Is there any textual evidence that Bob is a hobbit? Surprisingly, no, despite the fact that most people assume he is a hobbit, as his name rhymes with Nob, who is explicitly a hobbit.
One piece of evidence that Bob is a man is that he is employed as an ostler, which would be easier if he were larger, especially if handling full-sized horses.
It might be implied that Nob might be too small to take care of Shadowfax when Butterbur asks Gandalf to see to his own horse, as Bob, the ostler, is no longer at the inn.
This might also be because Shadowfax will only allow Gandalf to handle him anyway. Shadowfax only allows Pippin, who he also carried, to approach him because Gandalf has asked for it.
Gandalf might have done this on his first trip to Bree on Shadowfax, and Butterbur remembers.
Could a hobbit be an ostler for a full-sized horse? Maybe, with some help with their height.
Bob maybe the only named character about which this debate is possible, and only due to the unique living arrangements of Men and Hobbits in Bree.
The fact that they are spoken of as a pair, and no distinction is made between them, we can easily jump to the conclusion that they are both hobbits.
It’s possible that the hobbit narrator (Frodo) would make sure to mention that Bob were a man, having met him just after Nob, and Men are still strange to the Shire-hobbits.
Note: In the original drafts, all of Bree was a hobbit settlement, and all the characters were therefore hobbits. This was only changed much later.
The hobbits settle into an unusual situation:
Frodo has obviously fallen short in his cover story by not coming up with a convincing genealogy, as this is something that hobbits, especially the real Underhills, would want to know.
The news coming in from the South reminds us of the encroachment of the outside world into Bree, who are having a similar experience to the Shire, though some issues are different.
One issue unique to Bree is the presence of the refugees from the South. The people being displaced seem to be driven out by Saruman, rather than the attacks on Gondor.
These refugees have left, possibly from Enedwaith or northern Dunland, due to Saruman’s unrest and recruiting of armies, and Saruman has planted agents and spies among them.
The Dunlendings might seem too strange to blend into Bree, as they are called “wild men”, but the “goblin-men” sent into are explicitly trying to be incognito.
Note: In LOTRO, the Dunlendings are depicted like the ancient Picts or Celts, and their relationship to Rohan and Gondor is parallel to the Picts’ or Celts’ with Anglo-Saxons or Rome.
The spy from Isengard is referred to as “ill-favored”, but this is a mild, tactful way to say “ugly”.
The Breelanders have a somewhat balanced approach to the refugees; they are mistrustful of all strangers, but they are sympathetic to the refugees’ plight and allow them to stay, for now.
Butterbur does not sound displeased with the extra business that he is getting right now.
Living on the crossroads, the Bree-folk would be okay with the strangers’ arrival as long as they don’t make trouble. Employing a gate-guard at night shows that they have reasonable caution.
The appearance of Frodo’s company is stranger not because they are outsiders, but because they are from the Shire, especially for the Bree-hobbits.
The focus on the mixing of the Shire and Bree-hobbits is may portray a hobbit bias in the authorship. The Men and Dwarves continue having their own conversations.
The hobbits don’t join in with the bigger conversations because they think it is irrelevant.
The men in Bree are mostly interested in wider news in as much as it affects their homes.
Since Bree-hobbits consider Shire-hobbits to be “colonists”, they are even more a curiosity.
A strange man in the shadows:
The narrator emphasizes the figure’s weather-beaten and well-traveled appearance.
Unlike the Bree-men, he is not minding his own affairs, while trying to hide his own face.
His dress is out of place, wrapping himself in his cloak despite the heat of the room.
The quality of his clothes and pipe show that he is not poor, only that they are well-used.
That the stranger is smoking is not strange in Bree, but what Frodo notices is his strange pipe.
The fact that one of the Men is paying attention to the Hobbits, which is noteworthy, given than Men and Hobbits normally keep to themselves.
Though the Bree locals know who he is, he wants to avoid being noticed by any of the strangers or others who may be in league with the Enemy. He will voice his suspicions later.
The cloak also obscures the sword; going armed in the common room would draw attention.
Frodo is conscious of the stranger staring at them, and he heeds Gandalf’s warnings of spies.
Frodo has also noticed that Butterbur did not introduce the stranger, but he may have entered after the introductions or avoided being introduced.
Butterbur and the others seem to have contempt for the Rangers, and a Ranger may not be considered part of “the company”, who are the only ones that Butterbur has introduced.
