote you provide shows that the Nazgul beat the hobbits to Bree? I'm not following.

My question also. Alcuin, the nazgul came from Weathertop, not to the West gate by to the South Gate - likely found it closed and climbed over. That's why "there was no horse", as Merry noticed.

[Gordis]

Originally Posted by Alcuin

I can’t imagine that the Nazgûl would wait to get a message to the Witch-king. As soon as they knew, the messenger had to leave. Anything else was a waste of time, and possibly quite dangerous: even doing all the right things – and frankly, I think their actions show considerable competence – the Dúnedain along the Greenway prevented the message from getting through in a timely fashion. He didn’t hang around to guard the horses: he got on his and left as soon as he knew the Ringbearer had been located.

I didn't say the Nazgul waited.As soon as they knew about Frodo's trick with the Ring, the messenger left. I am only trying to prove that they came late and learned the news while Merry was eavesdropping. The timing of the events in the common room versus Merry's movements points to that.
The nazgul was in a hurry to fetch his fellows outside the South gate, tell them the news and send a messenger to the WK. Merry became a nuisance instead of being a valuable prisoner.

Bill Ferny and the Isengarder (a Dunlending, perhaps with a dollop of orc-blood in him) left together right after Frodo reappeared following his “accident”. All the old editions before 2004 say that’s when Harry left, too. So either the Nazgûl already know about Frodo’s escapade, or the person on the other side of the hedge is the second Nazgûl.

Sorry, didn't get it either... I must be tired and getting dumb.

[Alcuin]

I think the three Nazgûl at Bree when Frodo and his friends arrived proceeded in a competent, workmanlike manner to address the situation they faced.

(This post has rather evolved from what I intended. We can continue to argue about the competence of the Nazgûl, if anyone wants.)

Frodo was going to Rivendell. We know they had figured that from the “Hunt for the Ring” MSS. The Nazgûl were divided into two teams, one in the Shire (Khamûl and others) to root out the Ringbearer, and a second team sent to reconnoiter the East Road from Weathertop to the Shire. The Witch-king kept a central location to coordinate and direct the activity.

Here is an aside, an observation you might find interesting but possibly inaccurate. I think we can infer that since Khamûl was in the Shire, they either believed the Ringbearer was still there; or else Khamûl directed that activity because he was already there, and it was the only thing to do. However, the implication of that observation is that the three Nazgûl riding back from Weathertop did not expect to find the Ringbearer.

The Nazgûl arrived before Frodo and his friends. It was dusk when they arrived; it was dark when Frodo arrived. I found a website that allows us to compute the length of twilight for any city on any day. For London, England, on September 29 (for this year),

Sunset: 17:43
Civil Twilight End: 18:16
Naut Twilight End: 18:55
Astro Twilight End: 19:34


“Dusk” is the end of civil twilight. The Nazgûl arrived around 6:15 PM. Frodo and his friends arrived at 7 o’clock or later, because it was dark and they could clearly see the stars. The Nazgûl could have arrived anywhere from just over a half-hour to nearly two hours before the hobbits, and they were in Bree first. They have time to get into town and conceal themselves. I suspect they were either at Ferny’s house, which was strategically located next to the South-gate, or just outside the South-gate. I think at least one was probably in town, because that meant there was no reason anyone to continually pass back and forth through the gate. It was Thursday 29 September, and Aragorn saw them visit Harry on Monday, three days before. (Here’s a Shire-calendar.)

I think that well before Ferny and his friend the Isengarder returned from dinner and a show, the Ringwraiths knew there were four Shire-hobbits in town. That may be one reason why Tolkien wanted Harry the Gatekeeper removed from the Prancing Pony scene. (The note he left seems to indicate he thought Harry contributed to clutter. Harry certainly contributed to lots of discussion about when he’d entered the Inn before the publication of Treason of Isengard, so it’s well to bear in mind that we’re dealing with fiction, even very well-constructed fiction.) In any case, the Nazgûl would have gone to visit him.

Here is a rough guide to the order and timing of events. I offer it not as a hard and fast list, but something we can use together to work out the times.

