Behind that, there was something else at work, beyond any design of the ring maker. I can put it no plainer than by saying that Bilbo was meant to find the ring, and not by its maker. In which case you also were meant to have it. And that may be an encouraging thought.

“It's the job that's never started as takes longest to finish.”

“But there, my friends, songs like trees bear fruit only in their own time and t…”

“But Sam turned to Bywater, and so came back up the Hill, as day was ending once…”

“Still, I wonder if we shall ever be put into songs or tales. We're in one, of c…”