Why did the Nazgûl not attack a second time at Weathertop?

Question

Even Aragorn and the Hobbits are surprised at Weathertop that the Nazgûl did not try a second attack to take the ring. The following possible reasons are offered or implied:

• The Nazgûl were satisfied with stabbing Frodo with the Morgul-knife.

But why fall back on a second-best solution when they could have taken the ring directly?

• The Nazgûl were terrified of Aragorn and his flaming torch.

But even assuming that in Tolkien's world a hero like Aragorn can direct his force-of-will with almost super-power-like effect on evil spirits, they are five against one, since the Hobbits are unable to fight. The Nazgûl could attack Aragorn from a distance with arrows or spears, or encircle him. At least they could have stayed close and waited till the effect of his will-power-attack vanished, or started a siege.

• The Nazgûl were terrified of the name Elbereth.

But if that would work, they would be easy to defeat and pose no danger anymore.

Connected problems are other cases where the Nazgûl apparently act under sub-optimal strategy, like not having one of them waiting directly at the Brandywine ferry (he could even wait openly and tell suspicious Hobbits he is waiting for Mr. Baggins), not better observing Crickhollow (they must have reached it long before Frodo, to find it they could just ask where it is or where Mr. Baggins lives), and hesitating several days till attacking Crickhollow.

I'll try to give an answer myself, but I welcome better suggestions.

Answer 1

There are a few varying reasons why the Nazgûl didn't attack again, all of which I'll cover in this answer.

First off is Gandalf's opinion that he gives to Frodo in Rivendell, following that we have some common fan theories, based on evidence, that suggest why they may not have struck a second time.

• Unexpected Resistance
• Lack of Physical Power
• Frodo mentioning Elbereth
• Fear of barrow-blades

These are further elaborated below

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Firstly, Gandalf gives us his opinion of what he thought the Nazgûl aimed at doing and in his opinion, they were successful and there was no need for them to start a second attack.

'What would they have done to me?' asked Frodo. 'What were the Riders trying to do?'

'They tried to pierce your heart with a Morgul-knife which remains in the wound. If they had succeeded, you would have become like they are, only weaker and under their command. You would have became a wraith under the dominion of the Dark Lord; and he would have tormented you for trying to keep his Ring, if any greater torment were possible than being robbed of it and seeing it on his hand.'

He clearly thinks that they in fact only aimed to turn him into a wraith, and could then have claimed him and taken back the ring.

With that aside, let's look at the various arguments for them trying to take the Ring at Weathertop rather than Gandalf's opinion of just trying to turn Frodo into a wraith.

Unexpected resistance

By far the most common, a lot of people agree with Aragorn when he said

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.

_{The Fellowship of the Ring: Chapter 12, "Flight to the Ford"}

The main criticism with the above is that the Nazgûl wouldn't have been careless enough to just let Frodo go wander about with the wound, and would surely have gone for another strike. I'm of this opinion, as I feel the Nazgûl could not have known that Aragorn was the Heir to the Throne of Gondor and only one of such high stature would've been able to prevent Frodo so well from death. Furthermore, they didn't know Frodo would be so strong.

Lack of physical power

Another camp of users think that due to Aragorn's strength, he was able to scare of the Nazgûl due to their lack of inherit power. As stated in Letter 210:

They have no great physical power against the fearless

Suggesting that due to Aragorn's fearless-ness, they were unable to fight against him and therefore fled. However this seems to be counteracted by the fact that the Witch-king challenged Gandalf later in the books, and had previously challenged great foes.

O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!

The third group of people are those who support the fact that Frodo's cry of:

At that moment Frodo threw himself forward on the ground, and he heard himself crying aloud: O Elbereth! Gilthoniel!

Frodo's cry seemed to have caused him to some pain, as pointed out by Aragorn.

'More deadly to him was the name of Elbereth.'

Barrow-blades

Some people think that the Nazgûl were aware of the Barrow-blades and that in fact two of the Nazgûl had stepped back with only the Witch-king advancing.

