LotR -- Book 1 - Chapter 03 - Three Is Company

[Rumil]

Evenin' all,

Some specific, some more general thoughts here.

First, Gandalf stayed at Bag End for two or three weeks. Did Gandalf and Frodo plan any more deeply than 'head for Rivendell'? And if not why on earth not? I guess maybe to avoid alerting the reader to what might transpire!

Bag End seemed sad and gloomy and dishevalled. Frodo wandered round the familiar rooms and saw the light of the sunset fade on the walls, and shadows creep out of the corners. It slowly grew dark indoors

For me this perfectly sums up the thoughts one has on leaving a house, everything is packed away, the old place looks bare, and its time to remember the joy and sorrows that took place in your old home.

Then

The sky was clear and the stars were growing bright. 'It's going to be a fine night,' he said aloud. 'That's good for a beginning, I feel like walking

This is the start of The Journey, and it begins with a night-time walk through the Shire, how perfect! It makes me think of walks through well-known countryside on a clear night when the world seems full of possibilities and the road could so easily sweep one away to an unknown destination.

On the Curious Fox, there was some concern that he broke the translator conceit, however maybe just possibly Gildor or one of his pals made some joking remark regarding the fox's thoughts later on?

On Pippin's peremptory commands, I think he's extracting the michael here and Sam is too sleepy to see it, Frodo gets revenge by pulling Pippin's blankets off.

As for 'Sam!, Time!' the traditional cry of the bartender on the dread toll of the bell is 'Time gentlemen please, time at the bar, haven't you got homes to go to?' which is doubly appropriate here!