6:15 PM End of dusk. Nazgûl arrive in Bree
7:00 PM Hobbits arrive. Aragorn climbs over gate behind them
7:15 PM Butterbur takes them to sitting room
7:45 PM Frodo, Sam, and Pippin go to Commons room
8:45 PM Pippin gets "warm" and talks too much. Merry goes for walk
9:15 PM Frodo has "accident". Merry returns, sees Ringwraith outside Inn. Ferny leaves Inn.
9:30 PM Aragorn meets Hobbits in sitting room. Merry reaches Ferny's house. Ferny must be nearby.
9:45 PM Butterbur shows up with Gandalf's letter. Nob sees people lifting Merry.
10:00 PM Merry bursts into the room with Nob
10:15 PM Strider and Nob fix the hobbits' beds to look occupied. He barricades them in the sitting room


Personally, I think Strider did not return to barricade the door until about 11, but we can work that out as the thread continues, I hope.

I think it is reasonable to believe that the Nazgûl knew about the four Shire-hobbits before 7:45. If this rough guide is correct, and Merry found the Nazgûl across the road (street) from the Inn about the same time Frodo had his accident, then the Nazgûl might account for what Frodo sensed:

For a moment he wondered if the Ring itself had not played him a trick; perhaps it had tried to reveal itself in response to some wish or command that was felt in the room.

Not in the room, but across the street. In which case Merry might indeed have been lured down the street, etc. If it is true that Merry saw the Nazgûl at the same time as the “accident,” there should be note in Tolkien’s work, and someone should be able to find it. We should look again at the published material to see if there is any hint of it.

So far, so good for the Nazgûl. Frodo has revealed himself as the Ringbearer.

When did the third Nazgûl leave for Andrath? I argue he left before 8 o’clock, as soon as the Ringwraiths knew they probably had their quarry.

Here are some obvious questions to ask about the rough time-line.

1. When did Merry return to the Inn in relation to Frodo’s accident?
2. How long does it take to read and act out Aragorn’s initial meeting Sam and Pippin in the sitting room? (Anybody game for reading and acting it out? We need a longest and shortest time.)
3. How long did it take the hobbits to read and digest Gandalf’s letter. (Again, we need a longest and shortest time.)

Working backward reveals why these particular lengths of time are important. Merry bursts into the room just as the hobbits finish mulling over Gandalf’s letter. The times it takes the hobbits to interact with Aragorn in the sitting room, plus maybe 5 to 15 minutes, is the time that passes after Frodo’s accident. If Merry came upon the Nazgûl manipulating the Ring so that it revealed the Ringbearer, or just afterwards, then he followed the Nazgûl to Ferny’s house in the same time.

Nob also has to leave the Inn and walk to the South-gate, and Ferny has to get home. Merry doesn’t mention meeting anybody on the street, so he doesn’t seem to have seen Ferny or the Isengarder. Did they leave before he arrived back at the Inn after his first walk to find the Black Rider across the street?

An alternate explanation for why the Ringwraith was outside the Inn could be that the Ring had already revealed its Bearer, and the Ringwraith was “feeling” for it across the street.

Here I’ll stop here and let others comment.

-|-

Added later

This table of the rough Bree time-line may be a little easier to read. The table is an image (embedding HTML code into the vbCode that runs the posts is a security hazard), but if you click on this image, you can get to the webpage behind it, if you want. Hope this is helpful.



Now, can we all work out the problems in this time-line together?

[The Dread Pirate Roberts]

I'm appearing more and more dense with every post, I'm afraid, but where is it said that the Nazgul arrived at dusk again? Was it in the text or in Tolkien's working notes posted earlier in the thread? I apologize for not going back and re-reading the thread to find it. Thanks.

[Galin]

Edit.

[Gordis]

Thanks for the new table, Alcuin!

[Alcuin]

Originally Posted by The Dread Pirate Roberts

I'm appearing more and more dense with every post, I'm afraid, but where is it said that the Nazgul arrived at dusk again? Was it in the text or in Tolkien's working notes posted earlier in the thread? I apologize for not going back and re-reading the thread to find it. Thanks.

It’s in the working notes. We never see the movements of the Nazgûl except as the hobbits meet them: they are always off-stage until Frodo and his friends see them, so that we readers experience them along with the protagonists. However, CJR Tolkien and the other scholars examining Tolkien’s notes all say that they have no doubt that JRR Tolkien’s “Hunt for the Ring” MSS at Marquette is what he was using to orchestrate the offstage movements and motivations of the villains. I believe the time of their arrival in Bree is correct, and that we should use it until we find or develop better evidence.

