The White Council

Gandalf and the Nazgul

Tolkien and Inklings Discussion

: What it suggests is that he believed he was invincible. His own assessment of his abilities versus Gandalf's is hardly an objective criterion for determining who was the more powerful between the two. But then, Tolkien pretty much implied that Iluvatar didn't intend to lose. Gandalf in Minas Tirith was probably far more capable of defeating the Lord of the Nazgul than he believed himself to be.

I seem to remember that a lot of the power the Nazgul put forth was not their own, but Sauron`s, that he put forth through them - Perhaps this is the witch-king`s cause for confidence: at this point not only was it night, but in the apparent absence of other threats, a very great deal of Sauron`s strength was focused through him.

"The Nazgul came again, and as their dark lord now grew and put forth his strength, so their voices, which uttered only his will and his malice, were filled with evil and horror."

Presumably the greater terror that they would wield if Sauron recovered the ring would be due to Sauron`s having more power to put into them. It appears that this is he what he did for many of his slaves, especially the Olog-hai, with catastrophic results for his army when the ring was destroyed.

One of the most remarkable things about the Witch-King`s assault on the gate is that the Nazgul on the whole were remarkably cowardly, with the partial exception of the Witch-King alone; and even he, it seems, put some trust in the prophecy that no man could harm him, and he was visibly shaken by the revelation that Eowyn was a woman. They wouldn`t openly attack the Prancing Pony, and they let the ring slip through their fingers on Weathertop because they did not wish to face resistance, however inadequate. Also, once their Captain had fallen, they never put themselves in harm`s way again (apart from the eagles, which they can`t have expected).

The Mouth of Sauron seems to have been without courage as well - the only servants of the Dark Lord that in the event proved they had any at all were the men of the Harad, whose last stand was all the more heroic for being hopeless. The others were driven by the will of Sauron.

I suspect that in the Second Age the "greatest of his servants" whom Sauron could not trust to stand against the Numenoreans are eant to include the Nazgul. Their only real power seems to have been in terror, and they were quite nonplussed in the shire, when they found that people simply were not afraid of them, or if they were, like Farmer Maggot, they still held their ground. This makes the Witch-king`s confidence before Gandalf all the more interesting.

That Iluvatar did not intend to lose is another matter. The only hint of his direct involvement that I`m aware of are in Gandalf`s return, (sent not by the Valar this time, we are told, but by a higher power); perhaps in the dream sent to the sons of Denethor; and just possibly in a certain awareness that Frodo sometimes has, as if it`s come to him from outside, that time is very precious, and that any more delay would mean disaster even if they succeed. It happens to Sam as well, on the Mountain, if I remember rightly. Also, there is Gandalf`s conviction that Frodo had for some reason been chosen, presumably by the One.

Still, Gandalf`s doubts about the fight must in part come from his natural humility. Tolkien suggests as much when he refers (in a letter, I`m not sure which) to Gandalf`s words "I guess," in The Shadow of the Past. "I guess they were of hobbit kind" from Gandalf means a virtual certainty - he always downplays his own skill and wisdom.

Would there have been some strange back-up had Gandalf or Frodo failed, or did the One "forenknow" that they wouldn`t fail? I was most impressed by the author`s speculation in one of the letters that if they had killed Gollum, then in the event Frodo would probably have thrown himself into the chasm.

Even if Sauron had won, Gandalf is careful not to say that his victory would have been everlasting - simply that none can foresee his ever falling, which is not the same thing at all; and Gandalf tells Denethor that if anything worthwhile come through the dark age, he should not wholly have failed.