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What are some things that J.R.R Tolkien did wrong in his writings?

Oh, I see...my bad.... I was thinking that this occurred as they were approaching the Ford.

 
But Frodo later says even Asfaloth was "terrified", so purposely facing the Nazgûl when flight is possible is an odd thing to do. And surely Asfaloth knows the way to Rivendell?
 
". . . for Glorfindel knew that a flood would come down, if the Riders tried to cross, . . ."
JRRT, Many Meetings

So Asfaloth knew as well, obviously.

Tolkien once explained Asfaloth as meaning "Sunlit foam" and surely the white horses in the flood -- with frothing manes -- could also be said to have had foaming manes!

It. All. Fits.

____________
Flight To The Ford

"Fly!"he called. "Fly! The enemy is upon us!"
" . . . on the left four other Riders came flying."
". . . the elf-horse speeding as if on wings. . ."

I apologize in advance!
 
Radaghast said:
But Frodo later says even Asfaloth was "terrified",
Click to expand...
He did say that, but also that he was "dim". Given his condition during these events, and the fact that, as far as I can see in the text, there's no indication of it, I'd tend to distrust his judgment.

On the other hand, the Nazgul do affect animals as well as people, as seen in Bree, with just one present. Asfaloth was no doubt a loyal "elf-horse", of course, but Maggot's dogs were I'm sure just as loyal, and one of them turned tail and ran off howling. And we can't forget Eärnur, whose horse ran away with him, when confronted with the Witch-king. Only Shadowfax, "of all the free horses of the world" seems to have been able to remain unmoved in his presence.

So I guess it's up to the reader whether Asfoloth was actually "terrified", though I'd still maintain my impression that Frodo's actions or feelings had no effect on him.

There's one error Tolkien himself admitted concerning Asfaloth: giving him a "bit and bridle" which he changed to "headstall" when pointed out by a reader. But he left "reins" which seems odd; what would they be attached to?
 
I agree about that, Asfaloth hardly comes off as terrified, especially as he neighs "fiercely". Also, something occurs to me just as I type this. What if Asfaloth stops at the water's edge for the express purpose of drawing the Nazgûl into the path of the flood, as part of a plan orchestrated beforehand with Glorfindel, Gandalf and Elrond? After all, wouldn't it be easier to repel the Ringwraiths from Rivendell in the river than on land? That could be very long and drawn out. And if Asfaloth simply runs off into the trees after fording the rive there's no time to gather the Nine together to wash them all away. It's the perfect trap.

I like this theory the more I think of it and it would not surprise me if this is what Tolkien had in mind.
 
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I can think of very few things that Tolkien could have done better, but I do kind of wish he had killed a few more characters off. Only 1 out of 9 members of the Fellowship died despite the fact that they were attacked by orcs many times and were in several battles. I think he should have maybe killed off Merry to make the danger seem more, well, dangerous. Otherwise, I can't really find anything wrong with the plot, I even enjoy the preface about pipeweed after a fashion.
 
Why Merry, in particular?
 
Well it's not really a Mistake, or Failure but I honestly wish that there would be more presence of the Title Character aka Sauron himself. I know it's not a bug it's a feature to not reveal to much about the antagonist but idk I still wish there would be more xD
 
Honestly I kind of agree that he should have killed off a bit more characters.
I wasn't really thinking about the Fellowship but maybe some of the dwarves from the Company. Most of them don't really have personalities or anything interesting about them, so at least a few could die (or contribute more to the plot).
 
Also, I don't know if it's accurate to say they were attacked many times.
 
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