lathspell writes:
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Did Hal see an Entwife in the North Moors?
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Heehaw! I forgot about that one--it is in the same category of inexplicable fuzziness.
lathspell also writes:
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he himself said that every word in LotR was once, twice or thrice overthought.
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Then Finwe writes:
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a story as epic as Lord of the Rings sometimes sweeps the author off his feet while he's writing it. Events, characters, and settings seem to spontaneously generate themselves on paper, and only later does the author realize that they have a purpose.
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I recall a couple of nights ago coming across Tolkien's account of Faramir's arrival on Tolkien's writing paper in
Letters of . . .. He goes on to say that Faramir seemed to be "taking over" [my awkward paraphrase]. It supports your points about what might have happened to account for Tolkien's seeming departure in narrative style.
However, there is still lathspell's point about Tolkien consciously considering every line in LotR at least twice. I would be apt to say that no matter how many times one proofs and reconsiders, it is still possible to overlook lapses or detours as Finwe said. But, I have read enough of Tolkien's essays and letters to believe that this was a man of exceptionally keen awareness as well as intellectual brilliance.
Regarding the horses liking/not liking Saruman . . . perhaps I am stereotyping Saruman (nasty, evil, mean, treacherous) as well as horses (pure of heart, noble, wary of those who go on two legs). [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] It seems, though, that since we are given the choice between Saruman and Gandalf, horses would hearken to Gandalf and shun Saruman. Therefore, when Legolas says "I would have guessed that they were beasts wild with some sudden gladness," it seems a safe assumption that Shadowfax was there and, ergo, Gandalf. But, Gandalf tells Gimli that it must have been Saruman.
And, Aragorn says, " . . . but I cannot read the riddle, unless they [the horses] return." Even when the horses return and Gandalf is there to answer, we are still left wondering how to account for it all.
The passage containing that quote is evidence that Tolkien took deliberate care to set up a puzzle to be resolved later; yet when that resolution arrives in Gimli's "Wait a minute! . . . There is another thing that I should like to know first. . ." it feels like an afterthought.
Gee whiz, it just gets curiouser. This is one of those little things that one usually sets aside due to its apparent unresolvable nature!