Desperate, he drew his own sword, and it seemed to him that it flickered red, as if it was a firebrand. Two of the figures halted. The third was taller than the others... He sprang forward and bore down on Frodo.

However, Aragorn, as earlier pointed out, states that the words "Elbereth" was more deadly than the slash of Frodo's blade.

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To fix the other answer's speculation: Frodo has no power over the Nazgûl, that lies with Sauron as he holds the 9 rings.

Answer 2

"There seem only to have been five of the enemy"

You're not the first to wonder. Strider also ponders over why the Ringwraiths had retreated immediately. The Ringwraiths were strongest together: all 9 of them. Unfinished Tales notes:

Now few could understand even one of these fell creatures, and none could withstand them when gathered together under their terrible captain, the Lord of Morgul.

Gandalf also notes how hopeless it is to withstand against all Nine Riders (on foot):

The Riders were too swift to overtake, and too many to oppose. On foot even Glorfindel and Aragorn together could not withstand the Nine at once.

So how does this link up? With only five of the Ringwraiths attacking the camp, they were not - so to speak - at their "strongest" then, and hence went back to regroup with the others who were chasing Gandalf.

Not only that..

They didn't expect to be resisted

This is another good reason. To put it in an analogy: imagine you and 8 other friends decide to rob a house today. Unfortunately, 4 of your friends are busy today, so only 5 of you can rob the house. You climb over the gates, thinking of how easy it'll be to rob the house (you have a bunch of knives) while the helpless house owners cower in fear. Unexpectedly, the house owners don't cower away but attack you with baseball bats and frying pans. What, are you going to come back again? Personally, I'd wait for my 4 other friends to come back so 9 of us can rob the house together. That's what the Ringwraiths did, except that Strider and co. were already on the run.

"Why they were not all here, I don't know; but I don't think they expected to be resisted. They have drawn off for the time being. 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."

They didn't expect Frodo to be able to survive his wound

In a word: overconfidence. They expected Frodo to succumb to the wound made by their Morgul-knives, so they simply decided to wait till Frodo "faded". Unexpectedly, Frodo survives. Gandalf also notes:

"They did not need the guidance of their horses any longer: you had become visible to them, being already on he threshold of their world.

Therefore, (as Omegacron excellently interprets in the comments): What was the use of going back and getting defeated again, when an easy victory could be secured by waiting for the Ringbearer to succumb to his wound? Knowing this (and the fact that they had horses), the Ringwraiths decided to wait it out before attacking them again.

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So, the Ringwraiths retreated because of a few reasons:

1. They were not at their full power as only 5 were present
2. They didn't expect resistance
3. They believed Frodo couldn't "fly any further", and sooner or later he would be weakened enough to be attacked

Answer 3

The urge to put on the ring is not just so that the Nazgûl can see where Frodo is, but so that he can come under their control:

'You were in gravest peril while you wore the Ring, for then you were half in the wraith-world yourself, and they might have seized you.'

Gandalf, in Book II, Chapter 1, "Many Meetings"

But the Nazgûl have no guarantee that Frodo will indeed put the Ring on, so that they can take it. Instead, they stab him with a dagger designed to make him a wraith himself, and under their control. This way, they can make a single attack, guaranteed (as they suppose) to work before any remedy can be found, As it is easier to make a hit-and-run attack, without stopping to seize the Ring, they do this and rely on the certainty that Wraith-Frodo will appear and be under their control, giving them the Ring, without the bother of them having to take it.

And why would they still go with that plan even after they saw Frodo put the Ring on? Perhaps they, in their suffering, knew that Sauron "would have tormented [Frodo] for trying to keep his Ring". After all, as Gandalf says elsewhere, "There is such a thing as malice and revenge."

Answer 4

The Witch-king was scared of Frodo and had almost been killed

The Witch-king expected the mission to be a lot easier than it ended up being. He was still shaken from the fight with Gandalf, and then Frodo tried stabbing him with a sword that was specifically enchanted to kill him. (The same type of sword that Merry eventually successfully used to kill him.)

