Gandalf chooses to focus on Frodo’s strengths and triumphs instead of the global threats, which is a spiritual balm in the form of hope.
He knows that the next day’s council will deal with dark matters, so there’s time for that later.
The chapter is more focused on the relationships between Frodo, Gandalf, Sam, and Strider.
Gandalf is himself primarily interested in Frodo’s health and current state of mind.
In “The Shadow of the Past”, Gandalf wanted to wait for daylight to reveal dark things, where here, he wants to wait for Frodo to be fully well and for the right context, that being the Council.
Even at this point, Frodo is not committed to going any further than Rivendell, so there is no pressing reason for Gandalf to reveal more right now.
Gandalf’s confessions:
Gandalf makes a smooth transition from his capture to the greater threat without revealing much about his captivity, shifting the conversation to the Black Riders.
He knows that Frodo will also want to know more about the Black Riders, so he focuses there.
Gandalf makes it clear that it was his lack of knowledge about the movements of the Black Riders that led to his decisions, thought he might have done differently otherwise.
Note: We learn later that Radagast had emphasized the short time available for Gandalf to act. This proves that, at this time, Gandalf still trusts Saruman’s judgement, just as he had trusted his lore about the Rings of Power enough to doubt his suspicions that Bilbo had the One Ring.
Gandalf would never have allowed Frodo to travel on his own at all, had he not been captured.
Note: In Unfinished Tales, Tolkien makes the relationship between Gandalf and Saruman more one of rivalry and distrust, which makes it difficult to reconcile Gandalf’s trust in this book.
Gandalf does admit that he was held captive to Frodo, which is to satisfy Frodo’s need for an explanation, though to his chagrin, and leaving more questions unanswered.
Frodo’s shock at Gandalf’s capture reveals Frodo’s regard for him and Gandalf’s reputation.
This is one of the few moments when Gandalf uses his full title of Gandalf the Grey, the last time being in the presence of Bilbo when exerting his power and threatening to uncloak himself.
In this context, he is spelling out the implications of his capture in light of Frodo’s view of him.
Whenever a wizard’s color is mentioned it is usually associated with their powers, and Gandalf does that here to compare and contrast himself with powers that are greater than he.
Gandalf’s declarations:
Gandalf is not only deflecting the conversation away from the details of his capture, but also to prepare Frodo, and the readers, for himself as a power in opposition to other powers.
He does not reveal much about his actual role in the upcoming events, only that this is the moment where he will be tested greatest, and to be set against those who are evil.
Gandalf implies that the Morgul-lord and the Black Riders are powers that he will oppose.
Though Gandalf is diverting the conversation, but he his diverting it from the past to the future.
Note: How much does Gandalf know specifically what his role will be? Some of that is answered in Unfinished Tales, but it’s not clear what he knows here, only that his time is coming.
The phrase “my time is coming” is important, because it reveals that all Gandalf has done leading up to this moment has only been in preparation for this moment.
Note: There is a parallel between Gandalf’s phrase “my time is coming” and the Witch-king’s declaration that “this is my hour”. There is an irony in that when the Witch-king makes that declaration, it turns out not to be his hour of triumph, but of his doom and death. In common usage, someone’s “time” might refer to birth or death, but the Witch-king doesn’t know which.
Gandalf understands that this is the time for him to step forward and face whatever doom awaits him, whether that be victory or death, or both.
Note: Aragorn will make similar declarations about his time in the Council of Elrond. These declarations are related to the two Greek concepts of time, “Chronos” and “Chiros”. Chronos is the mechanical passing of time in the universe, while Chiros is an appointed moment. Jesus uses both words in the New Testament to refer to both normal time and His own moment of destiny.
There is a sense throughout the book of people seeing the patterns and having a wide view of events, which allow them to know when it is time to act or understand what is truly happening.
This is one of the few times that Sauron’s title as “The Lord of the Rings” is used in the book.
This is a very formal title, and the use of the plural “Rings” emphasizes that Sauron is ultimately the ruler of all the Rings of Power, not just the One Ring, and therefore the Ringwraiths, too.
Gandalf is not avoiding using Sauron’s name, but rather to emphasize Sauron’s role and power.
Note: Why is the book entitled The Lord of the Rings, making Sauron the titular character of the work? At the very end of the book, the full title of Frodo’s work is revealed, which shows that the short version is The Lord of the Rings, and the full title is much longer. Tolkien briefly considered titling the book The Magic Ring but changed it shortly thereafter.
By not using Sauron’s name, and only the title, it makes it more uncertain who will become “The Lord of the Rings” by the end, or who might delude themselves in thinking that they can.
Gandalf emphasizes that he has mentioned the Nine before in the Ring Verse in Bag End.
Aragorn’s acceptance:
Gandalf emphasizes the “we” when he mentions that Aragorn has prevented the Ring from falling into the hands of the Enemy, and not just Frodo’s rescue.
