LOTR: Was It Coincidence That Aragorn Met Frodo & Sam At The Prancing Pony?

gamerant.com:

Fate and good fortune are very important aspects of many of Tolkien’s stories. They act as a symbol of hope in difficult times, a belief that no matter how dark the night may seem, the sun will always rise the next morning. But fate always intertwines with choice within his books too, and can change depending on the decisions that the characters make. Was it fate for Bilbo to have found and picked up the One Ring in the tunnels below the goblin kingdom during The Hobbit? Was it fate that Faramir later found Frodo and Sam wandering the fields of Ithillien, and was able to aid them on their quest into Mordor? Or was it all part of a larger, preconceived plan of the greater beings in the world, like Eru Illuvatar, who created Middle Earth and watches over it from afar?

There are many seemingly chance encounters throughout both The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. Characters seem to end up in just the right place at the right time to be able to save one another, offer guidance, and play some important part in overcoming the challenges that lie ahead. But one of the most questioned meetings in the Fellowship of the Ring is that of Aragorn and the four hobbits, who run into each other at the Prancing Pony in Bree. In the persona of Strider the Ranger, Aragorn seems to materialize just in the nick of time as the anxious hobbits realize that Gandalf isn’t coming, and that they are trapped with no help and no direction of what to do next. So was this fortuitous encounter a mere coincidence?

Did Aragorn Have The Power To Choose When He Died?

The answer, in some ways, is both yes and no. In one sense, it was never meant to be Aragorn who met them there, it was always supposed to be Ganadalf. But fate intervened and Gandalf was