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...that no matter how many times one proofs and reconsiders, it is still possible to overlook lapses or detours...
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No doubt true, but I think that those would be things as misspellings or a grammatic error. Not a whole phrase in a book. It is ofcourse possible, but I find it extremely unlikely.
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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.
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I'd like to put this against another quote, the one of Legolas given in my first post, but a bit larger.
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'"Now I understand part of last night's riddle," said Legolas as he sprang lightly upon Arod's back. "Whether they fled at first in fear, or not, our horses met Shadowfax, their chieftain, and greeted him with joy. Did you know that he was at hand, Gandalf?"
"Yes, I knew," said the wizard. "I bent my thought upon him, bidding him to make haste; for yesterday he was far away in the south of this land. Swiftly may he bare me back again"'
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So, as Legolas says, they certainly met Shadowfax. Gandalf arranged him to be there to bare him to Meduseld. However, about Gandalf there seems to be no definite answer. I think Gandalf would have said so in his conversation if he had come across Hasufel and Arod. I don't think he met them, but knew that Shadowfax did.
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it feels like an afterthought.
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Yes, but that it is an afterthought is in this part perfectly in place. It is at the return of a friend thought dead that he is supposed to ask these questions. Seems reasonable to be excited about the returned friend first.
The thing Finwe says might make sense, but unfortunately we'll never know if Tolkien meant to do something with that phrase.
Again, I won't try to answer the question of who it was, for there are too many possibilities to choose from. Till this moment we thought only of Gandalf and Saruman, but there are other old people, however unlikely it may seem.
greetings,
lathspell