One thing I noticed in FotR was how much PJ loved his allusions to The Hobbit. I think his giving Frodo the lines of "It's a riddle.", leading to "What's the Elvish word for 'friend'?" was another way of reminding people of the preceding book. <P>In The Hobbit, Bilbo Baggins wins a riddle compitition with Gollum. Now here's the heir to his estate, another Baggins, on a journey of his own. We know that Hobbits love their riddles, but seeing as Frodo's adoptive uncle was none other than the riddle champ, that would make Frodo the most likely of the hobbits to see the play on words. At least that's how it would seem to PJ. <P>Now, I also think that Frodo could have easily known "Mellon" on his own without asking the wizard, but if he just stepped out in front of the doors and started speaking Elvish to make the them open, half of the audience (those poor fools who haven't read the books) won't know what's going on and wonder why the password is something as riddiculous as "Melon". Not that they can judge, anyway, seeing as the most internationally accepted password, "Open Sesame", is a spice.<P>...did any of that make any sense? Oy vey... shouldn't try to post late at night...
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