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Bilbo and frodo9/12/2023 He succeeds less through his own doing and more from a weary stubbornness and the skill and devotion of the various members of the Fellowship, most notably Sam. He gives up his easy life in the Shire for the sake of the world, and much of him never comes back. Frodo, for all his heart and bravery, is the martyr, not the hero. And who would believe the tales of an eccentric old hobbit puffing himself up in books? There and Back Again is Bilbo’s story in his own hand.īut when you look at the deeds and motives, Bilbo is the heroic adventurer. But the historians weren’t there at the edge of Mt. What history would say is that Frodo is the greatest hero that hobbit-kind has ever known. The ring’s nature is insidious, so this is understandable, but far from heroic. At the heart of the fiery mountain, he changed his mind. If not for Gollum’s obsession, Frodo might have slunk away with the ring. But Frodo does not fight to defend the ring, but rather runs and hides, or waits for someone else to save him.Ĭon: He falters at the end. His uncle Bilbo fought, though rarely and mainly with the aid of the ring’s concealment. Merry and Pippin take up arms, so it’s not impossible for a hobbit. Doom, Frodo does not stand on his own at crucial times.Ĭon: He relies on others to do his fighting. From being wounded by a ring wraith’s sword to needing Sam’s help to walk up the slope of Mt. Doom without the broken Smeagol’s help?Ĭon: He is a burden to his companions at times. Mercy is a heroic trait, and Gollum repays Frodo’s kindness with both aid and treachery. Even though it involved wearing the ring, he kept the One Ring out of Boromir’s hands. Pro: Escapes Boromir when he goes mad for the ring. Once the hobbits get to Bree, they often have help at staying alive. Considering they’re being pursued by ring wraiths, that’s no small feat. Not all heroic deeds and misdeeds weigh the same, and this one is heavy indeed. He could have walked away in Rivendell, but chose to continue on with it to Mordor. Pro: He agrees to bear the One Ring not just once, but twice. It set about an adventure that would change the landscape of Middle Earth. Simple enough on the face of it, but what a ring he inherited. While he might not have changed anything, it was less than heroic to sit it out. He neither stopped the friendly sides from coming to blows, nor joined when the orcs arrived. While Smaug is truly the one responsible, Bilbo kicked a hornets’ nest and Laketown got the sting.Ĭon: In the Battle of the Five Armies, he was an onlooker. This is excusable when dealing with dragons, but he lies to Gandalf about the ring (on more than one occasion) and to Thorin about the stone, and generally about his suitability as a burglar.Ĭon: He is indirectly responsible for the carnage in Laketown. He crosses words with the cantankerous old dragon, but gets the better in the end.Ĭon: He lies. He hid for weeks in the elven palace, remaining undetected and formulating the escape plan, then pulling it off. Pro: The jailbreak and subsequent barrel-based escape from the elves. He named a sword as a result, and that’s a pretty good line item for a heroic resume. Ring or no ring, it was a brave moment for a small warrior. Pro: Buying time for Gandalf to return and save the dwarfs from becoming a troll dinner. A musing out loud turned into a dirty trick, but it worked. Finding the ring on the ground was luck, but the riddle contest was a battle of wits where Bilbo prevailed. Pro: Defeats Gollum and makes off with the ring of invisibility (little did we know at the time). Chased out of his hobbit hole in search of adventure, he finds all he had hoped for and much that he hadn’t. Not an auspicious beginning for a hero, but not all endings match their beginnings. Thorin Oakenshield hired him on as a burglar, at the suggestion of one Gandalf the Grey. Yet two of the land’s great heroes were born therein, uncle and nehpew, Bilbo and Frodo Baggins.īut which of them should own the honor of being the greatest hero the Shire ever produced? Let’s look at the case for each. Middle Earth has a curious habit of producing heroes from the most unlikely of sources: the Shire.
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