The Ninth Horse of the Nazgûl

Volume I, Book 4 of the Epic storyline deals with Rivendell trying to figure out what happened to the Nazgûl following the flood of waters as Frodo was pursued at the Ford of Bruinen.  As I can't say often enough, if you are the sort to skip your Epic books, please go back and do them all!

Book 4 provides a nice creative opportunity for Tubrine to conjecture what became of one particular Nazgûl and his mount.  While the fate is never discovered in the trilogy, the entirety of Book 4 is built on a very real excerpt from The Fellowship of the Ring.

Following the arrival of Aragorn and the Hobbits in Rivendell, as well as guests from other realms such as Legolas from Mirkwood, Glóin and Gimli from the Lonely Mountain, Galdor from the Grey Havens sent by Círdan the Shipwright, and Boromir from Gondor, the Council of Elrond is held so that all key players can share their stories - regarding the Ring, regarding Gollum, regarding Saruman and what is happening in the other realms.  Many stories are told, and much discussion is held, until at the end Frodo offers to carry the Ring, although he does not know the way.

Elrond then sends scouts out to various parts of Middle Earth, some to contact friends in other places, others to scour the land and gather what information they can before the party of the Ring sets forth.  One piece of intelligence that is brought back has to do with the fate of the Nazgûl and their mounts:

"Three of the black horses had been found at once drowned in the flooded Ford.  On the rocks of the rapids below it searchers discovered the bodies of five more, and also a long black cloak, slashed and tattered.  Of the Black Riders no other trace was to be seen, and nowhere was their presence to be felt.  It seemed that they had vanished from the North.  'Eight out of the Nine are accounted for at least,' said Gandlaf.  'It is rash to be too sure, yet I think that we may hope now that the Ringwraiths were scattered, and have been obliged to return as best they could to their Master in Mordor, empty and shapeless.' "

From this bit of Lore mystery - one missing mount, one found cloak - Turbine is able to weave a story about what just might have happened to that Nazgûl and his mount.  Poor horsey. To learn that story, be sure to do Volume I, Book 4 or revisit it in a Reflecting Pool if it has been a long time.

Sources:  The Fellowship of the Ring

Hope in Middle Earth

"In the darkest of times, even the faintest glimmer of hope can make all the difference." 

So the Edhelharn tokens tell us.  (Edhelharn is Sindarin for "Elfstone.")


Hope really is found throughout Middle Earth, although the times are extremely dark.  In LOTRO, Hope is a good thing to have - it increases our morale, boosts the damage we do, makes healing easier.  Aside from the normal ways of increasing Hope - Edhelharn tokens, Horn of the Dwarrowdelf, Destiny Points, etc. - many places and NPC's around Middle Earth radiate an aura of Hope.

Leeowyn is feeling pretty hopeful.

Places like The Shire (+3) or Rivendell (+5) give a Hope buff just by being within their bounds.  A number of individuals radiate Hope as well: Tom Bombadil (+8), Elladan and Elrohir (+4).  You can run around and visit all of the main storyline NPC's in Rivendell and see how much each gives:  Bilbo (+2), around Sam, Merry, and Pippin you receive +3, Arwen (+4), Legolas and Gimli (+5), Aragorn and Boromir (+8, and I find Boromir's level of Hope very interesting, although remember at what point in the story he is while in Rivendell - the Ring hasn't had a chance to work on him yet), Gandalf and Elrond are both +9.  Interestingly when you enter the House of Elrond, your Rivendell Hope aura drops, and you are at 0 until you get near one of the NPC's.  Outside the House of Elrond, Glorfindel gives the highest individual Hope buff that I am aware of:  +10.  Standing near him your total is then +15 since the Hope aura of Rivendell is added to it.

If you have never noticed it before, go stand beside Frodo inside the House of Elrond.  You'll see Gandalf's +9 Hope buff, but you will also see an icon for +1 Dread - it is coming off the Ring, of course.

As I was re-reading The Fellowship of the Ring the other day, I came across a simple couple of sentences that jumped out at me, and immediately made me think of all the places and characters who boost Hope.  I don't know that this passage specifically played a part in the creation of Hope (and Dread) in Middle Earth, but it most definitely gives some Lore credence to that mechanism in the game:

"Indeed there is a power in Rivendell to withstand the might of Mordor, for a while:  and elsewhere other powers still dwell.  There is power, too, of another kind in the Shire."

The Hope stat gives us a good way to remember the positive power of those places and characters, and gives us a little extra boost to help see us through the task at hand.


Sources:  The Fellowship of the Ring