<P> Over the summer, Frodo makes plans to leave his home at Bag End, under the pretence that he is moving to the eastern end of the Shire (Buckland) to retire . Helping with the plans are Frodo's friends Sam, Peregrin Took (Pippin for short), Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry), and Fredegar Bolger (Fatty), though Frodo does not tell them of the Ring or of his intention to leave the Shire . At midsummer, Gandalf leaves on pressing business, but promises to return before Frodo leaves . </P> <P> Frodo's birthday and the date of his departure approach, but Gandalf does not appear, so Frodo decides to leave without him . Black Riders pursue Frodo's party . These turn out to be Nazgûl or Ringwraiths, "the most terrible servants of the Dark Lord" (men who have been corrupted by Sauron through the Nine Rings), who are searching for "Baggins" and the Ring . One of the Riders comes to the door of Sam's father, the Gaffer, the very evening before they depart . With the help of some elves led by Gildor and a hobbit named Farmer Maggot, the hobbits cross the Brandywine River and reach Crickhollow on the eastern border of the Shire . There Merry, Pippin, and Fatty reveal that they know of the Ring and of Frodo's plan to leave the Shire . Merry and Pippin decide to join Frodo and Sam, while Fatty stays behind as a decoy . </P> <P> In hopes of eluding the Nazgûl, the hobbits travel through the Old Forest . There the group fall asleep by a willow - tree and wake up to realize that its roots are trying to strangle them, but luckily Tom Bombadil comes to their aid . They then go to the house of Bombadil and meet his wife Goldberry . There they discover that the Ring has no power over Bombadil--he does not disappear while wearing it and can see Frodo even after he has vanished from his friends' sight . In the evening, Frodo has a dream about Gandalf standing on the pinnacle of a tower and then a vision of a rain curtain in front of a ship on which he is sailing . They then leave Bombadil's only to be captured by a barrow wight in the Barrow - downs, but they again escape with help from Tom and finally reach the gate of the village of Bree . </P> <P> In Bree, the hobbits go to The Prancing Pony Inn, where Barliman Butterbur is the owner . Frodo goes by the name of "Underhill" rather than Baggins . While visiting with other hobbits and men from Bree, Frodo makes eye contact with a mysterious - looking man in the corner . The man then warns Frodo that Pippin is close to revealing who the hobbits really are, so Frodo begins to recite a poem that earns the applause of everyone in the inn . When he recites it a second time, Frodo gets carried away and falls off the table and accidentally lets the Ring slip on his finger causing him to disappear . The incident causes a major commotion, and several rough - looking men leave the inn . Frodo reappears and said that he slipped away out of embarrassment, but few buy the explanation . The hobbits then retire from the common room only to find that they have been followed by the mysterious man, who goes by the name Strider, a Ranger . He claims to be a friend of Gandalf and warns that the Nazgûl are after them and only he can guide them to Rivendell . Frodo doubts Strider until Butterbur comes in with a note from Gandalf to Frodo left some time earlier . Gandalf says to trust Strider and ask him his real name . Without even being asked, Strider reveals his name as Aragorn son of Arathorn and is the heir of Isildur in the North . Merry then comes in and says he was waylaid by the Nazgûl . Strider has them spend the night in another room . </P>

Who helps frodo and his friends escape from the barrow-wight