[Formendacil]

The biggest thing that comes into my mind after reading "The Hunt for the Ring" is the attention to detail that Tolkien paid to consistency in his storytelling. Obviously, this is hardly a new observation, but it's one brought back in full force reading here. Nor is it just a case of Tolkien making sure that all the actions are chronologically consistent, but he's weaving together all sorts of diverse strands: Gollum, Ringwraiths, Gladden Stoors, Saruman and pipeweed, the White Council, the orkish-spy in Bree, Dol Guldur. In many respects I think of this text as "Sauron vs. Saruman: the War for Eriador."

On the level of details in the text, the only thing that leaped out at me as comment-worthy was the fact that the Fellowship arrived in Moria at a time most fortunate for Gollum. This accords well with what Tolkien (or Gandalf) says about things "being meant to happen," since obviously the Ring would not have been destroyed so timely had Gollum perished in Moria. On top of this element of consistency (things being "meant" to happen and all), it strikes me as an excellent example of Tolkien's ability to tie loose ends together in such a way that it not only explains things, but also fits the story. In this particular case, it ties up the loose end of where Gollum was after he escaped the Elves of Mirkwood, it explains why he just happened to be in Moria when the Fellowship passed through, AND it fits with the "things are meant to happen" point-of-view of The Lord of the Rings.

Also, to address the question of the Witchking not daring to confront the power of Nenya in Lorien, it seems to me that it must have been obvious to Sauron that one of the Rings was in Lorien. The Elves would not have given them to just anyone--indeed, not to hardly anyone--and Galadriel was one of the likeliest candidates. Insofar as Sauron did not "know" that Nenya was in Lorien, it most likely means something like what Galadriel tells Frodo when he sees the Eye in her Mirror: Sauron cannot yet perceive her mind. In other words, he can't experience her possession of the Elven-Ring directly, as he would be able to with the One Ring (and as he once did, after he betrayed Celebrimbor). It seems mostly likely that it was only Narya's keeper that was truly secret from Sauron--a subject, by the by, that I suspect we will be able to address even more once we get to "The Istari."