LotR -- Book 1 - Chapter 11 - A Knife in the Dark

[Animalmother]

I have no astute insights on "A Knife in the Dark" to make, but only a blunt question:

How were five dreaded ringwraiths unable or unwilling to overwhelm Strider/Aragorn and four unmartial, puny hobbits at night on Weathertop?

The Witch King there saw Frodo wearing the One Ring.

Why fool around with Morgul knives and such? The ringwraiths had swords and thousands of years of sword-and-sorcery experience. Strider bore a torch and the hobbits bore small blades of Westernesse.

I say, no contest. So, these couldn't be the same ringwraiths who made the defenders of Minas Tirith quake in fear. They must have been B-team ringwraiths sent by Mordor. If as I read, Sauron had the nine rings in his keeping, he would have had time to use them to turn more than nine men into ringwraiths.

Or, maybe the five on Weathertop had run out of coffee or whatever made them go?