Weathertop to Rivendell

The next chapter begins with Frodo reading Gandalf's letter (given to him by Trotter) and ends with Frodo's arrival in Rivendell. Much of the narrative is a mix of the old (finding cram, firewood, and other supplies from Gandalf) with strides made toward the final version. I wish to focus on just one element in this chapter. It's the Odo motif that would disappear entirely. At this point Odo's character most resembles Fatty Bolger's character in Fellowship. But whereas Fatty's role is done after Crickhollow Tolkien had thoughts of continuing this character arc. It's a tantalizing story with limited details that makes one wonder how it might have all played out.

To recap Odo opted to stay at Crickhollow in case Gandalf showed. He did not bargain for Black Riders to come as well. Gandalf scared off the Riders and took Odo with him as he charged out of the Shire. Soon after Gandalf and Odo stopped at Bree to inquire about the traveling hobbits. Gandalf was careful not to name Odo but did mention to Butterbur that Odo was a relation to the famed Bilbo Baggins. Gandalf's plan was to, first and foremost, find Frodo. If that failed he clearly wanted to give the impression he was traveling the countryside with "Baggins" in tow. And with that I will highlight the Odo references in this chapter:

• "Odo vanished last night" (p. 355, The Return of the Shadow). This is from the hasty note Gandalf left at Weathertop. An interesting twist. Frodo said it best: "'Poor Odo! I expect this is the result of pretending to be Baggins'" (p. 356, The Return of the Shadow). 
• Merry inquires about Odo when Glorfindel finds the travelers after the attack at Weathertop and tells them Gandalf arrived in Rivendell. "'Certainly there is a hobbit of that name with him,' said Glorfindel; 'but I did not hear that he had been lost'" (p. 361, The Return of the Shadow). 
• Once safe in Rivendell and recovering Frodo asks Gandalf how he found Odo again. "Gandalf looked [oddly>] quickly at Frodo, but he had shut his eyes. 'Yes, Odo is safe,' the wizard said. 'You will see him soon, and hear his account'" (p. 365, The Return of the Shadow).
• When Frodo is reunited with his hobbit friends Christopher Tolkien noted that he did not inquire of Odo about his perilous adventures as might be expected. 
• In the end, Christopher Tolkien wrote: "But whatever the story was, it seems to be something that will never be known" (p. 365, The Return of the Shadow). 

And that's the end of the Odo story. So many questions: Was Odo captured by the Black Riders? If so how was he rescued? Did Gandalf write that in the note in case the Riders found it? How did Odo, who was so reluctant to leave the Shire, decide to risk everything to play decoy? How did Glorfindel not hear about Odo's vanishing?  What would have been Odo's account to Frodo? Perhaps adding this element would have convoluted the story too much but it seems it could have added a fair amount of intrigue to it all. 

A couple of other quick points from this chapter:

• Frodo (as did Bingo) has the strong intuition that he has seen Trotter somewhere before.
• Though Gandalf does not go into detail he explains his delay to Frodo in this way: "'I was caught in Fangorn and spent many weary days as a prisoner of the Giant Treebeard'" (p. 363, The Return of the Shadow). The first appearance of Treebeard and he is a much different character at the beginning!