Did Gandalf know all along?

[Bregalad]

My but my name's getting popular! Since I joined up there have been two more signed on. Soon you will all be up to your noses in Quickbeams! Oh you poor doomed souls!

Anyway, on two the subject at hand. I think it's a fair assumption that Gwaihir is present in both instances. Of course, there is no proof, so we can all argue until the end of time<giggle> But I think it a much stranger possibility that some strange eagles, with no tie to Gandalf, decided to just swoop in and meddle in the affairs of dwarves.

As for the ring, there is no way that Gandalf knew the one ring was there. When Bilbo makes his miraculous seeming, invisible escape, Gandalf knows imediately that something is up, he even makes a somewhat tongue in cheek remark about there being more than meets the eye about Bilbo. But he makes it clear in LOTR that his suspicion of it being the one ring came very slowly. And it was because he was trying to find the proof and thus the truth about the ring that he is late in getting back to Frodo and sending him on his way.

[Kirinki54]

Originally posted by Bregalad
But I think it a much stranger possibility that some strange eagles, with no tie to Gandalf, decided to just swoop in and meddle in the affairs of dwarves.

As for the ring, there is no way that Gandalf knew the one ring was there.

Not necessarily some STRANGE eagles! It seems they were a large but tighly-knit clan, all of them strong and powerful. When the Ring is destroyed they come flying together in long lines. So since Gwaihir is not named, there is no reason to believe he MUST have been present in The Hobbit.

As for the Ring, yes. I still find it a bit peculiar it took so long for Gandalf to become suspicious. I mean, Rings were THE topic of those times, the One in particular...