XPost: rec.arts.books.tolkien   
   From: rimagen@toast.net   
      
   Did Aragorn trust the Rohirrim not to let Sauron have their horses,   
   or didn't he? At the Council of Elrond he says this, in respons to   
   the rumor Gandalf had heard from Gwaihir:   
      
     'Then he must be a noble beast indeed,' said Aragorn; 'and it   
     grieves me more than many tidings that might seem worse to learn   
     that Sauron levies such tribute. It was not so when last I was in   
     that land.'   
     'Nor is it now, I will swear,' said Boromir. 'It is a lie that   
     comes from the Enemy. I know the Men of Rohan, true and valiant,   
     our allies, dwelling still in the lands that we gave them long   
     ago.'   
     'The shadow of Mordor lies on distant lands,' answered Aragorn.   
     'Saruman has fallen under it. Rohan is beset. Who knows what you   
     will find there, if ever you return?'   
     'Not this at least,' said Boromir, 'that they will buy their lives   
     with horses. They love their horses next to their kin. And not   
     without reason, for the horses of the Riddermark come from the   
     fields of the North, far from the Shadow, and their race, as that   
     of their masters, is descended from the free days of old.'   
      
   But in "The Riders of Rohan", just before he, Legolas and Gimli meet   
   the Rohirrim for the first time, we get this:   
      
     'But Gandalf spoke of a rumour that they pay tribute to Mordor,'   
     said Gimli.   
     'I believe it no more than did Boromir,' answered Aragorn.   
      
   Why his about-face on the matter?   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)