The Movie and the Book

A Shortcut to Mushrooms

The next morning, the hobbits woke to find that the elves had gone and left food for them. The Elves didn't appear in the film. Sam told Frodo of a conversation he had with Gildor the elf the night before. In the words of Sam:
"Don't you leave him! they said to me. Leave him! I said. I never mean to. I am going with him, if he climbs to the Moon, and if any of those black riders try to stop him, they'll have Sam Gamgee to reckon with. Sam mentioned this instruction in the film just after they left Hobbiton and at the end of the film, though he said that the instruction came from Gandalf.

The title of the chapter partially referred to a decision to cut across country to avoid riders rather than following the road. It meant crossing through a muddy stream and they were beginning to regret going that way until they saw a black rider on the hill behind them.

The other part of the chapter title referred to Farmer Maggot's farm. They came to the farm and Pippin recognised it. Frodo wasn't too happy to go near the farm. He remembered being chased away by the farmer's dogs after he stole some mushrooms from there as a child (he used to live in that part of The Shire). As it turned out, the farmer welcomed them and his wife prepared a meal for them. He obviously remembered Frodo and obviously also had a sense of humour, since he gave them a basket of mushrooms as they left. A scene all the more amusing for anyone who as an adult, has met someone they feared as a child and discovered that they're actually a nice person.

While they were there, he told them of an experience he'd had before they arrived. A black rider had been at his farm asking for Mr Baggins, though the farmer asked him to leave. Frodo didn't tell the farmer what they were up to but he was shrewd enough to guess a lot of it without asking. In any case, he knew they were in trouble and offered to drive them in his cart to the Bucklebury Ferry. When they reached the ferry, Merry was waiting for them and they crossed together. In the film it was a lot more dramatic since they ran to the ferry, pursued by riders.