Vad var skuggan som passerade över gemenskap på vägen från Hollin till bergpasset?

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I Ringens sammanslutning , bok två, III, ringen går söderut, det är en kuslig passage när Aragorn guidar fellesskapet från Hollin (Eregion) till berget Caradhras:

It was the cold chill hour before the first stir of dawn, and the moon was low. Frodo looked up at the sky. Suddenly he saw or felt a shadow pass over the high stars, as if for a moment they faded and then flashed out again. He shivered. ‘Did you see anything pass over?’ he whispered to Gandalf, who was just ahead. ‘No, but I felt it, whatever it was,’ he answered. ‘It may be nothing, only a wisp of thin cloud.’ ‘It was moving fast then,’ muttered Aragorn, ‘and not with the wind.’

Vad var den här skuggan?

Tydligen var denna skugga inte orsakad av crebainen (regimenter av svarta kråkor från Dunland och Fangorn Forest), som visade sig den föregående dagen och som tydligt erkändes av Aragorn.

Det kunde ha varit en fälld beast eller till och med en Nazgûl ridning på en fälld beast. Men senare i The Two Towers , Book Three, III The Uruk-hai, lär vi oss från Grishnákh att de fåglade djuren inte skulle passera Anduin ännu:

‘Nazgûl, Nazgûl,’ said Grishnákh, shivering and licking his lips, as if the word had a foul taste that he savoured painfully. ‘You speak of what is deep beyond the reach of your muddy dreams, Uglúk,’ he said. ‘Nazgûl! Ah! All that they make out! One day you'll wish that you had not said that. Ape!’ he snarled fiercely. ‘You ought to know that they’re the apple of the Great Eye. But the winged Nazgûl: not yet, not yet. He won’t let them show themselves across the Great River yet, not too soon. They’re for the War – and other purposes.’

Det går bra med en beskrivning i Oavslutade Tales , tredje delen: Tredjeårsåldern, IV Jakt på ringen, (i) av de svarta ryttarnas resa enligt det konto som Gandalf gav till Frodo:

(…) But Sauron did not underesteem the powers and vigilance of the Wise, and the Nazgûl were commanded to act as secretly as they could. (…)
The Lord of Morgul therefore led his companions over Anduin, unclad and unmounted, and invisible to eyes, and yet a terror to all living things that they passed. (…)

I själva verket förekommer gemenskapens första möte med en bevingad Nazgûl, som beskrivs i detalj i Ringets sammanslutning , bok två, IX Den stora floden, på östra stranden av Anduinen.

    
uppsättning Loong 27.01.2016 19:14

1 svar

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Det förklaras aldrig.

I Treason of Isengard föreslår Christopher Tolkien att det förmodligen var en Nazgûl, även om han medger motsägelsen:

The dark shape 'like a cloud yet not a cloud' that momentarily cut off the moon's light is surely reminiscent of the shadow that passed over the stars as the Company journeyed on from Hollin in 'The Ring Goes South' (VI.421 - 2), and which Gandalf unconvincingly suggested might be no more than a wisp of cloud. Then too Frodo shivered, as here he 'felt a sudden chill'. As I noted (VI.434), the former incident was retained in [the final draft of Fellowship] but never explained: the Winged Nazgûl had not yet crossed the Anduin. But it seems likely to me that the shadow that passed across the stars near Hollin was in fact the first precocious appearance of a Winged Nazgûl.

History of Middle-earth VII The Treason of Isengard Chapter XVII: "The Great River"

Det här är naturligtvis oförenligt med Grishnákhs uttalande. Tyvärr finns det ingen annan omedelbar uppenbar förklaring; ingen av Tolkiens utkast eller bokstäver går in i mer detalj på den.

Det första utkastet till kapitlet är anmärkningsvärt som det slutliga:

Frodo kept looking up at the sky, partly because of its beauty, partly because of Elrond's words. Suddenly he saw or felt a shadow pass over the stars - as if they faded and flashed out again. He shivered.

'Did you see anything?' he said to Gandalf, who was just in front.

'No, but I felt it, whatever it was,' said the wizard. 'It may be nothing, just a wisp of thin cloud.' It did not sound as if he thought much of his own explanation.

History of Middle-earth VI The Return of the Shadow Part 4: "The Story Continued" Chapter XXIV: "The Ring Goes South"

Och det ändras inte drastiskt i senare revisioner. Vi vet inte vad Tolkien menade för detta att vara; om det var ett fel han missade eller glömde att rätta till, eller om det var ett avsiktligt mysterium. Vi vet bara inte.

Den mest troliga förklaringen i universum är jamesqf , från en kommentar till frågan:

More likely that it's general orders for the Nazgul to stay east of the river, but one got sent on a special secret mission, especially as Sauron likely doesn't want the troops to know about the Ring &c.

    
svaret ges 27.01.2016 19:18