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

[Formendacil]

It boggles the mind to see that "A Knife in the Dark" never broached a second page of discussion here, because were you to maroon me on a desert island with but a single chapter of The Lord of the Rings, there is a good chance this is the chapter I would take. It's got a little bit of everything:

-the tail end of the comfortable "known world" of the Hobbits (i.e. Bree)
-archaeology and history
-stunning vistas
-my favourite locale in all Middle-earth (Weathertop)
-pleasant woods and mysterious paths
-a wizard battle! (albeit from afar)
-the Nazgûl at their most terrifying (as a reader, I personally find the long, slow march of their relentless search across Eriador to be more visceral than their increased potency in the War)
-two of the best poems in the book (I'm personally partial to Gil-galad and I'm always deeply saddened that Sam didn't learn more of it!)


And, besides all that, there are a few curiosities, like the brief narrative return to Crickhollow, where Fredegar Bolger briefly becomes our point-of-view character! This is a remnant, narratively, of when Fredegar's predecessor character was still supposed to come on the quest, getting picked up by Gandalf as the wizard rushed from wherever he had to been to catch up to the rest.

The Fell Winter is an interesting nugget of Middle-earth history, if only because it was the last great test of the Shire before the War of the Ring, and though it was "more than a hundred years" ago, Bilbo actually grew up through it! He was quite small and, of course, in an affluent family, but it's still almost weird to consider that he was there.

One thing struck me that had never struck me before: the narrator tells us, in the course of telling us that Merry's ponies all fled to Bombadil before being returned to Butterbur, that it turns out that only one horse was actually stolen from the stables and that all the others had merely fled. Knowing that animals flee the Nazgûl, that makes perfect sense, but does this mean that Strider is *wrong* when he speculates about the motives of the thieves in stealing the ponies to slow them down and make them more vulnerable? At no point does he--or anyone else--assume anything other than that the stables were deliberately broken into. But if it was only one horse the Nazgûl (or the Southerner?) wanted, was it really aimed at them at all? Or is it possible that the entire stable just tried to break out and flee the Nazgûl when they attacked the inn and someone (the Southerner?) decided to just get a horse out of it?

I especially wonder... was it a black horse? Maybe one of the Black Riders needed a new steed.

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Formendacil

-two of the best poems in the book (I'm personally partial to Gil-galad and I'm always deeply saddened that Sam didn't learn more of it!)

Ah, yes. Tinuviel there has always been enhanced in feeling due to (as was the intent) the connection with Aragon. Reading the book through again with knowledge of Arwen, and what the War of the Ring means to Aragorn personally, makes it that much more poignant.

Originally Posted by Formendacil

But if it was only one horse the Nazgûl (or the Southerner?) wanted, was it really aimed at them at all? Or is it possible that the entire stable just tried to break out and flee the Nazgûl when they attacked the inn and someone (the Southerner?) decided to just get a horse out of it?

I especially wonder... was it a black horse? Maybe one of the Black Riders needed a new steed.

Well, Gandalf tells Frodo later that the steeds of the Nazgul were specially bred (to endure their terror), so I can't see them being able to use any horse from Bree.
I think their intent indeed was to slow Frodo down, and the Southerner got the horse incidentally to enable his escape.

[Boromir88]

This chapter has a ton of action packed into a short number of pages.

I rather like the cut to Crickhollow at the beginning. The previous chapter ended with the hobbits fearing the Black Riders would attack the Inn during the night and it's almost like a dream, not really a "flashback" but a clever use of a "flash to another part of Middle-earth" that temporarily throws the readers off of what we were expecting. We are expecting an attack on the Inn, but the Black Riders raided Frodo's home in Crickhollow. So far all we have is a handful of second-hand accounts and warnings to Frodo to avoid the Black Riders. But the previous chapters keep ramping up the tension and this chapter makes the direct encounter feel like Strider and our heroes are only "delaying the inevitable."

It's interesting reading this time and thinking about Strider's decisions in the chapter. His decision to instead of trying to slip out of Bree unnoticed and quietly, to leave openly with all the inhabitants of Bree and surrounding towns watching. His decision to head towards Amon Sul, even after seeing all the lights and fireworks a few days ago from the Nazgul's attack on Gandalf.

I'm trying to get back into the mindset of a first time reader and not knowing what will happen next and this chapter is not only about the inevitable showdown when the Black Riders encounter our heroes, but about Aragorn's decisions and reasons for taking the path he did in leading the hobbits out of Bree to Amon Sul.

"Is there no escape then?" said Frodo, looking round wildly. "If I move I shall be seen and hunted! If I stay, I shall draw them to me!'

Strider laid his hand on his should. "There is still hope," he said. "You are not alone. Let us take this wood that is set ready for the fire as a sign. There is little shelter or defense here, but fire shall serve for both. Sauron can put fire to his evil uses, as he can all things, but these Riders do not love it, and fear those who wield it. Fire is our friend in the wilderness."

"Maybe," muttered Sam. "It is also as good as saying 'here we are' as I can think of, bar shouting."

You get a sense from Aragorn's explanations of his decisions throughout the chapter that there is no chance at avoiding this confrontation. It's inevitable and what Book I has been building up to. They're caught between a rock and a hard place, and Aragorn's decisions are therefor based on trying to put himself and the hobbits in the best possible time and place to have the confrontation. Since there is going to be a fight, Aragorn's trying to have the fight on his terms and limit whatever advantages the Enemy has that he can.

Someone might think "well all of Aragorn's choices have kind of gone awry, and why did he choose a prominent site like Amon Sul, when so far they have been able to avoid the direct assault?" In a rather casual manner Aragorn drops a bombshell on us that Frodo's carrying a tracking device for the Nazgul, and even if they don't see the world as the living sees it, they have spies and other senses that are better for hunting Frodo. "So, yeah, I convinced you all to follow me but we're going to be attacked and it's entirely Frodo's fault. Sorry about that." I know it's seriously not Frodo's fault, but how the Nazgul hunt for the living and the Ring is a major bombshell that Aragorn dropped. If anything it makes you wonder why Gandalf and Gildor didn't reveal any of these important details to Frodo? I'm kind of questioning their judgment, while believing Aragorn displays his judgment in making the best out of a really bad predicament they're in.

Some other interesting tidbits:

-Sam hitting Bill Ferny in the face with an apple. We now have a first hand account of what the Prologue said about hobbits being excellent marksman and it would be wise for anyone to run when a hobbit "stoops to grab a stone." Then Sam's muttering about wasting a good apple.

-The mixed reactions of Bree-landers when Aragorn leaves openly:

They tramped off, anxious and downhearted, under the eyes of the crowd. Not all the faces were friendly, nor all the words that were shouted. But Strider seemed to be held in awe by most of the Bree-landers, and those that he stared at shut their mouths and drew away.

Not much is known about him yet and despite appearances, he definitely commands respect.

-And I always thought Jackson's portrayal of the Nazgul were off, in that they weren't really warriors (and obviously were not all "Kings of Men"), their main weapon is fear and they had no great power over the fearless. How in the movies when they break through the Shire there a scene where a rider kills a hobbit and thinking "that's not supposed to happen, their true purpose is in discretion and secrecy." Then my shock when reading this:

Meanwhile they had another errand: they knew now that the house was empty and the Ring had gone. They rode down the guards at the gate and vanished from the Shire.

Granted this is when they leave the Shire, and not when they break into it as the movies portray, but the movie scene isn't as an outlandish choice as I have always argued and felt previously.