XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: mr@sandman.net   
      
   In article <2710p716n50fo31dd86fdscckogqmsrqlf@4ax.com>,   
    Morgoth's Curse  wrote:   
      
   > >I always thought it was the approach of Gildor's company of Elves   
   > >that frightened him off, but re-reading the passage now I see that   
   > >they must have been a long way off at the time of this incident.   
   > >   
   > >Perhaps the Rider was summoned by another Rider? "The Hunt for the   
   > >Ring" might tell us, but I don't have /Unfinished Tales/ handy just   
   > >now.   
   >   
   > 	It was still late afternoon when the first Black Rider   
   > encountered Frodo and his companions.  In Unfinished Tales and   
   > elsewhere, Tolkien notes that the powers of the Black Riders were   
   > greatest at night and diminished during the day.  It is probable,   
   > therefore, that the Black Rider was aware of the presence of Frodo and   
   > his companions, but did not sense the proximity of the Ring itself.   
   > Frodo observed that the Rider seemed to ride off into the woods ahead;   
   > possibly he had decided to wait until full darkness to investigate   
   > further.  It is true that Frodo, Pippin and Sam were in an isolated   
   > area of the Shire, but the Black Rider could not know that.  If the   
   > hobbits raised the alarm, it would compromise his mission.  Secrecy   
   > was still one his most potent weapons.   
   >   
   > 	It is unlikely that the chain itself possessed any special   
   > virtue.  It was almost certainly forged in The Shire or by a dwarf and   
   > therefore would not possess any qualities that Elves might be able to   
   > imbue it with.  Remember that Bilbo never knew that his ring was, in   
   > fact, the Ruling Ring until the Council of Elrond.  Up to that point,   
   > it was simply a useful magical artifact which was precious to him.   
      
   Huh? Gandalf confirmed it to him in The Shadow of the Past, just after   
   Gandalf has read out the ring verse:   
      
       He paused, and then said slowly in a deep voice: ‘This is the   
       Master-ring, the One Ring to rule them all. This is the One Ring   
       that he lost many ages ago, to the great weakening of his power.   
       He greatly desires it – but he must not get it.’   
      
   While the full complication of this might not have been readily   
   obvious to Frodo at that time, I think it's safe to say that he didn't   
   consider it just a useful magical artifact in the following chapter.   
      
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