As many people have mentioned their first real adventure starts in this chapter.
At first it was just a threat. The Black Riders were there but the hobbits never made actual contact with the Black Riders. With Old Man Willow however they get into a physical conflict. The danger is no longer just a threat it has become more real than before.
The chapter starts very mysteriously with fog and becomes only more mysterious when the Hobbits enter the forrest. With such a build-up of the mood something has to happen of course. What also adds to the somewhat dreary mood is the strange dream Frodo had at the end of Chapter 5.
This chapter also made it clear to me that ME was indeed a very magical place. This chapter made ME more real to me because a real world has many mysteries that will never be answered. Our own is also full of mysteries plus our world has so many myths and legends just like ME. The amount of mysteries that are discovered in this chapter ( all those tales about the Old forest) adds to the book's historical feel.
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