This rescue includes Gandalf, by preventing his mistakes from becoming disasters for all.
Frodo continues using the name Strider, even after Gandalf has been using the name Aragorn.
This may be connected to his fondness for Strider as a nickname and as a kind of inside joke among the hobbits. This is a form of hobbitry, and they know that this was originally an insult.
In the beginning of their relationship, Strider had called Frodo “Mr. Baggins” in unfamiliarity.
Frodo declares his affection for Strider, and this seemed to begin in Bree when Frodo had a sense of trust for him, possibly based on them both being Elf-friends.
A lot of the time that Frodo has known Strider, he has been in an altered state of consciousness.
Strider has been admitted being an unpleasant front, so still using the name is a bit of teasing.
Three of the four hobbits go by nicknames, so this is a very hobbitish custom, anyway.
Note: The hobbits will continue to call him Strider all the way to Minas Tirith, causing confusion for Eomer and Imrahil, but inspires the House of Telcontar.
Aragorn understands hobbits well enough to know that this form of teasing is a sign of their acceptance of him as a friend, and so he goes along with it.
The meaning of the name Aragorn is unknown to the hobbits, so they may prefer the familiar.
Did Sam check with Gandalf to verify Aragorn’s relationship with him? Probably, and combined with his relationship with Glorfindel, this finally put Sam’s doubts to rest.
Aragorn may have also helped in Frodo’s healing with Elrond, and this helped Sam to trust.
Sam is very slow to trust in general, though he seems to trust elves automatically and quickly.
Gandalf’s smile shows that he appreciates Sam’s loyalty and tenacity in protecting Frodo. It was Gandalf who appointed Sam to be Frodo’s companion, and Sam takes it very seriously.
Aragorn is shown to trust elves automatically, though in his case these are personal reasons.
Gandalf has surely heard about Gildor’s admonishment of Sam to stay with and protect Frodo.
Frodo’s non-fondness:
Frodo changes his mind about using the word “fond” to describe his feeling for Aragorn, possibly because he realizes that they are not peers, and this might be inappropriate.
In his comparison of Aragorn and Gandalf, he is saying that there is a similar level of respect.
Note: How is Frodo using the word “grim” to describe Aragorn? Tolkien has a pattern of using that word to describe kings and those with a king’s authority, like Bard.
Frodo does feel affection for Aragorn, but Aragorn’s strangeness and grimness prevent fondness, as he’s not always fun to be around.
It would seem that his difference from the hobbits also prevents fondness, as is shown in his not participating in the hobbitry on several occasions.
This strangeness implies that Frodo doesn’t really understand Aragorn as a Big Person.
Note: The word “fond” is mostly a hobbit-used word and has been used by Bilbo to describe his garden, and Fatty Bolger is said to be fond of Frodo. This points to the hobbit concept of fondness being associated to domestic things, and familiar people. This explains why Frodo feels it’s inappropriate to speak of being fond of Strider, due to his lack of hominess and familiarity. Gandalf is very familiar and associated with Bag End, so Frodo might express fondness of him.
Note: Over time, Aragorn will become more familiar to the hobbits, so that they cling to him.
Speaking of the Big People:
Frodo seems to imply that he doesn’t think about Big People as the same thing as Gandalf. This means that Frodo has considered Gandalf, as a wizard, to be in a separate category.
This means that Frodo does not presume that Gandalf is human, and therefore he feels the need to explain the difference in the way he saw wizards and humans.
Frodo wouldn’t know exactly what Gandalf is, but he knows that he is different by his longevity.
He may have heard stories of Men from Bilbo, but we don’t know what kinds of stories.
Why don’t Elves count as Big People in the Hobbits’ minds? The hobbits seem to think only of humans as in the same category as themselves, though they would not know about their origins.
Hobbits would also perceive that Elves are something very different from Men and Hobbits.
Frodo is revealing his prejudices, though he is being generous by using the word “rather” before “stupid”. This is a shared prejudice of the hobbits, as we hear of humans as “blundering”.
Note: Whenever Tolkien uses a word that has a modern connotation that is different from the archaic definition or connotation, he often leans more towards the older version. The word “stupid” is related to “stupor”, which is a fogginess of mind, and this is related to Men’s blundering around. In Alice in Wonderland, Alice is described as feeling sleepy and stupid before meeting the White Rabbit. Here, Tolkien may be using the word to imply that Frodo sees Men as not just unintelligent, but also clumsy and bumbling and unaware of their surroundings.
Frodo understands that Butterbur meant well, while Bill Ferny did not, but sees them both as stupid, and this is supported by Sam’s ability to hit him in the face with an apple.
All of this is to say that Strider does not fit any of these stereotypes, and the hobbits were stupid and blundering in their situation, and dependent on Strider, which reverses the stereotype.
Note: The difference between Hobbits and Men are important in choosing the Ringbearer, which further emphasizes that Hobbits and Men are not the same thing.
