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"Pippin cowered back, afraid for a moment, wondering into what dreadful country Gandalf was bearing him." - The return of the King.

I think it could be just "wondering what dreadful country..."

I have checked the dictionaries and found nothing about "wonder into"

Could you explain the use of "into" in this context? Thanks a ton :)

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  • Try to think that sentence physically maybe? Like 'dreadful country Gandalf was bearing him' is a cave. And Pippin is wondering into that cave with a torch in his hand. He is curious and wants to know. Not be mistaken with wander by the way.
    – Grizzly
    Commented Nov 5, 2015 at 3:02
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    This is the sentence as phrased when one is not trying to end the sentence with a preposition, but the into could be put "back" at the end to yield: "Pippin cowered back, afraid for a moment, wondering what dreadful country Gandalf was bearing him into."
    – Jim
    Commented Nov 5, 2015 at 3:10
  • Right. Since ending a sentence with a preposition is totally OK for me, this didn't even come to my mind. Good one. Why it is considered wrong I can't understand. They make perfect sense to me.
    – Grizzly
    Commented Nov 5, 2015 at 3:25
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    @Jim I thought only "which" and "whom" allow the preposition to be placed in front of them. Is it grammatical to actually place preposition in front of "what"?
    – sooeithdk
    Commented Nov 5, 2015 at 3:26
  • @sooeithdk No, this happens with what, where and when too!
    – Araucaria - Him
    Commented Nov 5, 2015 at 10:37

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It's a literary form of "wondering what dreadful country Gandalf was bearing him into". Give the use of the literary word "bear", that seems quite appropriate.

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  • @HotLicks - Hmm. Something up with which I do not put.
    – Rob_Ster
    Commented Mar 5, 2016 at 1:39

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