Up until recently I only knew Frodo Baggins as a character from the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and The Hobbit movies. As it turns out, Frodo Baggins is one of the greatest unanticipated literary heroes ever. Based on the world he created, J.R.R. Tolkien appears to have had an unlimited imagination for fantasy and Frodo Baggins is a prime example.
Frodo is a hero that nobody expects, not your typical straight arrow. Being 5’3, under 100 lbs, and being from a hobbit village The Shire everybody counted him out. hehe Lord of the Rings” is an adventure packed three book series consisting of dragons, hobbits, elves and goblins, published by Allen & Unwin in 1948, Tolkien gives us one of the greatest heroes in literature.
The “Lord of the Rings” is a mix of fantasy and adventure with plenty of both, Frodo Baggins is the main character I will be talking about today but another important companion that helps him in his journey is Sam, another Hobbit from The Shire. The two are the main character the Tolkien focuses on throughout the book, they really add to one of the many themes in this series kind of adding an element never judging a book by its cover. Together they are journeying all the way from The Shire to Maurdor where Sauron(the antagonist in the story) resides, they are doing this to destroy The One ring which can only be destroyed by the fires of Mount Doom.
One of the reoccurring symbols is the ring, which symbolises addiction, this is shown throughout the book when Frodo and Sam are in possession of it. Frodo is mentally unstable without the ring and cannot be without it once he was in possession of it but was one of the only beings to ever be able to resist it. Examples of the many that are not able to live without it is Gollum, a skinny, frail and pale creature that was once a human but got a drug like addiction to the ring calling it “my precious”.
There was an obvious bias towards Frodo and Sam during this story mainly because they are the main characters focused on through the story, but it is not all sunshine and rainbows for these two they constantly struggle mentally and physically in their journey. There is also a noticeable tone in this story, a serious one that struggles with addiction and mental illness represented by the ring.
The author J.R.R Tolkien also wrote another work related to “The Lord of the Rings” called “The Hobbit”, which focuses on Frodo’s uncle Bilbo Baggins and is more of a “Dungeons & Dragons” type feel focusing more on the fantasy aspect in the world that Tolkien created. Another fact about the author is that the Tolkien estate actually sued Dungeons and Dragon because of how close it was to the Lord of the Rings which was one of its main inspirations for the game. I would definitely recommend this series as it is surprisingly very interesting and fun storyline even if you are not into the fantasy genre.
