Bronwe athan Harthad. Hope beyond endurance. A fortitude that took him to places no one else dared to go, carrying something that many had succumbed to, even him. Master Baggins, Frodo of the Nine Fingers (among other names given to him during and after his journey to Mordor) was a model of hope and fortitude, having a particular resilience to the dark, icy tendrils of the Ring’s influence. While one can argue that the rest of the Fellowship had fortitude – and they would be right – I want to focus on just Frodo, for a number of reasons. One reason is that he is my favorite; but another reason, and perhaps the real reason why he has been on my mind, is that quite a few people seem to insist that Sam is the true hero of the series, even though the whole Fellowship were heroes and Sam would be among the first to say that Frodo is just as much a hero as any of them.
Oddly enough, a lot of people complain about violence in both movies and reality, yet are among the first to hail and remember the heroes who fight with sword and gun. Not that they shouldn’t be hailed; they should be honored with pomp and splendor for sure. But we also shouldn’t forget those who fight silently; the ones who fight for control over thoughts and words, those who fight the stealthy and silent evil that worms its way into minds and hearts, corrupting from within. That was Frodo’s job: to fight that silent evil, an evil which should be considered more terrifying than any Lovecraftian horror. For if the Devil can assume many forms, he is more likely to choose a form that pleases us to destroy us. That too, is the true fear wrought by Sauron. Not his vast armies and his Riders (terrifying as they were). No, it was the fact that, in The Silmarillion, Sauron could and did mask his evil intent behind beautiful words and a pleasing visage before destroying everything as soon as he had his way. But that is an article for another time.
Frodo Baggins did everything Gandalf told him to do upon discovering the ring Bilbo had left him was indeed the One Ring sought by Sauron. Whether it was to leave right away (like in the movie) or to proceed to move to a part of the Shire closer to Bree (like in the book) Frodo did it. He did it to protect his people, to protect the safety they had enjoyed for so long. In the book, there is a section that was not put in the movie, that of the Hobbits’ adventures in the Old Forest and their meeting Tom Bombadil and Goldberry. Frodo’s sign of fortitude came some time after leaving the safety of Bombadil’s house and the four hobbits were captured by barrow-wights (Fellowship of the Ring, book 1, chapter 8). Frodo was the first to wake from the barrow-wight’s spell. He was faced with a choice: leave his friends and escape, or stay and try to save them all. He chose to stay, fighting off the barrow-wight and calling upon Tom Bombadil, ultimately saving them all. While this sequence of events was unable to be shot for the movie, and now many see it as completely unnecessary for the story overall, it was the first time we see Frodo’s courage in action. We are also shown the thought process behind it as well, as we get the image of Frodo running free across grassy hills while his friends are still lying cold in the barrow before he makes his decision. But, of course, Frodo made the right decision. One could say this was an easy decision, and maybe it was. But it was a decision that came before a much harder decision: taking a malignant evil piece of jewelry back to its place of making to destroy it.
Once Frodo left the Old Forest with his friends, he went straight for Bree, where he was to meet Gandalf and go from there, as the Ring was now out of the Shire. But, as we all know, that didn’t happen. Frodo had to make another choice: whether or not to trust Strider. But once the man proved he knew the wizard, Frodo chose to trust him and let him guide them to the next stop in their journey, Rivendell. Along the way, they were faced with the Ringwraiths and Frodo’s courage was tested again. He put on the Ring. In the book, he actually fought the Ringwraiths before the Witch-King of Angmar stabbed him. In the movie, he resisted the urge to give the Ring to the Witch-King of Angmar, before getting stabbed for his refusal to give in, to obey their orders. In both versions, it was Strider who saved him, and the Ringwraiths were chased away. But as Strider pointed out, it’s only for a short time, and he kept them going on the journey. They did meet the wraiths again, a few days later, not far from where Rivendell stands. In the book, Frodo rode alone to the Ford of Bruinen upon Glorfindel’s horse, whereas in the movie he was taken there by the Lady Arwen. However, in the movie, it seems like the effects of the blade shard worked faster than in the book, since book-Frodo was still in rather full command of himself when the Riders gave chase. Thus, he seems stronger in the book than in the movie; but, eventually he still was not strong enough to face the Riders for long, and he fainted.
He regained consciousness in Rivendell several days later, his wound well on the mend (though it would never fully heal). Elrond noticed how resilient he was to the influence of the Ring and was amazed at how far he had come bearing it, as well as amazed at how well he was healing from the wound. So too was Gandalf, but both were reluctant to ask Frodo to carry it any further. Thus, when the others arrived (by happenstance in the book and by summons in the movie), no one outright asked Frodo to do it. He stood and volunteered of his own accord, despite being badly wounded already. He had already come face to face with the Enemy’s greatest soldiers and had had a taste of the evil (both from the Ring and their blade), but he chose to continue.
Another moment in the books that many point to as proof that Frodo is stronger in the book than the movies is that in the books, Frodo stabbed the foot of the cave troll when Boromir was barricading the door in Moria. In the movie, Aragorn and Boromir barricaded the door before the orcs and the cave troll reached the tomb room, so Frodo didn’t get that chance. But he still charged into battle with the rest of them. While yes, he needed to be protected because he was carrying the Ring and needed to get to Mount Doom, that doesn’t mean he was weak. A lot of people seem to forget that going on even while in pain, requires a strength and courage that is almost supernatural. Boromir noticed it on their journey, and Sam saw it get increasingly worse day by day the closer they got to Mordor. Sam only got a brief taste of what Frodo underwent when he bore the Ring after Shelob’s attack, but it made him more determined to be rid of the thing so Frodo could be free once again.
I could go on and on, but I will just mention one more thing about Frodo’s fortitude. Forgiveness. He had the courage to choose forgiveness over harm. He showed this with Gollum and nearly won him back with kindness. He chose forgiveness for Boromir, as he did not tell Faramir about the final moments he shared with Boromir and instead left the glorious warrior’s memory intact in his brother’s mind. In the books, Frodo did this for Saruman too. Naturally, Saruman loathed him for it, for Frodo became a shining light in comparison to him. A light was what Saruman once was, but no longer after succumbing to the will of Sauron. In a way, the phial that Lady Galadriel gifted Frodo was a symbol of himself, just like the star Sam saw in the wasteland of Mordor. A light that shone when all others had gone out, even though he too succumbed to the will of the Ring.
Again, this article is not to say that the others had no fortitude or are undeserving of honor, but to serve as a reminder that Frodo had fortitude and deserves honor as well. Each member of the Fellowship had their time to shine, to show their qualities. Frodo, just like the others, was made of the finest material a person could be made of. Though he didn’t always draw his sword, he had a fortitude that saw him through to a desolate land and the destruction of an item that could destroy all life. Like his friends, Frodo was a hero, and a hope beyond endurance.