It is a strange thing that the camp was not watched while darkness lasted of the night Oct. 6-7, and the crossing of the Road into the southward lands seems not to have been observed, so that [the Witch-king] again lost track of the Ring. For this there were probably several reasons, the least to be expected being the most important, namely that [the Witch-king], the great captain, was actually dismayed. He had been shaken by the fire of Gandalf, and began to perceive that the mission on which Sauron had sent him was one of great peril to himself both by the way, and on his return to his Master (if unsuccessful); and he had been doing ill, so far achieving nothing save rousing the power of the Wise and directing them to the Ring. But above all the timid and terrified Bearer had resisted him, had dared to strike at him with an enchanted sword made by his own enemies long ago for his destruction. Narrowly it had missed him. How he had come by it - save in the Barrows of Cardolan. Then he was in some way mightier than the B[arrow]-wight; and he called on Elbereth, a name of terror to the Nazgul. He was then in league with the High Elves of the Havens.
_{Marquette MSS 4/2/36 (The Hunt for the Ring), quoted in The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion}

The Witch-king therefore fled and hid, but eventually his fear of Sauron overcame his fear of Frodo and he resumed the hunt.

Escaping a wound that would have been as deadly to him as the Mordor-knife to Frodo (as was proved at the end), he withdrew and hid for a while, out of doubt and fear both of Aragorn and especially of Frodo. But fear of Sauron, and the forces of Sauron’s will was the stronger.
_{Marquette MSS 4/2/36 (The Hunt for the Ring), quoted in The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion}

Answer 5

Whenever the Nazgûl are close, Frodo has to fight the urge to put on the ring. From the emotional context of the narrative it is clear that it is important for Frodo to fight that temptation, and a huge defeat if he gives in.

Why?

In the Shire the reason might be that putting on the ring alerts the Nazgûl.

Also, putting on the ring would be risky in the long run since he could become addicted like Gollum.

But none of that applies to Frodo at Weathertop. The Nazgûl know he is there and has the ring, and if they take it he would not end up like Gollum. So why is it a big deal there that he puts on the ring? The Nazgûl being able to see him a bit better should not count for so much.

If the ring-bearer tries to use the ring, he has access to its power, if he is strong enough to keep control. But my assumption is that the ring-bearer also has access to a hidden power, if he is strong enough to refrain from using the ring: He neutralizes Sauron's power to some extent, and also the power of the Nazgûl. So he can in a certain sense try to command the Nazgûl to keep away from him, if he has enough force of will.

That is why the Nazgûl need the Morgul-knife: Otherwise they would not have been able to take the ring from Frodo, they need to weaken his body and mind first. It was their plan all along to stab him and then wait a few days.

Answer 6

One reason I have not seen mentioned above is that the Nazgûl were still recovering from their encounter with Gandalf. Days earlier he had battled all nine to a standstill, with a lightning display that Aragorn and the Hobbits had seen from miles away. We can assume this left the nine depleted, and that the five led by the Witch-king that attacked Frodo’s company were not at their full strength.

The Wraiths also knew Glorfindel was in the area, and feared him. Some had fled before him at the Last Bridge. And the Witch-king would certainly have known he was close to Rivendell and Elrond, from his previous time as ruler of Angmar.

I would surmise that the Wraiths knew they were in dangerous territory. At least two powerful enemies were hunting them, leading them to split their number while they themselves sought the elusive Ringbearer. Dividing their forces gave them greater freedom but also weakened them, at a time when they had already expended significant energy fighting Gandalf.

So, having been fought off at Weathertop twice, the wraiths decided to avoid further direct encounters until they knew how their enemies were disposed. They actively feared the Elves, and would not seek to do battle if there was another option. Frodo resisting the Morgul wound for two weeks was an unprecedented event and they only realised that plan would fail just before the party reached Rivendell.

Then, realising they were on the brink of failure, their terror at the thought of returning to Sauron empty handed outweighed their fear of the Elves and they made a final desperate attempt, ending in their defeat at the Ford of Bruinen.