Fun fact: in early drafts, the role of Strider was filled by a Hobbit named Trotter (which always makes me think of a pig). Thankfully that changed as the tale grew in the telling, and we get the tall Ranger we all know and love.
(To say nothing of Bingo Baggins being renamed Frodo Baggins)
(No I’m not kidding)
(Also Merry was originally called Marmaduke)
So this is another scene where I think the movie did an excellent job. Viggo Mortensen is of course a great actor, and he really sold Strider as someone intimidating (but not evil-seeming) before toning it down - pretty much exactly as it plays out in the book. Props to Sam for recognizing good advice even if he doesn’t trust the source (he won’t really warm up to Strider for a while), and props to Merry for sheer guts. He had gone outside to stretch his legs, spotted a Black Rider, and freaking chased after it. Foolish, as Aragorn points out, but pretty gutsy just the same.
I also just love this moment:
‘I must admit,’ he added with a queer laugh, ‘that I hoped you would take to me for my own sake. A hunted man sometimes wearies of distrust and longs for friendship. But there, I believe my looks are against me.’
D’aww. I just want to give the dude a hug.
I don’t really have much to say about Gandalf’s letter and Baliman. I appreciate that him leaving Frodo without help wasn’t just a case of someone holding the idiot ball, but rather Gandalf encountering new information, deciding on the best course of action, and seeking to inform Frodo.
And Barliman never actually sending it is perfectly human on its own.
As for the letter itself, it’s what gives us these famous lines:
All that is gold does not glitter, Not all those who wander are lost.
Good lines, and regrettably super cliched at this point. If you want to get a Tolkien tattoo, I would encourage you to put some thought into it and come up with something a little different. I’m partial to “Aure entuluva!” personally.
Monday, Frodo receives a Stabby courtesy of a Knife in the Dark.