"After the crowning we stayed in a fair house in Minis Tirith with Gandalf, and he was very merry, and though we asked him questions about all that came into our minds his patience seemed as endless as his knowledge. I cannot recall all of the things that he told us; often we did not understand them. But I remember this conversation very clearly" (p. 329, Unfinished Tales). Gimli was talking to Pippin about visiting the Shire. He said that all Dwarves should hold that land in honor for the recovery of Erebor and the defeat of Smaug as well as Sauron. He thought it strange how related the two events were. Gimli turned his gaze to Gandalf, "'Did you plan all this, then Gandalf? If not, why did you lead Thorin Oakenshield to such an unlikely door? To find the Ring and bring it far away into the West for hiding, and then to choose the Ringbearer--and to restore the Mountain Kingdom as a mere deed by the way: was that not your design?'" (p. 329, Unfinished Tales).
Gandalf did not answer at once but when he did he was not altogether certain. "'I do not know the answer. For I have changed since those days, and I am no longer trammelled by the burden of Middle-earth as I was then. In those days I should have answered you with words like those I used to Frodo, only last year in the spring. Only last year! But such measures are meaningless. In that distant time I said to a small and frightened hobbit: Bilbo was meant to find the Ring, and not by its maker, and therefore you were meant to bear it. And I might have added: I was meant to guide you both to those points. To do that I used in my waking mind only such means as were allowed to me, doing what lay in my hand according to such reasons I had. But what I knew in my heart or knew before I stepped on these grey shores: that is another matter. Olorin I was in the West and that is forgotten, and only to those who are there shall I speak more openly'" (p. 329-330, Unfinished Tales).
Frodo responded: "'I understand you a little better now, Gandalf, than I did before. Though I suppose that, whether meant or not, Bilbo might have refused to leave home, and so might I. You could not compel us. You were not even allowed to try. But I am still curious to know why you did what you did, as you were then, an old grey man as you seemed'" (p. 330, Unfinished Tales). I think Gandalf's friends are realizing he is far greater than any of their preconceived notions may have been. Gandalf explained some of his rationale for why he aided Thorin. His chief concern had been Rivendell and Lorien: "'That is why, to jump forward, I went off as soon as the expedition against Smaug was well started, and persuaded the Counil to attack Dol Guldur first, before he attacked Lorien. We did, and Sauron fled. But he was always ahead of us in his plans. I must confess I thought he really had retreated again, and that we might have another spell of watchful peace. But it did not last long. Sauron decided to take the next step. He returned at once to Mordor, and in ten years declared himself. Then everything grew dark. And yet it was not his original plan; and it was in the end a mistake. Resistence still had somewhere it could take counsel free from the Shadow. How could the Ringbearer have escaped, if there had been no Lorien or Rivendell? And those places might have fallen, I think, if Sauron had thrown all his power against them first, and not spent more than half of it in the assault on Gondor. Well, there you have it. That was my chief reason. But it is one thing to see what needs doing, and quite another to find the means. I was beginning to be seriously troubled about the situation in the North when I met Thorin Oakenshield one day: in the middle of March, 2941, I think. I heard all his tale, and I thought: 'Well, here is an enemy of Smaug at any rate! And one worthy of help. I must do what I can. I should have thought of Dwarves before'" (p. 330, Unfinished Tales).
Gandalf shed some light on why he had chosen Bilbo. He reminisced how his affection for the Hobbits grew during the Long Winter (2758-59, Third Age). Their toughness and compassion led to their survival during that bleak time. Since than he had cared for the Hobbits and knew their land would be caught in a time of darkness and death: this time war. Gandalf felt they needed to once again understand the world outside the Shire. "'They had begun to forget: forget their own beginnings and legends, forget what little they had known about the greatness of the world. It was not yet gone, but it was getting buried: the memory of the high and perilous. But you cannot teach that sort of thing to a whole people quickly. There was not time. And anyways you must begin at some point, with some one person. I dare say he was "chosen" and I was only chosen to choose him; but I picked out Bilbo'" (p. 331, Unfinished Tales). I have never felt more like a hobbit then when after reading this. I feel like I'm so consumed by my little routine in this world that I forget what I knew about the greatness of it; the high and the perilous. I have no wizards in my life; rather a Savior. Perhaps it's time I once again opened my heart to the adventure He has chosen for me.
Pippin was very curious as to why Gandalf had chosen Bilbo. Gandalf recounted that after meeting with Thorin he thought about all the hobbits he knew, though it was some twenty years since he had visited the Shire, and he felt a dash of adventure and dash of groundedness: perhaps a bit of Took and Baggins which of course naturally pointed to Bilbo Baggins. Gandalf had known Bilbo and followed his upbringing until nearly his coming of age (33 years old for hobbits). Gandalf was pleased to learn that Bilbo was "unattached": meaning unmarried with no family to tie him down. Most hobbits guessed that he remained so because he had received a large inheritance and rather liked being on his own. Gandalf had another idea: "'He wanted, all the same, to be free to go when the chance came, or he had made up his courage'" (p. 331, Unfinished Tales). Gandalf's enduring memory of Bilbo growing up were his persistent questions about hobbits who had actually left the Shire on some sort of adventure. Gandalf finished his story of how he convinced Thorin and his company to add Bilbo to their group and the first encounter of everyone at the Unexpected Party.
When the tale was told Gimli laughed. "'It still sounds absurd,' he said. 'even now that all has turned out more than well. I knew Thorin, of course, and I wish I had been there, but I was away at the time of your first visit to us. And I was not allowed to go on the quest: too young, they said, though at sixty-two I thought myself fit for anything. Well, I am glad to have heard to full tale. If it is full. I do not really suppose that eve now you are telling us all you know.' 'Of course not,' said Gandalf'" (p. 336, Unfinished Tales). Gandalf reminisced about Thorin and how he was a great Dwarf despite his flaws. "'But Dain Ironfoot was a worthy successor. And now we hear that he fell fighting before Erebor again, even while we fought here. I should call it a heavy loss, if it was not a wonder rather that at his great age he could still wield his axe as mightily as they say he did, standing over the body of King Brand before the Gate of Erebor until darkness fell. It might have all gone very differently indeed. The main attack was diverted southwards, it is true: and yet even so with his far-stretched right hand Sauron could have done terrible harm in the North, while we defended Gondor, If King Brand and King Dain had not stood in his path. When you think of the great Battle of Pelennor, do not forget the Battle of Dale. Think of what might have been. Dragon-fire and savage swords in Eriador!'" (p. 326, Unfinished Tales).
Middle-earth timeline: Third Age, 3019, May
Today's reading comes from: The Return of the King, page 248; Unfinished Tales, pages 329-331; 336; 326
Middle-earth timeline: Third Age, 3019, May
Today's reading comes from: The Return of the King, page 248; Unfinished Tales, pages 329-331; 336; 326
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