"...The first men to talk of 'trees and stars' saw things very differently. To them, the world was alive with mythological beings... To them the whole of creation was "myth-woven and elf-patterned".

There was no trace of him to be found near at hand; and they did not dare to wander far -- the moon was hidden in cloud, and the night was very dark. [Struck out: The Horses remained quiet and seemed to feel nothing amiss.] ? The horses were restive, straining at their tether-ropes, showing the whites of their eyes. It was a little while before Legolas could quiet them.

For some time the companions discussed this strange event. "It was Saruman, of that I feel certain," said Gimli. "You remember the words of Éomer. He will come back, or bring more trouble on us."

in the first draft Gimli asks, "That old man. You say Saruman is abroad. Was it you or Saruman that we saw last night?" and Gandalf replies, "If you saw an old man last night, you certainly did not see me. ... I must guess that you saw Saruman [or a vision] or some wraith of his making. [Struck out: I did not know that he lingered here so long.] Against Gandalf's words my father wrote in the margin: Vision of Gandalf's thought.

Aragorn and his companions spend night on the battle-field, and see "old man" (Saruman). They are a considerable way from Orthanc and the reader might wonder with Gimli whether it was really Saruman or only "an evil phantom" of him, especially as he leaves no traces. But Gandalf later explains that it was Saruman: "He was so eager to lay his hands on his prey [the Hobbits and possibly the Ring] that he could not wait at home, and he came forth to meet and to spy on his messengers. But he came too late for once, and the battle was over and beyond his help before he reached these parts. He did not remain here long."

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Quoted by Humphrey Carpenter (1979). The Inklings: C. S. Lewis, J. R. R. Tolkien, Charles Williams and Their Friends. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p. 43.

There's no question that every element in Middle Earth was anthropomorphic: not only animals, but trees, and even rocks. Eregion had "forgotten" the Elves, according to Legolas. There are numerous references to "living stone." So, we see a tree "glad of fire" (which, I confess, sounds more like it should be a natural enemy), and even the Forest broods. The horses were clearly delighted to meet Shadowfax again, and ran off to play.

But what of the "Old Man"? Is it perhaps a bit crude for Tolkien to plant the misleading suggestion in �omer to make us think this is Saruman? Thank goodness the greatest woodsman in the world is at hand to notice little things like hats vs. hoods.

It does seem odd that a tree might enjoy a fire, especially one made of dismembered and discarded bits of other trees. So I do wonder whether it is completely freaking out but our two-legged threesome haven't read the signals (the problems of inter-cultural communication again)?

I have a vague memory from reading "History of Middle Earth" (which is Christopher Tolkien's compilation and analysis of JRR's draft writings) that JRR had different ideas about when to time Gandalf's reappearance. If I remember rightly, Christopher Tolkien thinks this mysterious figure might first have been Gandalf, before JRR decided that it would be Saruman making a brief appearance.

I'm not entirely sure I see the point of having the brief appearance of the old man here, whichever wizard he is. Unless I've missed something, the incident seems only to help remind us that Eomer thinks Saruman is out & about, which sets up our assumptions when an old man is met again in White Rider. But (if I remember correctly) the PJ film misses out this mysterious old man incident without losing that effect.

Maybe Tolkien chose a middle way between his other options (he could have our 3 heroes meet Gandalf now. Or he could cut to the hobbits just when it appears that the 3 hunters are about to fight Saruman - an enhanced cliffhanger ending.

Not sure - what do you think?

In fact, Tolkien seems to have waffled on this quite a lot. In The Treason of Isengard (HoME VII) p. 403 CT gives this text after Gimli's brief sighting of the old man, "clad in rags":

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CT subsequently notes, "While this is no more than a guess, I suspect that when my father wrote this he thought that it was Gandalf, and not Saruman, who stood so briefly in the light of the fire." Quiet horses = Gandalf, disturbed horses = Saruman.

Later (HoME p. 428), when the real Gandalf appears:

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In the discussion, CT muses, "it seems more likely perhaps that through his deep concentration on Saruman [Gandalf] had "projected" an image of Saruman which the three companions could momentarily see."

Hammond & Scull (The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion) quote an earlier time-scheme which includes the entry,

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To add further ambiguity, in a footnote to the first section I quoted above, CT notes, "It is curious that Aragorn's words, 'I marked also that this old man had a hat not a hood' were an addition to the text made long after."

The horses are now gone, and do not testify.

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'The tree is glad of the fire!' and the glimpse we get is of cold cracked hands taking comfort ( a very descriptive image) And odd thing perhaps for a tree, isn't it - enjoying fire? Or is it just anthropomorphizing as a device? How does this anthropomorphizing strike you - inconsistent, or maybe a hint of the more feral (cannibalistic, almost) nature or Huorns as later described by Treebeard?

Yet I also have always thought this was a wee bit of authorial cheat: later we get the information that the horses sounded glad, as of those meeting their leader. But not here! I know its a setup for a later happy outcome (yes, the eu- word!) but it always seems a bit deceptive to me! What was your take on this?