And what is he doing during all of this? When the Three Hunters meet him
he is fully aware of what happened to Merry and Pippin, and of the quarrel
between the orcs of Isengard and Mordor -- and he knows Saruman is unaware of
these events. And that quarrel among the orcs does bear a certain
resemblance to a quarrel among trolls Gandalf started in The Hobbit!
Could Gandalf have had anything to do with that quarrel, and the part it played
in Merry and Pippin's escape? If not, how did he know about it? And
why would he have just sat in Fangorn Forest, apparently confident that Merry
and Pippin would find some way to escape?
Earlier I said that I did not think Gandalf sent Pippin a vision of Aragorn
trailing him, but now I am not sure. Gandalf bent his thought toward
Frodo on Amon Hen, and later toward Shadowfax in the south of Rohan, and read
the mind of Saruman. Why then not send visions to Pippin, the orcs, the
Three Hunters, and perhaps even Treebeard? What else did he have to do
between Frodo's time on Amon Hen and his meeting with the Three Hunters?
And why wouldn't he be interested in saving Merry and Pippin, bringing them to
Treebeard, and then meeting with the Three Hunters?
Alternatively, I suppose he may have had his own visions of what would happen,
not at his behest but by the operation of a Higher Power. One way or
another, he seemed confident that everything would turn out for the best, that
neither the orcs nor the Rohirrim would kill the hobbits, that they would meet
Treebeard, and that the Three Hunters would follow the trail to Fangorn
Forest.
________________________________________
"‘I think he was a silly little man,' said Councillor Tompkins. ‘Worthless, in fact; no use to Society at all.'
"‘Oh, I don't know,' said Atkins, who was nobody of importance, just a schoolmaster. ‘I am not so sure: it depends on what you mean by use .'
"‘No practical or economic use,' said Tompkins. . . .
. . .
"‘It is proving very useful indeed,' said the Second Voice. ‘As a holiday, and a refreshment. It is splendid for convalescence; and not only for that, for many it is the best introduction to the Mountains. It works wonders in some cases. I am sending more and more there. They seldom have to come back.'"
