Frodo Baggins is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's writings and one of the protagonists in The Lord of the Rings. Frodo is a hobbit of the Shire who inherits the One Ring from his cousin Bilbo Baggins, described familiarly as "uncle", and undertakes the quest to destroy it in the fires of Mount Doom in Mordor. He is mentioned in Tolkien's posthumously published works, The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales.

Frodo is repeatedly wounded during the quest and becomes increasingly burdened by the Ring as it nears Mordor. He changes, too, growing in understanding and compassion. On his return to the Shire, he is unable to settle back into ordinary life; two years after the Ring's destruction, he is allowed to take ship to the earthly paradise of Valinor.

Frodo's name comes from the Old English name Fróda, meaning "wise by experience". Commentators have written that he combines courage, selflessness, and fidelity and that as a good character, he seems unexciting but grows through his quest, an unheroic person who reaches heroic stature.

Internal history

Background

Frodo is introduced in The Lord of the Rings as Bilbo Baggins' cousin and adoptive heir. Frodo's parents, Drogo Baggins and Primula Brandybuck, had been killed in a boating accident when Frodo was 12; Frodo spends the next nine years living with his maternal family, the Brandybucks, in Brandy Hall. At age 21, he is adopted by Bilbo, who brings him to live at Bag End in the Shire. He and Bilbo share the same birthday, the 22nd of September. Bilbo introduces Frodo to the Elvish languages, and they often go on long walks together. book 1, ch. 1, "A Long-Expected Party" Due partly to their age difference, they refer to each other as "uncle" and "nephew."

The Fellowship of the Ring

Frodo comes of age as Bilbo leaves the Shire. Frodo inherits Bag End and Bilbo's ring. Gandalf, uncertain about the origin of the ring, warns Frodo to avoid using it and to keep it secret. Frodo keeps it hidden for the next 17 years, and it gives him the same longevity and youthful appearance it had given Bilbo. Gandalf returns to tell him that it is the One Ring of the Dark Lord Sauron, who is seeking to recover and use it to conquer Middle-earth. book 1, ch. 2, "The Shadow of the Past"

Realising that he is a danger to the Shire as long as he remains there, Frodo decides to take the Ring to Rivendell, home of Elrond, a mighty Elf-lord. He leaves with three companions: his gardener Sam Gamgee and his cousins Merry Brandybuck and Pippin Took. They are just in time, for Sauron's most powerful servants, the Nine Nazgûl, have entered the Shire as Black Riders, looking for the Ring. They follow Frodo's trail, nearly intercepting him. book 1, ch. 3, "Three is Company" book 1, ch. 4, "A Short Cut to Mushrooms" book 1, ch. 5, "A Conspiracy Unmasked"

The hobbits escape into the Old Forest. They are waylaid by the magic of Old Man Willow, but rescued by Tom Bombadil, book 1, ch. 6, "The Old Forest" who gives them shelter and guidance. book 1, ch. 7, "In the House of Tom Bombadil" They are caught in fog on the Barrow Downs by a barrow-wight and put under a spell. Frodo breaks free, attacks the barrow-wight, and summons Bombadil, who again rescues the hobbits and sets them on their way. book 1, ch. 8, "Fog on the Barrow-Downs"

At the Prancing Pony inn, Frodo receives a delayed letter from Gandalf and meets a man calling himself Strider, a Ranger; his real name is Aragorn. The One Ring slips onto Frodo's finger in the inn's common room, turning him invisible. This attracts the Nazgûl, who ransack the hobbits' empty rooms in the night. book 1, ch. 9, "At the Sign of the Prancing Pony" Strider leads the group through the marshes. book 1, ch. 10, "Strider"

While encamped on Weathertop, they are attacked by five Nazgûl. The leader, the Witch-king of Angmar, stabs Frodo with a Morgul blade, the wound threatening to turn him into a wraith under the Nazgûl's control. book 1, ch. 11, "A Knife in the Dark" Reaching Rivendell, book 1, ch. 12, "Flight to the Ford" he is healed by Elrond. book 2, ch. 1, "Many Meetings"

The Council of Elrond resolves to destroy the Ring by casting it into Mount Doom in Mordor, Sauron's realm. Frodo, realizing that he is destined for this task, steps forward to be the Ring-bearer. A Fellowship of nine companions is formed to assist him: the hobbits, Gandalf, Aragorn, the dwarf Gimli, the elf Legolas, and Boromir, a man of Gondor. Bilbo, living in Rivendell, gives Frodo his sword Sting and a coat of Dwarf mail made of mithril., book 2, ch. 2, "The Council of Elrond" The company, unable to cross the Misty Mountains by a pass, enters the mines of Moria. book 2, ch. 3, "The Ring Goes South" Frodo is stabbed by an Orc with a spear, but his mithril mail-shirt saves his life. book 2, ch. 4, "A Journey in the Dark" Gandalf is killed battling a Balrog. book 2, ch. 5, "The Bridge of Khazad-Dum" Aragorn leads them out to Lothlórien. book 2, ch. 6, "Lothlórien" There Galadriel gives Frodo an Elven cloak and a phial, which carries the Light of Eärendil to aid him on his quest. book 2, ch. 8, "Farewell to Lórien"

The Fellowship travels by boat down the Anduin River and reaches the lawn of Parth Galen, just above the impassable falls of Rauros. book 2, ch. 9, "The Great River" There, Boromir, succumbing to the lure of the Ring, tries to take it by force. Frodo escapes by putting it on. This breaks the Fellowship; the company is scattered by invading Orcs. Frodo chooses to continue the quest alone, but Sam follows him. book 2, ch. 10, "The Breaking of the Fellowship"

