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   III.C. STORY INTERNAL QUESTIONS: HISTORY AND HAPPENINGS   
      
   1. Why didn't they just have an Eagle fly the Ring to Mt. Doom?   
      
      This debate is most interesting when limited to "story internal"   
   arguments (i.e. "Otherwise it would be a dull book" is a cop-out). One   
   possibility is that there were no Eagles available when they were   
   needed.  Another common argument is that Mordor was well defended,   
   while the Eagles were wary even of shepherds with bows.  It may have   
   been an issue of secrecy: a group of Eagles far from the Misty   
   Mountains flying toward Mordor might well have drawn Sauron's   
   attention, and might have even hinted at the plan to destroy the Ring.   
   Some suggest that like the Istari, the Eagles were forbidden by the   
   Valar to help so directly.  Another suggestion is that Frodo may have   
   needed the long journey to (hopefully) develop enough strength of will   
   to cast the Ring into the Fire.  Many other explanations are seen   
   repeatedly as well.  In the end, most participants tend to agree that   
   an Eagle taking the Ring to Mount Doom would not have worked.   
      
      But that is not the end of the discussion.  Even if those objections   
   are valid, many believe that this topic should have come up at the   
   Council of Elrond (after all, the book shows discussions of other   
   flawed options there, like sending the Ring to Bombadil or throwing it   
   into the Sea).  And some people still think that making use of the   
   Eagles would have been effective (even if only for part of the journey,   
   rather than flying all the way to Mordor).  These aspects of the   
   question remain unresolved.   
   -------   
      
   2. Were the barrow blades magical?  In what way?   
      
      The swords that the Hobbits got from the Barrow Downs were   
   apparently magical in some way: in "The Departure of Boromir", Aragorn   
   says this of Merry and Pippin's blades:   
      
      Doubtless the Orcs despoiled them, but feared to keep the knives,   
      knowing them for what they are: work of Westernesse, wound about   
      with spells for the bane of Mordor.   
      
   Some have objected that Men could not use magic "spells", as Tolkien   
   discusses in Letter #155: "'magic' in this story... is an inherent   
   power not possessed or attainable by Men as such."  However, against   
   this in the margin Tolkien wrote, "But the Numenoreans used 'spells' in   
   making swords?" (and he omitted the whole discussion of magic from the   
   final version of the letter).   
      
      The magic of the blades is confirmed in /The Lord of the Rings: A   
   Reader's Companion/ by Hammond and Scull.  In their final comment on   
   the chapter "A Knife in the Dark", they quote from an unpublished   
   portion of Tolkien's essay "The Hunt for the Ring". Explaining the   
   Witch-king's thoughts after Weathertop, Tolkien writes that Frodo "had   
   dared to strike at him with an enchanted sword made by his own enemies   
   long ago for his destruction", and that a wound from a barrow blade   
   "would have been as deadly to him as the Mordor-knife [sic] to Frodo   
   (as was proved in the end)".  /Unfinished Tales/ indicates that all   
   versions of "The Hunt for the Ring" were written between the   
   publication of FotR and the completion of RotK, so this reflects   
   Tolkien's view while writing the story.   
      
      Even apart from this unpublished essay, there are several reasons to   
   believe that the barrow blades were particularly harmful to the Nazgul.   
    A major piece of evidence is the effect of Merry's blade on the Witch   
   King, as discussed in question III.C.4 (which should be read as part of   
   this entry).  A related quote comes from Letter #210, where Tolkien   
   compares that case to what would have happened if Sam had "[sunk] his   
   blade into the Ringwraith's thigh" on Weathertop: "the result would   
   have been much the same...: the Wraith would have fallen down and the   
   sword would have been destroyed."   
      
      In earlier drafts of LotR, the text itself was explicit that the   
   Nazgul feared the barrow blades: in the chapter "At Rivendell" of /The   
   Return of the Shadow/, Gandalf refers to them as "the one kind of sword   
   the Riders fear."  Although no such statement survived into the final   
   text, it is apparent that this remained Tolkien's intent.  Question   
   III.C.3 discusses how the barrow blades were part of the reason the   
   Nazgul did not take the Ring at Weathertop (and should also be read as   
   part of this entry).   
      
      We know almost nothing about whether the barrow blades had any   
   special effect on other evil creatures.  In "Flotsam and Jetsam", Merry   
   says that Ugluk (leader of the Uruk-hai band) took the swords but then   
   "threw the things away as if they burned him."  However, this may just   
   be a poetic description of the normal fear mentioned by Aragorn in the   
   first quote above.   
   -------   
      
   3. Why didn't the Nazgul take the Ring at Weathertop?   
      
      The Nazgul withdrew from Weathertop despite a five-against-one   
   fighting advantage and with the One Ring almost within their grasp.   
   Many share Aragorn's confusion about this: "I cannot think why they   
   have gone and do not attack again."  The true reason appears to have   
   been a combination of several factors.   
      
      Aragorn's analysis in "Flight to the Ford" is least in part   
   accurate:   
      
      I don't think they expected to be resisted...  They will come again   
      another night, if we cannot escape.	They are only waiting, because   
      they think that their purpose is almost accomplished, and that the   
      Ring cannot fly much further.   
      
   Many have considered this explanation inadequate: the Ring seems like   
   too great a prize for the Nazgul to take such foolish caution. Some   
   quote Letter #210 where Tolkien says that the Nazgul "have no great   
   physical power against the fearless", arguing that Aragorn was able to   
   drive them away.  However, this quote does not preclude them from   
   having "normal" physical power, and the Witch King was willing to do   
   battle with skilled warriors at other times.   
      
      Tolkien's most detailed explanation of this issue has recently been   
   published in /The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion/ by Hammond   
   and Scull.  In their final note on "A Knife in the Dark", they quote   
   from a previously unpublished portion of Tolkien's essay "The Hunt for   
   the Ring" discussing the Witch-king's thoughts after Weathertop   
   (already mentioned in question III.C.2).  The first factor mentioned is   
   that "the Bearer has been marked with the Knife and (he [the   
   Witch-king] thinks) cannot last more than a day or two".  But more   
   important, the Witch-king appears to have been afraid:   
      
      Escaping a wound that would have been as deadly to him as the   
      Mordor-knife [sic] to Frodo (as was proved in the end), he withdrew   
      and hid for a while, out of doubt and /fear/ both of Aragorn and   
      especially of /Frodo/.   
      
   The excerpt says that his fear of Frodo was a combination of several   
   factors, including Frodo's ability to resist attack at all, his use of   
   an "enchanted sword" (presumably gained after overcoming a   
   Barrow-wight), and his use of the name /Elbereth/, "a name of terror to   
   the Nazgul" that connected Frodo to the High Elves. Realizing for the   
   first time that this mission to find the Ring "was one of great peril   
   to himself", the Witch-king fled, until "fear of Sauron, and the forces   
   of Sauron's will" drove him back to the hunt. (/Unfinished Tales/   
   indicates that all versions of "The Hunt for the Ring" were written   
   between the publication of FotR and the completion of RotK, so this   
   passage does reflect Tolkien's belief while writing the story.)   
      
      
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