LotR -- Book 1 - Chapter 10 - Strider

[William Cloud Hicklin]

Strider, to me, seems on first sight maybe not "foul" in the way Mr. Baggins probably perceived it, but rather being unnecessarily dramatic and "epic" in the wrong sense: dark. I understand he had spent most of his life traveling alone in the wilderness, but he also had basically a hundred years to meet humans (and others) and therefore one would expect a bit of empathy. "They came from Mordor, MORDOR! And they are more terrible than you can imagine!" is not what you go around telling people who are already scared enough as it is.

I'm inclined to think that Aragorn, quite rightly, saw that these careless Hobbits needed a serious reality check. Scared to death? In one of the movies' few decent original lines, "Not nearly frightened enough."

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by William Cloud Hicklin

I'm inclined to think that Aragorn, quite rightly, saw that these careless Hobbits needed a serious reality check. Scared to death? In one of the movies' few decent original lines, "Not nearly frightened enough."

Yes, we must remember the context (in both the original and the film) is that Pippin and Frodo had been making themselves all too conspicuous. And Butterbur probably needs to be warned what he's dealing with- that said, Aragorn obviously doesn't like him and possibly takes an unworthy satisfaction in scaring him.