#Frodo

[quantumfrail]

[atdawn]

“Well, there's nothing for it. It's one of my knots. Won't come free in a hurry.”

LORD OF THE RINGS (The Two Towers)

[eye-of-mordor]

I say to you, Frodo, that even as I speak to you, I perceive the Dark Lord and know his mind, or all of his mind that concerns the Elves. And he gropes ever to see me and my thought.

[thelordsoftherings]

All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.

[harcourtholmesii]

I didn't see the description at first. I was literally about to say 'gives me Lofi vibes' XD

Absolutely beautiful and warm and cozy!

Lofi vibes but make it Lord of the Rings

instagram: @debbiebalboa

[jo-gakky]

some misc stuff i've made while working on my portfolio and commissions- UM SO IM DEEP DEEP DEEEEP INTO LOTR NOW! :3 Still havent watched the hobbit movies so SHHH no spoilers!! Also sorry for slow posts!

[deus-sema]

The final exchange between Frodo and Galadriel in RoTK is hilarious when merged with the context of TRoP because the look that he gives her just screams:

'I know what you did last summer on that raft. You owe me my therapy bills for all the trauma your ex put me through. Would it have killed you to just open the fucking door for two minutes?'

[alcoholicweiwuxian]

i need to do this to frodo baggins you dont understand.

[tolkien-meta-library]

note: I may have posted this previously

Frodo Laid a Geas (and other invisible magic)

This was so obvious when I realized it, but I think most people miss it, because we’re so desensitized by D&D-style magic with immediate, visibly, flashy effects, rather than more subtle and invisible forces of magic. When Gollum attacks Frodo on the slopes of Mount Doom, Frodo has the chance to kill him, but he doesn’t. Instead, he says:

Frodo: Go! And if you ever lay hands on me again, you yourself shall be cast into the Fire!

Frodo’s not just talking shit here. He is literally, magically laying a curse. He’s holding the One Ring in his hands as he says it; even Sam, with no magic powers of his own, can sense that some powerful mojo is being laid down. Frodo put a curse on Gollum: if you try to take the Ring again, you’ll be cast into the Fire.

Five pages later, Gollum tries to take the Ring again. And that’s exactly what happens. Frodo’s geas takes effect and Gollum eats lava.

[themoonstonechronicler]

"why did the ring mostly affect frodo and not bilbo who had it for a gazillion years" objectively has a textual answer but i think the best answer is that sauron just likes bilbo more than frodo

bilbo: *uses the ring to hide from his relatives*

sauron, remembering almaren: yknow. real.

[dudja]

[the-eclectic-penguin]

[maaruin]

This is true, and Tolkien seems to have been quite pessimistic about the real world as well. He though history would be a long defeat until the Second Coming.

But there is some nuance to Gollum, I think, because of what Frodo says after the Ring is destroyed:

‘But do you remember Gandalf’s words: Even Gollum may have something yet to do? But for him, Sam, I could not have destroyed the Ring. The Quest would have been in vain, even at the bitter end. So let us forgive him! For the Quest is achieved, and now all is over. I am glad you are here with me. Here at the end of all things, Sam.’

So in the eyes of Frodo, Gollum redeemed himself unintentionally. And one could say, so was also redeemed Frodo, in a different way. Frodo did not choose to turn away from the Ring, he was saved from the Ring by events he had no control over at that time (and choices he had made earlier). Frodo and Gollum are redeemed by divine providence despite their will being to weak for it. Gollum desire for the Ring is transformed into a heroic deed, and Frodo gets saved from this desire for the Ring. Those are far from what we imagine a redemption arc to look like, but maybe Tolkien's idea of redemption was different. (A bit weird though: it reminds me of the doctrine of Irresistible Grace, which is Calvinist, not Catholic.)

There is another character who I would say comes close to a villain redemption arc:

Theoden. It may be less noticeable, because his villainy is mostly in inaction - but for a king to refuse his duty of protecting the people of his kingdoms against attack and even imprison someone who did take action (Eomer) is pretty villainous. And unlike in the movies, in the books he is not possessed by Saruman, he is still capable of making decisions.

In Theoden's own understanding his redemption arc doesn't end there, he only thinks himself redeemed when he lies dying at the Pelennor.

And the Army of the Dead gets redeemed in pretty much the same way that Theoden gets redeemed, though we learn much less about their internal perspective in the process.

Also, Tolkien would probably also consider Eowyn's character arc a redemption arc: She is driven by a desire for glory and/or death, until she finally realizes that there is value in life (in her own life).

It seems quite striking to me that, for all its Christian underpinnings, the Legendarium is very pessimistic about redemption. The characters who are redeemed were never evil in the first place (Galadriel, Boromir) and the actual villains-or-close-to-it fail time and time again despite being offered (often multiple) chances. Melkor? Didn't even try. Sauron? Bailed. Maglor & Maedhros? Missed by a dialogue line. Gollum? Was so close that one time. Even Ar-Pharazon, of all people, had a moment of clarity before doubling down. Saruman got the second, third and fourth chance only to spit on them all. In the light of this redemption appears to be throwing-the-Ring-to-Mount-Doom level of impossible to pull off. The only character that comes even close to villain redemption arc is-

*checks notes*

Lobelia Sackville-Baggins

[chuanming-ong]

“In this phial,” she said, “is caught the light of Eärendil’s star, set amid the waters of my fountain. It will shine still brighter when night is about you. May it be a light to you in dark places, when all other lights go out.”

[thegorgonist]

The Fellowship When I was a kid, my folks basically told me I was a hobbit. I cherish the memory of them reading all these books to me--and I turned around and read them to my little siblings and eventually to my partner! I've drawn and painted a lot for The Hobbit but never The Lord of the Rings, and this ECCC seemed like the right time to debut one!