[Marileangorifurnimaluim]

I find it interesting that Gandalf, despite the urgency of the ring, very much left it to Frodo to decide where and when to go. (Unlike Bilbo, whom he basically manipulated and tricked.) You have a feeling that the quest is going to depend on Frodo's strength from the very beginning, based on that deferring to his judgement. And the vote of confidence that implies. I also get a feeling that had Gandalf and others pushed him out the door, he would have developed a reliance (if not a dependency) on them, and not had the strength he needed later.

There's not only procrastination, but a willfulness about Frodo. He disagrees with Gandalf, politely, and makes up his own mind. Gandalf, even when he thinks Frodo should leave sooner, encourages that, subtly indicating the strength of mind is more important. That.. I don't know about you, but that made me instinctively feel more alone, looking at it from Frodo's point of view. That alone (heh) makes it harder to leave.

I think it's important for the pacing of the story that Frodo left slowly, like a locomotive building steam. You can almost feel how much energy it's going to take to complete the quest, just by how much it took to get it started.

It's almost like Frodo is storing up as much of the Shire as he can. This is not 20/20 hindsight on our part, he alone jumped to the conclusion that he had to leave the Shire, "This is no There and Back Again. I will be going from exile into exile."

Well, I'm falling asleee...... zzzz.. (mumble) hope this makes sense in the morning.

-Maril