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The Dúnedain Rangers had been guarding the Shire for some time when the Nazgûl came and entered the land of the Hobbits during their hunt for the Ring. How did the Nazgûl get past the border patrols, or were the Rangers unaware of their presence in the Shire?

waxwing
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user31546
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1 Answers1

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This is answered in the "Tale of Years" entry for 22nd September 3018 (Return of the King, Appendix B):

The Black Riders reach Sarn Ford at evening; they drive off the guard of Rangers.

And for 23rd September 3018:

Four Riders enter the Shire before dawn. The others pursue the Rangers eastward, and then return to watch the Greenway.

There's more information on this in Unfinished Tales: "The Hunt for the Ring", and I give the passage in full:

Night was waning on the twenty-second day of September when drawing together again they came to Sarn Ford and the southernmost borders of the Shire. They found them guarded for the Rangers barred their way. But this was a task beyond the power of the Dúnedain; and maybe it would still have proved so even if their captain, Aragorn, had been with them. But he was away to the north, upon the East Road near Bree; and the hearts even of the Dúnedain misgave them. Some fled northward, hoping to bear news to Aragorn, but they were pursued and slain or driven away into the wild. Some still dared to bar the ford, and held it while day lasted, but at night the Lord of Morgul swept them away, and the Black Riders passed into the Shire; and ere the cocks crowed in the small hours of the twenty-third day of September some were riding north through the land, even as Gandalf upon Shadowfax was riding over Rohan far behind.

So the Dúnedain were there but had been driven away by five of the Nazgûl in order to allow the other four to enter.

waxwing
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    I thought there was something about this in Unfinished Tales ("The Hunt for the Ring"?) but I don't have that available right now. – Matt Gutting Jan 20 '15 at 15:58
  • @MattGutting - thanks; I've located the passage and will edit to add. –  Jan 20 '15 at 16:28
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    ...A diversion! – Natural30 Jan 20 '15 at 16:55
  • Does that last para say that even with aragorn the nazgul would still of succeeded or with aragorn they would of drove the nazgul off – user31546 Jan 20 '15 at 18:15
  • @user31546 - there's a typo in the electronic source I used; I'll correct it when I have access to my books later on today. –  Jan 20 '15 at 18:16
  • @user31546 - it's saying that even WITH Aragorn, it probably would have turned out the same. Aragorn is pretty awesome, but we're talking all NINE riders here. Even Gandalf might be hard-pressed to defend a line under those conditions. – Omegacron Jan 20 '15 at 18:56
  • @Omegacron Though didn't Aragorn fend off all nine by his lonesome just a week later on Weathertop? Or is that bit of movie plot absent from the books? – TylerH Jan 20 '15 at 19:07
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    @TylerH At least as depicted in the movies, Aragorn drove them from Weathertop in a sudden surprise frenzy of fire and sword attacks. It's a lot easier to startle your enemies and make them flee, than to defend a long border against numerous determined attackers for a prolonged period of time. – Nerrolken Jan 20 '15 at 19:12
  • @Nerrolken Eh, I think the Nazgul would have had a harder time fighting off many trained foes that were entrenched (so to speak) and waiting than one guy with a sword and a torch. I mean the Witch King himself boasts no man can kill him later in the series, so why run from one guy when you literally have the One Ring inches away from your fingers and all eight of your undead henchmen to buy you some time. Serious plot hole there, in my opinion. – TylerH Jan 20 '15 at 19:20
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    @TylerH - I've dealt with this in my (sadly neglected) answer to this question: http://scifi.stackexchange.com/questions/18864/how-powerful-were-the-nine-really - short answer: it's not a plot-hole; the Nazgul had already wounded Frodo on Weathertop, so they didn't need to get involved in any further confrontation; as far as they were concerned they had already won. –  Jan 20 '15 at 19:21
  • @DarthSatan Excellent point. +1 for your sadly neglected answer! – Nerrolken Jan 20 '15 at 19:25
  • @user31546 - corrected. What the text says is that maybe the Dunedain wouldn't have been able to drive them off, even if Aragorn had been there. –  Jan 20 '15 at 19:27