Chance = the music :-) Even the wise cannot hear all the little themes
and sub-themes, or detect the harmony. But there are no accidents in
Tolkien's world on the the vast scale of things, though most of the beings
cannot fathom how the design comes into play. Thus it's a matter of
perspective. For Eru, Gandalf and Thorin were meant to find each other,
just as Bilbo and Frodo were meant to find the Ring. The way those
chance-meetings fit into the scheme, though, is understandable only to Eur
Iluvatar himself. Thus we can talk about accidents and chance happenings
because lesser beings don't konw how it all fits together. Gandalf,
though, has a vague knowledge of the larger world beyond, though he is never
sure of what the mind of Eru is. That's what keeps things interesting in
Middle-earth, for who knows if Eru hadn't wanted Sauron to win, for a while at
least???
But to Sam the evening deepened to darkness as he stood at the Haven;
and as he looked at the grey sea he saw only a shadow on the waters that
was soon lost in the West. There still he stood far into the night, hearing
only the sigh and murmur of the waves on the shores of Middle-earth, and
the sound of them sank deep into his heart. Beside him stood Merry and
Pippin, and they were silent.
