Quote:
|
Would Thorin have even known that his father had a Ring without Gandalf telling him? hmmmm...
|
I don't think he would have, and Gandalf never told him, or Dain, the tricksy, secretive old wizard. The rings were kept secret by the Kings of Durin's line until passed on to the next in line. Thror passed his to Thrain before he went to Moria and got his head chopped off, but Thrain chose to take it when he too went wandering in the wilderness, and lost it. That's for the UT reference--haven't read it, and am always looking for more bits on Dwarves. According to the LotR appendix, most of the Dwarves think Thror's ring is still in Moria somewhere, and Balin was hoping to recover it.
If Gandalf didn't recognize Thrain at the time, though, how did he get the map and key passed on to him--Thrain must have been a little more coherent than described in your UT passage, eh?
As for Black Riders, I really had no doubt that it was a nazgul when I read it--it hisses, and radiates fear just like the black riders in the shire, and if it hadn't been a nazgul I don't think JRRT would have described it so similarly. I agree, I don't have the passage on me (curses!) but I was sure it was a real nazgul. When did they cross the ford of wherever?
And we Dwarves are hardy folk, of course. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]
[ February 24, 2003: Message edited by: Dain ]