Butterbur’s description of Strider is as a frequent and known visitor, but not a regular one.
Butterbur’s praise for Strider’s storytelling seems grudgingly given, though Strider may also be grudging in telling his tales, and only occasionally.
It’s interesting that the Bree-folk see the Shire-folk and Rangers as equally outlandish.
Strider’s relationship to Bree is not like Gandalf’s relationship with the Shire. Though not universally positive in the Shire, those who know Gandalf like and look forward to seeing him.
The fact that Strider doesn’t talk about himself and his doings is another source of distrust.
It’s ironic that Butterbur’s hurrying is so local and explicable, while Strider’s hurrying is wide-ranging and mysterious. Strider strides, while Butterbur bustles about.
Why does Strider usually go on foot, as opposed to horseback? We don’t really know, but it may be because he often goes to places where horses cannot.
The mention of Strider’s presence last spring is contemporary with Gandalf’s last trip to the Shire to see Frodo. They’d been working together and had expected Frodo to leave in summer.
Butterbur doesn’t like Strider, but also seems to like Gandalf, which is parallel to the Shire.
Strider is probably fine with distrust by Butterbur and the others in Bree, as it serves his needs.
It’s important to remember that “Strider” is the nickname given to him by the people of Bree. He has never told the Bree-folk his real name, so this is what they call him.
An important, but not a merry, meeting:
Strider says that he is “called Strider” but not that this is his name and does not reveal it.
He does indirectly show Frodo that he knows more than he is saying but being wary.
Strider is very suspicious of the idea of traps and decoys, and plays his cards close to the vest.
The grey described in Strider’s hair shows that he is in hale middle-age, not a young man. He is actually 87, but in terms of the Dunedain he is the equivalent of mid-forties.
We will learn later that Strider is faking a Bree accent, which Frodo obviously didn’t.
There is a lot of emphasis on the description of Strider’s eyes, which in Tolkien’s writings is correlated to their qualities and strength of character and will.
Note: We will see a dichotomy in Gollum’s eyes as he changes between personality aspects.
The grey color and keenness of his eyes would seem to connect him with the Elves.
Strider makes a test of the hobbits:
Strider shows a wry sense of humor in poking fun at his own appearance, given his cautions.
Striders mentioning of “stranger travelers” is obviously a veiled reference to the Black Riders.
Note: The hyphenated word “chance-meeting” has a positive connotation in the Westron word.
Frodo does not give anything away, but his lack of response may tell Strider more.
The capitalization of “Speech” and “Disappearance” show that Pippin’s story about Bilbo is well-known and important in the history of the Shire.
Frodo is annoyed at Pippin for putting him in a really terrible position but doesn’t know how to handle it. Frodo is not good at being undercover, but Pippin is even worse, and probably tipsy.
Pippin’s exuberance may be partly chalked up to decompressing after four days of strangeness and danger, and he finds himself among other hobbits and in a familiar situation.
While speaking a few suitable words:
Does the impulse to disappear comes from the Ring? Yes, but there are notable differences from prior temptations. For one, he resists the impulse, which he has failed before.
The impulse is very similar to prior ones to disappear and leave his friends behind for himself.
This time, however, he is fully aware that the impulse is external, which he wasn’t before.
It’s notable that Frodo is thinking about and touching the Ring the moment the impulse arrives.
Perhaps Frodo’s success at resisting the Ring in the Barrow has helped him do it again here.
However, the fact that Frodo is squeezing the Ring shows that he is still attached to it, but it is in this way that the Ring reveals itself by being able to get on his finger.
Frodo is restraining the Ring, but this is a rationalization to hold onto it, rather than letting it go.
Frodo succeeds in avoiding one trap but falls into another, but this reflects his internal state.
Is Frodo seeking inspiration from the Ring? He does seem to be seeking something from it.
There is an ironic parallel between this moment and Bilbo’s birthday speech, and while Pippin is telling that story, Frodo tries to stop him and results in reenacting the Disappearance.
There is an element of the invitation for Frodo to make a fool of himself by singing a song.
This is part of the good cheer of the hobbits, but also that they suspect him of being drunk.
Note: Nearly all the poetry in The Fellowship of the Ring are works that Tolkien had written long before, but he adapts for use in this story. This song was a fictional exposition of the “true” source of the nursery rhyme upon which it is based.
Note: Frodo was originally going to sing Sam’s troll song, but Tolkien substituted this instead. The original song was arranged as a pub song, including the choruses for the crowd.
