Well, he had to busy himself with something to keep his mind of the fact that he was going somewhere, where he would most likely die. ;)

Maybe it was something that was added later, but it's there and that's what I have to work with. ;) I want to disect that mission of his and see what was going on in his head. It would be interesting to do a myth vs. truth essay (we can get rid of... hmm... the harp, Thorondor and 30 years of hanging on Thangorodrim?), but that should probably wait for some other time.