Summary
The three descend the foothills to the edge of the marshes. Frodo offers Gollum some lembas, but he spurns it. Later, while the hobbits sleep, he goes off and catches a fish for himself. Then he leads them through the Dead Marshes. At the center, Sam notices lights all around, which Gollum calls "candles of corpses" and warns them not to look at them. Frodo is frozen behind them doing just that, but Sam gets him going again. Then Sam trips and sees faces in the marsh pools. Smeagol says they're the faces of men who died in battle there. Finally they get to the end of the marshes, and then are terrorized by the passage of a Nazgul, who flies over them and then back to Mordor. The Ring begins to physically weigh Frodo down.
In the slag heaps before the Gate, they fall asleep. Sam wakes to see Smeagol debating with himself over Frodo. He finally decides to wait, as "She might help." Frodo wakes and orders them on toward the Gate, but their fear increases.
Questions
1. Gollum is a reliable guide through the Marshes—why doesn't he try to drown them there?
2. How does Gollum know the story of the Dead Pools?
3. If the Ring is trying to get back to Sauron, and Frodo can feel the presence of Sauron in front of him, why doesn't he feel a pull toward Mordor rather than a great dragging weight?