Sure enough, the Riders come upon the party at night and attack them.
Several things happen at once: Merry and Pippin, overcome with fear,
throw themselves on the ground; Strider lights flaming branches; Frodo shrinks
away with Sam (still standing) by his side. But the attackers seem to
have only one goal: while the other Riders stand guard, the Witch King
approaches Frodo with a dagger and stabs him, giving him a poisoned
wound. Frodo falls in a swoon, just as he sees Strider charging the
Riders with the burning branches.
1 – Of course, the $10 Million question of this chapter is: why didn’t the
Riders take the Ring, take Frodo, or take both?! It was right
there! A few theories:
- Strider’s opposition was too much for them: granted, Strider is the
heir of Elendil, but he is still only one against five. About the same
number of Nazgul wiped out an entire band of Rangers at Tharbad.
- The Riders intended to take Frodo, but wanted to give him the wound first to
lower, and eventually destroy any resistance.
- The Riders only intended to wound Frodo, then leave him in the wilderness,
watching and waiting until he became a wraith.
(personally, I lean toward a combination of #s 1 & 2)
2 – Frodo feels a terrible temptation to put on The Ring, which he finally
succumbs to. Were the Riders sending him that message, was it The Ring,
or was it a combination of both. We know the good guys couldn’t see Frodo
after he put on The Ring. What advantage did it give the bad guys when he
put it
on?
"I don't suffer from insanity...I enjoy every minute of it!"
