Re-imagining the Ringwraiths

[Morthoron]

Yes, not at all satisfied with the many Jacksonian stumbles and fumbles throughout the movies.

Actually, more egregious in the novel compared to the films, was Frodo, alone and wounded astride Asfaloth, facing off against the Nazgul at the Ford of Bruinen. His bravery was singular in that moment with the Nazgul taunting him ("'Come back! Come back!' they called. 'To Mordor we will take you!'"). It was a signature scene of the novel, incredibly frightening (at least to me when I first read it as an adolescent). And after Frodo invokes Elbereth and Luthien, he is struck dumb by the Witch-King as he begins to cross the ford.

But what does Jackson do? He eliminates Frodo's valor altogether and makes Princess Xenarwen powerful enough to defy the Nazgul (with the daft, "If you want him, come and claim him"), and then to whisper an incantation that calls the roaring water down on the Nazgul. She did not have such ability (that would be wholly a product of her father, the Ring-bearer Elrond, with an assist from another Ring-bearer Gandalf).

So Jackson, in one fell swoop, destroyed a perfectly frightful book scene, rendered Frodo impotent, takes Arwen completely out of the realm of Tolkien lore, and eliminates the element of surprise as the Nazgul cross the Ford and the flood comes unexpectedly to wash them away.