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

[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.