Characters paying attention

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Originally Posted by Legate of Amon Lanc

And that all being said, the entire argument stands on the assumption that the Nazgûl knew that Gollum was the same type of creature as the Hobbits. I am sort of wondering whether it might not have been beneath their discernment capabilities.

Well, in The Hunt for the Ring Tolkien wrote that the Nazgul did know this, whether by their own observation or because Sauron told them, but at any rate they began their search for "Baggins" in the vales of Anduin because they assumed that a creature of Gollum's race would hail from the same area. This cost them precious time, eventually permitting Frodo's leaving Bag-end in the nick of time.