Mauhur and his lads

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Last of all, however: didn't, by any chance, Gandalf just at that point stand "on a high place" and battled with his will against Sauron in order to turn him away from Frodo?

In unpublished notes T said explicitly that Gandalf was "on a hill in Fangorn" when he strove with the Eye over Frodo on Amon Hen. This was two and a half days before "Mauhur and his lads" attempted to break the Riders' leaguer.

And, yes, it's true that Fangorn is quite big, 100 miles from east to west and even more north-south: as big as the whole Shire, and nearly the size of all of Mirkwood south of the Narrows. It's a bit like saying "They were both in Denmark, surely they must have seen each other."

[Inziladun]

Looking at Gandalf's actions throughout The Hobbit and LOTR, we don't see him seeking out swarms of armed enemies to personally destroy. Such actions very possibly were prohibited to the Istari, unless in self-defense, to avoid potential power-drunkenness.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Galadriel55

I always interpreted it that he was helping Frodo on Amon Hen. It would make sense based on Frodo's own experience of two conflicting forces trying to push him. So this would have had to happen a couple days before Mauhur and his lads were running through the woods, and most likely on a different high place...

Well, it probably also took them a while to get to that place first, and also, maybe after an exhausting "battle of wills" and other stuff (trying to figure out what is happening, what is the forest doing, and what is the general situation since I've just returned from the dead a couple of days ago) Gandalf wasn't so keen to rightaway go and pursue some random Orc warband (of which there might likely have been more around, e.g. some random wood-gatherers or scouts).

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

In unpublished notes T said explicitly that Gandalf was "on a hill in Fangorn" when he strove with the Eye over Frodo on Amon Hen. This was two and a half days before "Mauhur and his lads" attempted to break the Riders' leaguer.

Yes, that was the one I meant. Thanks for providing that.

And, yes, it's true that Fangorn is quite big, 100 miles from east to west and even more north-south: as big as the whole Shire, and nearly the size of all of Mirkwood south of the Narrows. It's a bit like saying "They were both in Denmark, surely they must have seen each other."

And yes, basically that was what I had in mind. We tend to see Fangorn as "oh, one forest, like the one near my house, where I take a walk for half an hour every afternoon". But Fangorn was essentially the size of a whole (smaller) country.

And Inzil's point is also quite a good observation, I'd say.