“But that’s not the way of it with the tales that really mattered, or the ones that stay in mind. Folk seem to have just landed in them, usually-their paths were laid that way..But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back only they didn’t…We hear about those that just went on–I wonder what sort of tale we’ve fallen into?”

I wonder,” said Frodo. “But I don’t know. And that’s the way of a real tale. Take any one that you’re fond of. You may know , or guess, what kind of tale it is, happy ending or sad ending, but the people in it don’t know. And you don’t want them to.”

J.R.R. Tolkein, The Two Towers