I think one of the more humorous aspects of this chapter is the Elves' reception of the hobbits:
Quote:
|
"We had not heard of - hobbits, of halfilings, for many a long year, and did not know that any yet dwelt in Middle-earth."
|
This coming from Elves is very interesting, being that the Elves are the ones that are passing over the sea. It is followed by:
and later:
Quote:
|
"The four hobbits shall climb up here and stay with us - we do not fear them!"
|
It would seem that something that the Elves had heard before would lead them to believe that hobbits are an "evil" race - how ironic that hobbits are quite the opposite: so peace-loving and absorbed in themselves that they don't really need rules except because they have always been there! They say that they had once heard of hobbits; perhaps these might be those of Gollum's kind? Geographically, they were very close. This would not account for the evil connotations of hobbits however; I find it very unlikely that they may have heard of Gollum (certainly would have been enough to set their minds against hobbits) because they did not recognize him when he entered Lothlorien. The only other thing I can think of is that maybe old tales about hobbits (like those in Rohan) were somehow contorted so that the true facts were long forgotten.