— Everything all right? Gandalf, where are you going?
— To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense.
— And who's that?
— Myself, Mr. Baggins.
— Good morning.
— What do you mean? Do you wish me a good morning...or do you mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not? Or perhaps you mean to say that you feel good on this particular morning? Or are you simply stating that this is a morning to be good on? Hm? All of them at once, I suppose.
— Where did you go to, if I may ask?
— To look ahead.
— What brought you back?
— Looking behind.
— I didn't think it would end this way.
— End? No, the journey doesn't end here. Death is just another path one that we all must take. The grey rain curtain of this world rolls back and all change to silver glass. And then you see it.
— What, Gandalf? See what?
— White shores. And beyond... A far green Country under a swift sunrise.
The world is not in your books and maps. It's out there.
— Mithrandir? Why the Halfling?
— I do not know. Saruman believes that it is only great power that can hold evil in check. But that is not what I have found. I have found it is the small things everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keeps the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love. Why Bilbo Baggins? Perhaps it is because I'm afraid and he gives me courage.
— You'll have a tale or two to tell of your own when you come back.
— Can you promise that I will come back?
— No. And if you do... you will not be the same.
A wizard is never late, Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means to.
