Luck: Difference between revisions

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m (Added clarification about the relevance of Gandalf's words.)
(People disliked the addition of Gandalf's words to Frodo and I do see the point.)
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<center>{{quote|You don't really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!"
<center>{{quote|You don't really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!"
''"Thank goodness!''|[[Gandalf]] and [[Bilbo]]<ref>{{H|19}}</ref>}}</center>
''"Thank goodness!''|[[Gandalf]] and [[Bilbo]]<ref>{{H|19}}</ref>}}</center>


Luck is success apparently brought about by chance. [[Bilbo Baggins]] was born with a fair share of it, as [[Thorin]] remarked it was far exceeding the usual allowance. <ref>{{H|8}}</ref><ref>{{H|12}}</ref>
Luck is success or failure apparently brought about by chance. [[Bilbo Baggins]] was born with a fair share of it, far exceeding the usual allowance, as [[Thorin]] remarked. <ref>{{H|8}}</ref><ref>{{H|12}}</ref>


Gandalf later remarks to [[Frodo]] that Bilbo was meant to find the [[The One Ring|Ring]], wherefore Frodo was also meant to have it, and not by its [[Sauron|Maker]], which may be another reference to "luck", as Bilbo used it.<ref>{{FR|Shadow}}</ref>
[[Elrond]] noted that he did not think it was by chance that many strangers came at the same time to his [[Council of Elrond|council]], but "rather that it is so ordered that we, who sit here, and none others, must now find counsel for the peril of the world."<ref>{{FR|Council}}</ref>
 
==Inspiration==
 
Tolkien scholar Joseph Pierce, referencing Tolkien's [[Christianity|Catholicism]], argues that "luck" is a euphemism for "a supernatural dimension to the unfolding of events in [[Middle-earth]], in which Tolkien shows the mystical balance that exists between the promptings of grace or of demonic temptation and the response of the will to such promptings and temptations.  This mystical relationship plays itself out in the form of transcendent Providence, which is much more than 'luck' or chance."<ref>{{webcite|author=Joseph Pierce|articleurl=http://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/art/the-hobbit-and-virtue.html|articlename='The Hobbit' and Virtue|dated=December 14, 2012|website=catholiceducation.org|accessed=9September 2021}}</ref>


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Revision as of 16:37, 11 September 2021

"I shan't call it the end, till we've cleared up the mess." — Sam
This article or section needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of article quality.
"You don't really suppose, do you, that all your adventures and escapes were managed by mere luck, just for your sole benefit? You are a very fine person, Mr. Baggins, and I am very fond of you; but you are only quite a little fellow in a wide world after all!"

"Thank goodness!''"

Gandalf and Bilbo[1]

Luck is success or failure apparently brought about by chance. Bilbo Baggins was born with a fair share of it, far exceeding the usual allowance, as Thorin remarked. [2][3]

Elrond noted that he did not think it was by chance that many strangers came at the same time to his council, but "rather that it is so ordered that we, who sit here, and none others, must now find counsel for the peril of the world."[4]

Inspiration

Tolkien scholar Joseph Pierce, referencing Tolkien's Catholicism, argues that "luck" is a euphemism for "a supernatural dimension to the unfolding of events in Middle-earth, in which Tolkien shows the mystical balance that exists between the promptings of grace or of demonic temptation and the response of the will to such promptings and temptations. This mystical relationship plays itself out in the form of transcendent Providence, which is much more than 'luck' or chance."[5]

References