Nice comments, everyone. Maril, your insights in particular rung a bell for me. This is typical Gandalf – he knows just when to force things and when to pull back and let his intuition be his guide. This sort of what-does-Frodo-think mode manifests later as well, when the key decision about whether to try to move forward towards Mordor or to turn aside and head for Minas Tirith is deferred to him.
Quote:
|
'Well, Frodo,' said Aragorn at last. `I fear that the burden is laid upon you. You are the Bearer appointed by the Council. Your own way you alone can choose. In this matter I cannot advise you. I am not Gandalf, and though I have tried to bear his part, I do not know what design or hope he had for this hour, if indeed he had any. Most likely it seems that if he were here now the choice would still wait on you. Such is your fate.'
|
It also occurs to me that Gandalf wasn’t in any hurry to send the Ring out of the Shire until there was some clear sense of what was to be done with it. It’s not the sort of thing you want laying around, even in Rivendell – maybe even especially in Rivendell. The Ring’s power of temptation works even more powerfully on those who know how to wield it.