Frodo's Barrow Dilemma

[Inziladun]

Originally Posted by Pervinca Took

More dangerous than Weathertop - why? Because Aragorn was not with them? Because Bombadil could be (and was) summoned, but would not get there in time to save Frodo if he put on the Ring? Is this simply because it would certify the exact whereabouts of the Ringbearer for the Nazgul and they would track him down before protection came?

Could the Wights be in some way in league with the Nazgul? I've never been quite sure if there was some connection, or if they themselves, when alive, belonged to the same kindred as the Nazgul - or if they are simply just another of the "many perils in the world," just like Caradhras, not connected with Sauron at all, directly or indirectly.

We know that the wights were sent to the Downs by the Witch-king during his wars with the Dúnedain of Arnor. I'm still not sure why he did so, though. They probably were informed a party of hobbits might pass that way.

But the Black Captain established a camp at Andrath, where the Greenway passed in a defile between the Barrow-downs and the South Downs; .... he himself visited the Barrow-downs. In notes on the movements of the Black Riders at that time it is said that the Black Captain stayed there for some days, and the Barrow-wights were roused, and all things of evil spirit, hostile to Elves and Men, were on the watch with malice in the Old Forest and on the Barrow-downs.

UT The Hunt for the Ring

Though the wights were not in direct league with Sauron, they apparently obeyed the Witch-king. The nature of the wights has been a focus of recurring debate over the years. That they were the spirits of Men, presumably his own subjects (who had sworn fealty to him and undergone some sort of sorcery ?) has been mentioned, or that they were a different order of non-corporeal spirit altogether.
At any rate, I don't believe they and the Nazgûl were creatures of the same order.

As to the question of why Frodo was said to be in more danger in the barrow than on Weathertop, it seems to me Frodo could easily have given in to the spell of the wight as his friends did. If he'd done so, he would have been killed, or worse. The Ring would have remained in the barrow, and the Nazgûl probably would have found it eventually. I wonder if the Ring itself might not have been what saved Frodo from the wight's spell, in an ironic fashion.

As you say, on Weathertop, Frodo had help nearby, and knowledgeable, competent help in the from of Aragron. In the barrow he was all alone, and but for his own courage the quest would have been a failure.