"Flight to the Ford" (XI)

Noro lim, noro lim, Asfaloth! Don't you just love the sound of these words?

I still remember the first time I read this part from The Lord of the Rings, staying up in bed until 4 in the morning, moving to the next chapter - and the next book - just to see whether Frodo had survived, and then go to sleep after so much excitement. The Black Riders appear out of nowhere and it is thanks to Glorfindel and Asfaloth that Frodo can make it. The Black Riders attempt to control his will and, for a while, Frodo is unable to move, but Glorfindel's instructions to his horse - Noro lim, noro lim, Asfaloth - and Asfaloth's extraordinary speed and resilience save the day. I still remember visualising a weak, wounded hobbit confronting the Black Riders, ordering them to go back to Mordor "and follow me no more", and the final touch of the waters taking Riders and horses - poor horses - away.

I personally believe that the changes made in the film reduced the power of this scene. I understand that the character of Arwen needed to be further developed so that his relationship with Aragorn could  work better on screen, which would have been more difficult had she remained the "lady in waiting" of the books. However, the poignancy of a small, terrified hobbit on the brink of death, challenging the Riders despite his physical and emotional pain is completely lost when it is Arwen who rides the horse taking Frodo in his arms. 

"Go back to the Kand of Mordor and follow me no more!"

This last effort has proven too much for Frodo. After seeing Riders and horses carried away by the water, he can only faint. For the next four days, he will be sleeping, recovering at Rivendell, in the Last Homely House East of the Sea.