[Lalaith]

I also seem to remember reading in something Tolkien had written that "never having heard of the King" was a hobbit saying to describe uncivilized folk.
But you know what, I think Saucepan Man is still onto something. I suspect Tolkien, meticulous scholar that he was, was aware of having said this in the Hobbit, which consequently did not make sense in the context of LotR, and so was trying to "patch" over it....