The Movie and the Book

A Knife in the Dark

This chapter of the book began with Fatty Bolger who had not appeared in the film. He had stayed behind at Frodo's new home in Crickhollow to put off suspicion and pursuit after they had left. A black rider arrived at the house. When Fatty saw it approaching, he fled the house and raised the alarm. Soon all the hobbits in Buckland were alerted and the black riders left, knowing that Frodo was no longer there.

The chapter then moves on to Bree the morning after the hobbits met Strider. When they went from the parlour where they had slept, to the room that had been prepared for them, they found that it had been broken in to and their beds had been slashed.
This scene was very different in the film. There we saw a scene during the night where 4 of the black riders entered the room and then attacked what they didn't realise were empty beds. Strider and the hobbits were watching from another room. In the book they weren't woken during the night and it is unlikely that the black riders ever entered the inn. The break-in and attempted attack was more likely the work of Bill Ferny and/or his southern friend, who had disappeared during the night.

They soon discovered that the stables had been left open during the night and all the horses, including their own ponies, had been driven off. They managed to buy a mistreated pony from Bill Ferny. Sam named the pony Bill and became rather attached to him. As they were leaving, they were taunted by Bill Ferny, until Sam threw an apple which hit him square on the nose. Frodo noticed the missing southerner peeping out from Bill Ferny's window and thought he looked like a goblin.

They set off north from Bree and made it look as though they were heading for Archet, and then turned east towards Weathertop hill, hoping to meet Gandalf there. Part of their week long journey to Weathertop took them across an unpleasant swampy land called Midgewater. While there one night, they saw some flashing lights in the distance and didn't know what it was until later. When they reached Weathertop and made their way to the flat top of the hill, they found it was scorched and burned. It was later learned that Gandalf had waited there for them until only three days before. He had been attacked by all nine of the ring wraiths and then left for Rivendell. The lights that had been seen in the east were caused by that battle. They found a mark left by Gandalf to tell them he had been there three days earlier. They also found a supply of firewood that Gandalf had left for them. While on top of the hill, they saw some black riders on the road in the distance.

At this point in the film, Strider gave them each a short sword. This didn't happen in the book since they'd already been given their swords by Tom Bombadil on the Barrow Downs.

Rather than staying on top of the hill as in the film, they stayed in a hollow down the side of the hill. The hobbits did build a fire but it was not just a cooking fire as shown in the film (in any case, the idea of having fresh tomatoes and bacon to cook after a week of travelling through wilderness and swamp, seems unlikely). In fact, Strider suggested they use the firewood left by Gandalf, to build a fire as a defense, as the ring wraiths feared fire. They sat around the fire and had a frugal meal while Strider told them stories from Middle Earth's history. This was where they were attacked by five of the ring wraiths.

Frodo put on the ring when they were a lot further away than in the film. As he did, he saw them clearly as shown in the film. Three of them advanced while the other two waited. One of them, taller than the others, came forward holding a knife and moved toward Frodo. Frodo drew his own sword, calling the name of Elbereth, and lunged. His sword only cut the ring wraith's cloak but he was stabbed in his left shoulder. The last thing he remembered seeing was Strider attacking the ring wraiths with a flaming firebrand in each hand.

In the film, Strider wasn't with the hobbits when they were attacked but arrived after Frodo was stabbed. He was shown attacking the ring wraiths who fled as they caught fire. Although not described in the book, this clearly showed the ring wraith's fear of fire.