The White Council

Re: Nazgul Pondries - HOW does the ring draw them?

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: : : : [snip]

: : I do not think that attacking the wrong room alone acts as proof that the Nazgul were not involved (although it otherwise does seem unlikely that they were). In my opinion it's not inevitable that the Ring would have guided the Nazgul to their mark, because it does't seem that the 'signal' that the ring sent was that clear. The Nazgul couldn't even tell for certain whether the Ring was still close by (eg. they needed to raid the house at Crickhollow to be sure), so they probably couldn't have pinpointed it to the accuracy of one room. Sort of like when you get too close to the magnetic north pole, your compass becomes less reliable. It doesn't even seem to me as if the Nazgul themselves were always (and perhaps never) aware that it was the ring that drew them; otherwise they would have been less hesitant on several occasions. The greatest proof for this is when the Witch King senses the ring in front of Minas Morgul. If he had known that what he felt was actually the One, he would surely have made every effort to hunt it down instead of just shrugging the feeling off after a moment. : : Of course the question would then be, why wouldn't the Nazgul have been aware that the ring drew them? Perhaps they were just too unused to it to recognise it instantly, since until that time : : the ring had always been either far removed of in the possession of its master?

: Unfortunately your argument is clearly countered by Aragorn's statement to Frodo "the Ring draws them". Not only that but then there's the "conversation" between Frodo and the Nazgul at the ford, where he is asked to hand over the Ring. So I think the Nazgul DID know what was drawing them. But it seems that it was easier for them to find it when Frodo was wearing it. Recall the times that the wraith's called to him to put it on, all the better to see you with my dear...oops wrong tale.

Yes,yes, the Ring definitely draws them, but what the nature of that phenomenon is seems debatable. Let's make a far-fetched comparison: A plateful of some delicious food is stashed somewhere out of you sight. You can smell the food, but the scent doesn't immediately lead you to it, nor does it necessarily tell you exactly what the food is, you just know there is something good nearby. But once you get your eyes on the dish, you immediately recognise the food as the source of the scent and can walk straight to it. Sort of the same way the Nazgul couldn't exactly pinpoint the One and didn't necessarily know for sure what it was that gave the 'smell', but that changed when they actually had the ringbearer in their sight. But fine, let's say that the Nazgul all the time did know what was drawing them. Why then did the Witch King not hunt the Ring down as he sensed it in front of Minas Morgul?