a man may do both

My 12-year-old and I are now deep into The Two Towers. It’s a first reading of Tolkien for me! So, I know many of you will find this passage old and familiar, but it caught me up short:

“Hobbits?” said Éomer. “And what may they be? It is a strange name.”

“A strange name for a strange folk, said Gimli. “But these were very dear to us. It seems that you have heard in Rohan of the words that troubled Minas Tirith. They spoke of the Halfling. These hobbits are Halflings.”

“Halflings!” laughed the Rider that stood beside Éomer. “Halflings! But they are only a little people in old songs and children’s tales out of the North. Do we walk in legends or on the green earth in the daylight?”

“A man may do both,” said Aragorn. “For not we but those who come after will make the legends of our time. The green earth, say you? That is a mighty matter of legend, though you tread it under the light of day!”