Frodo Baggins

From Tolkien Gateway
Frodo Baggins
Hobbit
File:Natalia Volodeva - Frodo Baggins.jpg
Biographical Information
Other namesSee Names below
LocationBag End, Hobbiton; Valinor
BirthSeptember 22, T.A. 2968
DeathDate unknown, Valinor
Family
ParentageDrogo Baggins + Primula Brandybuck
Physical Description
GenderMale
HeightTaller than most Hobbits
Hair colorBrown
GalleryImages of Frodo Baggins

Frodo Baggins was a Hobbit of the Third Age, the most famous of all Hobbits in the histories for his leading role in the Quest of the Ring. During this epic quest, he bore the One Ring to Mount Doom and there destroyed it, giving him renown like no other Halfling throughout Middle-earth. He is also peculiar for being, as a Ring-bearer, one of the three Hobbits who sailed from Middle-earth to Aman, there to die in peace.

History

Main Article: History of Frodo Baggins

Frodo was born to Drogo Baggins and Primula Brandybuck on September 22nd, Third Age 2968. He spent much of his youth at Brandy Hall in Buckland, the home of his mother's family. He was considered something of a rascal, particularly by Farmer Maggot from whom Frodo stole mushrooms. In 2980, when Frodo was only twelve years old, he lost both his parents who took a boat out onto the Brandywine River and drowned. With no siblings, Frodo was taken in by the Brandybucks to live at Brandy Hall until his cousin, Bilbo Baggins, adopted him and made Frodo his heir.

War of the Ring

Lure of Expedience by Rob Alexander.

Frodo was entrusted with the keeping of the One Ring when Bilbo left for Rivendell after the celebration of his 111th birthday. Gandalf warned Frodo that the Ring must never be used and should be kept secret. (At the time, he was not yet certain that it was a Ring of Power.) Frodo kept the Ring hidden for seventeen years, until T.A. 3018, when Gandalf returned to confirm that it was indeed the One Ring. Gandalf sent him away with Sam Gamgee, who was Frodo's gardener and eventually his dearest friend. Together with Peregrin Took, Meriadoc Brandybuck and later Strider, they made it to the House of Elrond. There, at Elrond's Council, it was decided that the Ring must be destroyed by casting it into the Crack of Doom. A Fellowship was formed to protect Frodo as the Ring-bearer. His quest to destroy the Ring forms a large portion of The Lord of the Rings. Eventually, he succeeded in throwing the Ring into Orodruin.

Two years after the Ring was destroyed, still troubled by the wounds he received during the War of the Ring, Frodo and Bilbo as Ring-bearers were given the right to travel to Valinor where, though remaining mortal, they might rest and be healed, together with Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel. They boarded a ship from the Grey Havens and passed over the sea on September 29, T.A. 3021. Having no children of his own, Frodo left his estate and passed on the Red Book to Samwise Gamgee who followed Frodo across the sea 61 years later, following the death of his wife Rose (nee) Cotton.

Etymology and Translations

File:Elizabeth Wyeth - Frodo's Journal.jpg
Frodo's Journal by Elizabeth Wyeth.

The name Frodo Baggins is an English translation of his Westron name Maura Labingi. The name Maura has the element maur- (wise, experienced), which Tolkien equivalated to the Germanic element frod- of the same meaning. Frodo's name in Sindarin was Iorhael ("old-wise").

In the German translation he is called Frodo Beutlin, in Spanish, Frodo Bolsón, in French, Frodon Sacquet, in Norwegian, Frodo Lommelun, in Danish, Frodo Sækker, in Faroese, Fróði Pjøkin in Finnish, Frodo Reppuli and in Dutch, Frodo Balings. In one of three Polish translations he is called Frodo Bagosz, but he keeps his original name in the other two.

Frodo's Struggles

Corruption by Olanda Fong-Surdenas.

Notably, Frodo Baggins never actually killed anything in the course of the Lord of the Rings. He did, however, stand up to fight against some formidable adversaries. He foolishly attempted to fight the Nazgûl at Weathertop, and he stabbed a troll in the foot in Moria to keep it from forcing open a door.

Frodo was wounded several times in the Lord of the Rings. The first came when he tried to fight the Nazgul at Weathertop and was stabbed with a Morgul blade. He was later knocked out by an orc's thrown spear in Moria, but the mithril armor Bilbo had given him saved his life. He was poisoned by Shelob in the pass of Cirith Ungol and later questioned by orcs in the tower. Finally, Gollum bit off his finger to obtain the One Ring as they struggled inside Mount Doom.

Description and Equipment

Frodo's only real description is Gandalf's, and he is declared a "stout fellow with red cheeks." He was a tall hobbit, and fairer than most of his kind, with a cleft chin, a bright eye, and a perky personality.

Frodo carried a small Elven sword (actually a dagger) called Sting and wore a coat of Dwarven chainmail made of Mithril under his clothes, both given to him by Bilbo. At Lothlórien, Galadriel gave him an Elven cloak that blends him in with the natrual surroundings and a phial carrying the light of the star Eärendil to aid him on his quest.

Adaptations

In Ralph Bakshi's The Lord of the Rings (1978), Frodo was voiced by Christopher Guard. Billy Barty was the model for Frodo, as well as Bilbo and Sam, in the live-action recordings Bakshi used for rotoscoping.

In Rankin/Bass' The Return of the King (1980), made for television, the character was voiced by Orson Bean, who had previously played Bilbo in Rankin/Bass' The Hobbit.

In the 1981 BBC radio serial of The Lord of the Rings, Frodo is played by Ian Holm, who later played Bilbo in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings (2001-03).

In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings, Frodo is played by Elijah Wood.

On stage, Frodo was portrayed by James Loye in the three-hour stage production of The Lord of the Rings, which opened in Toronto in 2006, and was brought to London in 2007. In the United States, Frodo was portrayed by Joe Sofranko in the Cincinnati productions of The Fellowship of the Ring (2001), The Two Towers (2002), and The Return of the King (2003) for Clear Stage Cincinnati. In Chicago, Patrick Blashill played Frodo in the Lifeline Theatre production of The Two Towers in 1999.

Names

The Line of Frodo

Balbo Baggins = Berylla Boffin
              |
       ------------------------    
       |                      |
     Mungo              Largo Baggins = Tanta Hornblower
(grandfather of Bilbo)                |
                                    Fosco = Ruby Bolger
                                          |
          --------------------------------------------
          |       |                                  |
         Dora   Drogo = Primula Brandybuck         Dudo  
                      |                              |
                    Frodo                          Daisy = Griffo Boffin

See also

Members of the Fellowship of the Ring
Frodo · Sam · Merry · Pippin · Gandalf · Aragorn · Legolas · Gimli · Boromir