Finally reaching Strider and the hobbits' first destination, I felt a sigh of relief escaping my lips. Never mind whatever is happening in the world outside nor what danger is yet to come; in this place there is peace, there is healing, and there are Elves, sir!
I was as joyful as Frodo probably was upon again seeing Gandalf. But when he said
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At the moment I will only say that I was held captive
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I was disheartened. He was depicted in the previous chapters as a powerful person, and this created doubt. It made me wonder what other dangers are in the world. The Nazgul were scary enough. Is there actually something, or someone, worse?
The way Elrond was mentioned by Gandalf made him seem like he was under the authority of the Halfelf. Honestly, I thought that Elrond was a killjoy, an "old maid" what with all his orders. I knew it was all for Frodo's welfare, but after all he's been through, maybe he would cut him some slack.
I agree with Frodo with this:
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Thank goodness I did not realize the horrible danger! I was mortally afraid, of course; but if I had known more, I should not have dared even to move. It is a marvel that I escaped!
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Hopelessness would have paralyzed him, even with the presence of Strider and Glorfindel, knowing how powerful his enemies are and what the consequences of his being caught will be. Thank goodness indeed!
Moving into the latter part of the chapter, I saw another reason for Aragorn's swoon-worthiness.
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They were so deep in the doings of the Four Farthings that they did not notice the arrival of a man clad in a dark green cloth. For many minutes he stood looking down at them with a smile.
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It was a simple smile, yes, but it touched my heart so: the thought of a kingly man being so concerned with the little hobbits! He even gave his time to help Bilbo with his song--time he could have instead spent with his beloved Arwen (if daddy agrees
), as he was not able to before because of the arrival of Elladan and Elrohir (her brothers, incidentally).
The latter deed concerning Elladan and Elrohir made me realize the sacrifices he has to make for his love for Arwen. I see it this way: the pressing news brought by Elladan and Elrohir concerns, more likely than not, the War of the Ring. And as Elrond said in the Appendix (forgive me, Esty) that he would not let his daughter marry someone less then the King of Gondor or something like that, Aragorn had to put matters related to this first. So instead of spending only a short time with Arwen, as he could have done in this chapter, he chose to do something that (hopefully) in the end would lead to him being with her for the rest of their lives. Swoon!