As those of you who know me well know, I have a fond liking for The Lord of the Rings (hereafter known as LotR) and everything to do with it. It’s one of my only serious obsessions. Its meaning, its characters, its story, its writing…I could go on for days, but that really isn’t the point. Today I mean to exonerate just a few of the characters and a bit of the story (though knowing how I ramble, it may…branch out, if you take my meaning).
The reason for this is that Tuesday, September 22, was, as we Ringers call it, Tolkien day, the birthday of the two most adored Bagginses, Frodo and Bilbo. The Bagginses’ birthday is a milestone event every year, and I’ve heard that many really obsessive people (that’s right, I’m only the tip of the iceberg) hold parties on it. So, I guess it’s all right for me to write this blog post to celebrate it.
I’ll start off with a bit of rambling on my thoughts about the two. Each has starred in his own story, Bilbo in his (relatively) small adventure and Frodo in his monumental one. Of course, both had a fair amount of help, Bilbo the dwarves (Thorin, Fili, Kili, Balin, Dwalin, Glòin, Òin, Bombur, Dori, Ori, Nori, Bifur, and Bofur, I believe) as well as Gandalf, and Frodo had the Fellowship (Gandalf, Sam, Merry, Pippin, Legolas, Gimli, Aragorn, and Boromir) but mostly and paramountly he had dear Sam. Oh, I’m not saying that Gandalf’s wisdom and Aragorn’s sword and Legolas’s bow and Gimli’s axe and all that didn’t help, at least for the first part, but it is Sam’s steadfastness and loyalty that sticks in our minds as the thing that helped Frodo most. It’s one of the books’ greatest themes, I think, that of a friend resolving to be true no matter what, even as he watches Frodo sink under the Ring’s influence. However, as has been said many times, no matter how much Sam could help the burden was still Frodo’s to bear, and it was still his courage that saved Middle-Earth (even though it wasn’t really him who managed to destroy the Ring in the end). I’m one of those of the mind that Sam probably couldn’t have carried the Ring all the way to Mordor if he’d been the one. Frodo is unique in the characteristics he possesses—a Halfling with other stuff than food and gaiety on his mind (which seem to be the hobbits’ happiest delights), but still after peace, not arrogant, only wanting to get the job done, hardy, courageous, and much more. Coupling this with his background and the way he came into his task, it becomes plain that this was fate, as far as that goes. And the chance that the Ring and the task of bearing it would fall into his hands was a miracle for that world.
Of course, it was indeed by means of his cousin Bilbo that Frodo had it. Bilbo’s courage in this matter was of a different sort. When he first had it, he did not know it was much more than a ring with the power to make one unseen, which he found very useful. But as the years went by, and Sauron stirred, and the Ring responded, it was him that was affected. “Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread,” he said. But he went on hardily as it took its toll, and when the time had come, he managed to give the Ring away, to break the bond. Such courage, both of theirs, is worth much more than many men’s swords.
And what courage they had is what made them so great. Though the victory of the forces of good over Sauron’s evil was not solely theirs, theirs was the main quest, to bring the Ring to Mount Doom, Orodruin, Amon Amarth. And they did it.
I’ve only mentioned a slight part of the epic, a slight part of the characters, and the tiniest bit of meaning contained in the trilogy in this post. I’ll probably write more about these books this year. Truly, though, if you want to know more, if it draws you, as it should, just get out there and read the books. You won’t regret it.
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