Re-imagining the Ringwraiths

[Kuruharan]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

This is a very common misperception, which PJ picked up and ran with- but it's in error. Tolkien was explicit (it's somewhere in HME or UT) that the Pony burglary was carried out by Bill Ferny, Harry Goatleaf and the cross-eyed Southerner at the Wraiths' orders, not by the Nazgul personally.

Not that I am disputing the contention, but I've hunted and I haven't found an explicit statement from Tolkien (in his authoritative voice) saying that a Ringwraith was not directly involved in the attack on the attack on the Pony. Can anybody point me to the specific reference?

Admittedly, my HoME library is not complete.

Originally Posted by Boromir88

What I've found interesting also is the Ringwraiths orders weren't to kill/get the Ring from Frodo and take the Ring to Sauron. It appears Sauron doesn't trust anyone in possession of the Ring, not even the Ringwraiths. Their orders were to incapacitate Frodo and take him to Sauron, so Sauron could take the Ring.

I wonder if the intent was always to stab the Ring-bearer with a Morgul blade to render him into a more wraith-like state so they would not have to worry about food and drink to keep him alive.