The Two Towers

Frodo and Sam make their way through the wilds, followed by the monster Gollum, who has been tracking them, seeking to reclaim the Ring, which he had lost to Bilbo (as portrayed in The Hobbit). Gollum attacks the hobbits, but Frodo subdues him with Sting. He takes pity on Gollum and spares his life, making him promise to guide them through the dead marshes to the Black Gate. book 4, ch. 1, "The Taming of Sméagol" book 4, ch. 2, "The Passage of the Marshes" They find the gate impassable; Gollum tells them of "another way" into Mordor, book 4, ch. 3, "The Black Gate is Closed" and Frodo, over Sam's objections, lets him lead them south into Ithilien. book 4, ch. 4, "Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit" There they meet Faramir, younger brother of Boromir, who takes them to a hidden cave. book 4, ch. 5, "The Window on the West" Frodo allows Gollum to be captured by Faramir, saving Gollum's life but leaving him feeling betrayed. Faramir provisions the hobbits and sends them on their way, warning Frodo to beware of Gollum's treachery. book 4, ch. 6, "The Forbidden Pool" book 4, ch. 7, "Journey to the Cross-Roads"

They pass Minas Morgul, where the pull of the Ring becomes overwhelming, and climb the Endless Stair to cross into Mordor. book 4, ch. 8, "The Stairs of Cirith Ungol" At the top they enter a tunnel, not knowing it is the home of the giant spider Shelob. Gollum hopes to deliver the hobbits to her and retake the Ring after she had killed them. Shelob stings Frodo, rendering him unconscious, but Sam drives her off with Sting and the Phial of Galadriel. book 4, ch. 9, "Shelob's Lair" Believing that Frodo is dead, Sam takes the Ring and continues the quest. Soon, however, he overhears Orcs taking Frodo for questioning, saying that he is still alive. book 4, ch. 10, "The Choices of Master Samwise"

The Return of the King

Sam rescues Frodo and returns the Ring. book 6, ch. 1, "The Tower of Cirith Ungol" Dressed in scavenged Orc-armour, they set off, trailed by Gollum. book 6, ch. 2, "The Land of Shadow" At Mount Doom, Frodo enters the chasm where Sauron had forged the Ring. Here Frodo loses the will to destroy the Ring, and puts it on, claiming it for himself. Gollum attacks the invisible Frodo, biting off his finger and reclaiming the Ring. As he dances in elation, Gollum falls with the Ring into the fiery Cracks of Doom. The Ring is destroyed, and with it Sauron's power. Frodo and Sam are rescued by Great Eagles as Mount Doom erupts, destroying Mordor. book 6, ch. 3, "Mount Doom"

After Aragorn's coronation, the four hobbits return home. book 6, ch. 7, "Homeward Bound" They find that the fallen wizard Saruman and his agents have taken over the Shire and started to industrialize it. Frodo and his companions lead a rebellion and defeat the intruders. Even after Saruman attempts to stab Frodo, Frodo lets him go, only for Saruman to be killed by his henchman Gríma Wormtongue., book 6, ch. 8, "The Scouring of the Shire" The hobbits restore the Shire to its prior state of peace and goodwill. While successful in his quest, Frodo never recovers from the physical and emotional wounds he suffered on the quest. After two years, Frodo and Bilbo as Ring-bearers are granted passage to Valinor. book 6, ch. 9, "The Grey Havens"

Other works

"The Sea-Bell" was published in Tolkien's 1962 collection of verse The Adventures of Tom Bombadil with the sub-title Frodos Dreme. Tolkien suggests that this enigmatic narrative poem represents the despairing dreams that visited Frodo in the Shire in the years following the destruction of the Ring. It relates the unnamed speaker's journey to a mysterious land across the sea, where he tries but fails to make contact with the people who dwell there. He descends into despair and near-madness, eventually returning to his own country, to find himself utterly alienated from those he once knew.

"Frodo the halfling" is mentioned briefly at the end of The Silmarillion, as "alone with his servant he passed through peril and darkness" and "cast the Great Ring of Power" into the fire., "Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age"

In the poem Bilbo's Last Song, Frodo is at the Grey Havens at the farthest west of Middle-earth, about to leave the mortal world on an elven-ship to Valinor.

"The Hunt for the Ring" in Unfinished Tales describes how the Black Riders travelled to Isengard and the Shire in search of the One Ring, purportedly "according to the account that Gandalf gave to Frodo". It is one of several mentions of Frodo in the book., part 3, ch. 4 "The Hunt for the Ring"

Family tree

The Tolkien scholar Jason Fisher notes that Tolkien stated that hobbits were extremely "clannish" and had strong "predilections for genealogy". Accordingly, Tolkien's decision to include Frodo's family tree in Lord of the Rings gives the book, in Fisher's view, a strongly "hobbitish perspective". The tree also, he notes, serves to show Frodo's and Bilbo's connections and familial characteristics. Frodo's family tree is as follows:

Concept and creation

Frodo did not appear until the third draft of A Long-Expected Party (the first chapter of The Lord of the Rings), when he was named Bingo, son of Bilbo Baggins and Primula Brandybuck., pp. 28–29. In the fourth draft, he was renamed Bingo Bolger-Baggins, son of Rollo Bolger and Primula Brandybuck., pp. 36–37. Tolkien did not change the name to Frodo until the third phase of writing, when much of the narrative, as far as the hobbits' arrival in Rivendell, had already taken shape., p. 309. Prior to this, the name "Frodo" had been used for the character who eventually became Pippin Took., p. 267. In drafts of the final chapters, published as Sauron Defeated, Gandalf names Frodo Bronwe athan Harthad ("Endurance Beyond Hope"), after the destruction of the Ring. Tolkien states that Frodo's name in Westron was Maura Labingi., "The Appendix on Languages"

Analysis

Name and origins