The Movie and the Book

Flight to the Ford

After the attack on weathertop, strider gave instructions to the hobbits to care for Frodo and then left for a while. When he returned in the morning, they found a piece of the robe of the ring wraith that had been cut by Frodo. His sword had been destroyed after the contact and Aragorn told them that the name of Elbereth had been deadlier to the ring wraith than Frodo's sword. They also found the wraith's knife which was missing a piece. That missing piece was now poisoning Frodo. Strider suspected that the wraith's had withdrawn to wait for their other four companions, thinking that Frodo and the ring could not go far.

Like the film, Strider then used leaves of the Athelas plant to tend to Frodo's wound, though he had collected them himself while away. Like the movie, he explained to the Hobbits that the plant had been brought from Numenor and was more than just the useless weed many thought it to be. That plant was even more important later in the books but did not appear again in the films. They placed Frodo on the pony and set off again along the road for a while before moving off the road.

They travelled for several more days before coming to the river Hoarwell (called Mitheithel by the elves). At the bridge, they found a stone apparently left by an elf and took it as a sign that the bridge was safe to cross. As soon as they crossed the bridge they moved off and travelled to the north of the road again to throw off pursuit.

After realising they had been travelling too far to the north, they began heading south towards the road again. On their way they came upon what was obviously an abandoned troll hole. Soon afterwards, Merry and Pippin, who had gone ahead, ran back saying they had seen trolls ahead. When they reached the trolls, Strider walked up to one, poked it with a stick and told it to get up. It was then that the hobbits realised to their amusement (as Strider already had), that these trolls were little more than statues. They were the same trolls that had been turned to stone by the rising sun after they had captured Bilbo's party 77 years earlier. In the film, these stone trolls could be seen in the background while Strider tended Frodo's wound. The extended version shows the hobbits first discovering the trolls. At Bilbo's party in the beginning, Bilbo is seen telling some young hobbits about his experience with those very trolls. At this point in the story, Sam recited a rather amusing poem about a troll and a man called Tom. For some people their favourite part of the books was the poetry that appeared regularly, though it was probably best left out of the film. It still remains as a treat for those who read the books.

After returning to the road they met an elf called Glorfindel, who explained that he was sent from Rivendell to look for them for fear that they were in danger. Elrond had sent out some of the few, including Glorfindel, who were powerful enough to stand against the ring wraiths. It was he who had earlier left the stone as a sign at the bridge.
In the film, Glorfindel was replaced by Arwen, daughter of Elrond.

Glorfindel placed Frodo on his horse, Asfaloth, who would be able to run faster than the horses of the ring wraiths. After travelling for another couple of days, five ring wraiths caught up with them as they were nearing the ford of Rivendell. At first, Frodo stayed still, drawn by the silent call of the wraiths, then Glorfindell commanded his horse to run. The wraiths were falling far behind thanks to the speed of Asfaloth but the other four wraiths appeared ahead, ready to cut him off. He barely reached the ford ahead of them and crossed it. In the film, Arwen had ridden with Frodo and it was she who had avoided the pursuers. Frodo was barely conscious in the film.

The nine riders hesitated before crossing the river. From the other side, Frodo yelled for them to go back and they tried to draw him across. Their leader crossed ahead of the others and had nearly reached Frodo's side when the river rose up and swept away the riders that were crossing. Frodo noticed that some of the waves looked like charging horses (a minor detail shown very nicely but not explained in the film). The others began to retreat until Glorfindel and the others appeared running behind them waving brands from a fire that they had lit earlier. Terrified of one of the elven Lords of the west, their horses leaped in to the river and they too were swept away. After they had reached Rivendell, Gandalf explained to Frodo that the water had risen at the command of Elrond, who had power over the river and that the horse shapes were Gandalf's own personal touch.

The major differences in the crossing of the ford in the film were that is was Arwen instead of Frodo who challenged the ring wraiths. Frodo appeared powerless to do anything. Also, the film made it appear as though the river rose up at the command of Arwen instead of Elrond, while the books never gave any indication that Arwen had any such powers.