A chance meeting

[Lalwendë]

Originally Posted by Melilot Brandybuck

In Appendix A, Gandalf discusses what could have happend if it had not been for the battle of Dale. He ends it by stating;

"But that has been adverted-because I met Thorin Oakenshield one evening on the edge of spring in Bree. A chance-meeting, as we say in Middle-earth."

I always feel a thrill when I read that sentence. A chance meeting between Gandalf and the dwarf... leading to the finding of the Ring, the Fellowship, the great deeds and sorrows...

How much was chance? Was this predestined?

Good job Gandalf always had a thirst on for the ale at the Prancing Pony, what?