No, I don't think this meeting was "chance". The same power that put the Ring
in Bilbo's path nudged these two towards a meeting.
A pointless comment on a small typo: to any New Zealander who was alive and
self-aware in 1979, "Erebus" leaps off the page. I really think you meant
Erebor :-)
I think Gandalf understands Dwarves about as well as any non-Dwarf in
Middle-earth can. He knows that they're as hard to influence as a bandersnatch
:-) A strong sense of duty, especially familial, is part of their
nature.
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Do we find happiness so often that we should turn it off the box when it happens to sit there?
- A Room With a View
