LotR -- Book 1 - Chapter 09 - At the Sign of the Prancing Pony

[Hookbill the Goomba]

Strider is also a source of fear.

I think that with this Tolkien was trying to build up an air of suspicion, no one is quite sure who he is. However, as is found in the chapter "Homeward bound" the people of Bree did not really understand what it was the rangers actually did. So like many things, it is to make the ultimate change at the end slightly more dramatic, In that the people of Bree are happy in a way that the rangers have left, but then realise what it was that they were doing, keeping the ruffians out of trouble. I think that this is another message of Tolkein's, although its a corny one, I believe this is a slight hint of "Don't judge a book by its cover" a lot a like to the Hobbits often being overlooked and seen as unimportant, or Gandalf being seen as a storm crow and a deceiver, but ultimately they are the movers of great things in the story.

Well that's what I thought anyway.