Just tossing in my two cents, here....
Gandalf (who has long been my favorite character, so I'm not bashing him here) has long had a reputation in ME as a meddler (especially among the Mortals). If he appears to be prodding Frodo into taking the Ring at the Council, it's something he started back when he urged Bilbo to let go of the Ring and let it pass to Frodo. I suspect that, though he no vision of the future that we know of, he had at the very least begun to suspect where Frodo's path was leading back when he first told him the truth about the Ring and asked him what he would now do with it. This whole thing was a very dark business from the start. Even though he and Elrond may have all but known the inevitability of Frodo's fate, it was a path he really had to choose for himself. Are they prodding him toward it or offering false hope by their comments during the Council, or are they offering various options for Frodo's consideration, which he must have the chance to consider whether or not they think this path is fated for him? So many ways of interpreting this, I think.
And I'm beginning to think I ought to make my signature "Call me Ibrin or Ibri."
