Posted: October 19, 1998 at 08:05:32: by Steve S.
: Any clues as to why Gandalf picked Bilbo to go along with the Dwarves? (Besides the predestination comments listed below). It seems as if it would have been just as easy to go with the dwarves and not bother with Bilbo.As someone stated earlier, read "The Quest of Erebor". Hobbits first suggested themselves to Gandalf as Thorin and he traveled thru the Shire headed towards Thorin's home - Gandalf was annoyed with Thorin's disgust with hobbits. Gandalf had already decided that stealth was needed. He left Thorin & went to the Shire. He had been attracted to Bilbo some years before because of "his eagerness and bright eyes, and his love of tales, and his questions about the wide world outside the Shire." Gandalf heard that Bilbo was already a bit queer and sometimes even talked to dwarves. And "three things came together: the great Dragon with his lust, and his keen hearing and scent; the sturdy heavy-booted Dwarves with their old burning grudge; and the quick, soft-footed Hobbit, sick at heart (I guessed) for a sight of the wide world."
|
