Posted: May 05, 1999 at 14:26:50: by Michael Martinez
: Of course, the Hobbit was amended after LotR was finished to
: clear up continuity problems with most of the changes coming in
: the first, second, third and fifth chapters. Do we know if the
: arrival at Rivendell was re-written in any way or whether the
: passage quoted above has survuved unaltered from the originally
: published version?It appears to be the original text. THE ANNOTATED HOBBIT lists quite a few changes for that chapter, but none dealing with the young Elf. I would guess that if Tolkien considered putting something about Aragorn into THE HOBBIT while revising it he must have rejected the notion since Aragorn really plays no part in the story. It is certainly a canonical "fact" that Aragorn was there when Bilbo first visited Rivendell (and the next year as well, when Bilbo was returning to the Shire), but there is no account of their early meetings (or of how Aragorn might have been kept out of Bilbo's way). I believe Tolkien envisioned a long friendship between Bilbo and Aragorn that would have been renewed when Bilbo left the Shire. Of course, there is no textual basis for that belief. I just can't see Tolkien overlooking the obvious implications of the Tale of Years.
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