An ongoing theme in Tolkien's works seems to be that although there is a time and place for open conflict and confrontation, the really important acts happen on the quiet. Elrond put it well to his eponymous Council:
Quote:
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'Yet such is oft the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.'
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I would posit also that since Tolkien himself was not a very imposing sort of guy from a physical standpoint, and was not possessed of an aggressive temperament, accomplishing things by discretion might have been simply more in line with his view of how things should work in Middle-earth.