As for when Harry the Gatekeeper left the Inn, and whether CJRT was correct in having him removed from the Inn and thus from the text, my only observation is that I am old enough to recall the days when my friends and I discussed when he had entered, making various guesses and theories none of which in the end hold any water. While I see no harm in removing Harry from the scene in the Inn, I see no harm in leaving him, either. Harry is in fact an unnecessary character in the Prancing Pony, but he does contribute as the gatekeeper, demonstrating that the Nazgûl have already been to Bree and suborned some of the locals to help them. Bill Ferny was almost certainly Saruman’s agent in Bree before the arrival of the Black Riders, and the Isengarder was Saruman’s courier: both turned coats for the Nazgûl.

In addition, we should note that the “Hunt for the Ring” MSS reveals another important off-stage activity. Aragorn has been hanging around Bree for days, too: we know that from his comments to Frodo about the Black Riders visiting Harry three days before. He had evidently made the same calculation as the Nazgûl about Frodo’s movements, but with the added information he received from Gildor about their meeting in the Woody End, so instead of being south or east of Bree, Aragorn is watching the Road west of town, and fortuitously sees the hobbits ride out of the Barrow Downs with Bombadil. But he has also discovered the Lord of the Nazgûl’s bivouac in Andrath, and anticipating that Black Riders will use the Greenway, he has ordered Rangers to ambuscade the route. When one of the Ringwraiths sets out for Andrath to tell his leader that the Ringbearer has finally been located again, he is unable to deliver the message in a timely fashion because he is ambushed. This sets the stage for the Witch-king’s wild night-ride through Bree, and it helps explain why Frodo and his companions were not hunted immediately, so that Aragorn was able to lose the pursuit north of the Road. Aragorn knew considerably more about the movements and whereabouts of the Nazgûl than the hobbits – or we the readers – initially guessed, and he took measures to set them off-balance and disturb their plans.

An updated version of the time-line. Click on it to copy and paste from an underlying webpage. I would really like to work out the best times with everyone.

[Gordis]

Originally Posted by The Dread Pirate Roberts

I'm appearing more and more dense with every post, I'm afraid, but where is it said that the Nazgul arrived at dusk again? Was it in the text or in Tolkien's working notes posted earlier in the thread? I apologize for not going back and re-reading the thread to find it. Thanks.

Don't worry, DPR I am denser than you are. I have posted this quote myself, but overlooked the word "dusk". Alcuin caught the word straight away:

RC p.166:
In Marquette MSS 4/2/36 (The Hunt for the Ring) it is said that the three Black Riders who had been sent to Weathertop and told to ride back along the Road
reached Bree at dusk [on 29 September], and soon learn from the Isengard spy of the events in the Inn, and guess the presence of the Ring. One is sent to the [Witch-king].... [He] is waylaid by Dúnedain and driven away does not reach [the Witch-king] until the next day.... [The other two] foiled in their attempt to capture Merry make plans for attack on the Inn at night..

Alcuin - wow, I like this timeline. Not that I am not going to nitpick., of course... Give me some time.

[Alcuin]

Friends, the timing of events in the chapters “Sign of the Prancing Pony” and “Strider” is very important. If the time-line I’ve laid out is basically correct, and our interpretation of where Merry first saw the Black Rider in Bree is correct, then

Merry saw a Black Rider standing in the Road across from the Prancing Pony at the same time Frodo found the Ring had somehow slipped onto his finger.

I think the Nazgûl was in communication with the One Ring, and that is how the “accident” happened.

Remember, Tolkien wrote that Frodo

wondered if the Ring itself had not played him a trick; perhaps it had tried to reveal itself in response to some wish or command that was felt in the room.

If what Merry saw was a Nazgûl arousing the One Ring to action, then that Ringwraith was the source of the “wish or command that was felt in the room.”

When I described this to my son, he said it sounded like the Ringwraith was pinging the One Ring.

ringwraith>ping onering

Pinging 9.7.3.1 with 32 bytes of data:

Reply from 9.7.3.1: bytes=32 time=2ms TTL=64
Reply from 9.7.3.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 9.7.3.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64
Reply from 9.7.3.1: bytes=32 time=1ms TTL=64

Ping statistics for 9.7.3.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 1ms, Maximum = 2ms, Average = 1ms

ringwraith>

[Attalus]

I will take 'competence,' here, to mean "the quality of being competent; adequacy; possession of required skill, knowledge, qualification, or capacity". I the Ringwraiths had been competent to take the Ring from Frodo, they would have done so. If it is argued that they were competent, then one must observe that they made a frightful hash of it, presumable because all their initiative had been drained form them "had no will left in the matter," as said under another connection.

[Galin]

edit.