June 11, 2002

The Nazgul and Running Water
Saavik

There have been a couple of posts expressing confusion over why the Nazgul "let" the Hobbits get away over the Brandywine at the Buckland Ferry and then across the Bruinen where Arwen takes Frodo to safety. Far from being a technical error. this is entirely consistent with the tennets of Tolkein's magical realm. In a more superstitious age, it was a was a well known fact that evil magical creatures can not cross running water! So neither the lone Nazgul nor his mount were powerful enough to overcome this prohibition at Buckland. At the for of the Bruinen, the very fact that the Nazgul were able, however reluctantly, to enter the water shows how powerful they were becoming in the presence of the ring as the ringbearer was becoming one of them. In the book, it was Elrond who released the flood, but I am personally happy to see Arwen taking a much more active role. It is entirely consistent with Tolkein's intent and it shows clearly that although Arwen is powerful (no surprise - she is Elrond's daughter and Galadriel's grand daughter), she was just barely able to resist the nine ringwraiths.